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Eileen Fulton - Dr. Diva

Eileen Fulton (Lisa, AS THE WORLD TURNS) is an accomplished actress and singer. Now she can boast that she’s a doctor. Fulton received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Greensboro College, on May 8.


“I’m Dr. Diva now,” smiles Fulton. “From now on whenever mail comes from college, it will be addressed to Dr. Eileen Fulton. My mailman is going to be so impressed! I gave my commencement address — or the commiserating address, as I like to say.”


What advice did she give the graduates? “I told them that they have their dreams and to go after them and don’t let things deter them,” asserts Fulton, who graduated with a degree in music and theater in 1956 (yep, her 50th reunion is next year!). “However, I told them you have to leave things open because there may be another road that leads to something even better. Just be aware of that, and be in touch with your body, to know when you’re tired or if you’re ill and listen to it because you want to live to do all these things. A professor asked, ‘Doctor, I have this little pain. What do you suggest?’ and I said, ‘Two aspirins, and call me in the morning.'”


Dr. Diva is also participating in the Soldiers’ Angels program (www.SoldiersAngels.org) and has adopted a soldier serving overseas with whom she will exchange correspondences and send care packages. “I think of these poor kids fighting and you have to do whatever [you can],” she asserts. “I want to get them home safely and in the meantime let them know that they are loved and appreciated. Several soldiers wanted to be taken care of by an Angel and wrote different reasons which were all very good, but this man had said, ‘Oh, I just love letters from home. You could send a box if you wanted to. I don’t care if there’s anything in it. Just an empty box would be good.’ I thought: He’s the one! I like him.”


Fulton’s lucky soldier is Charles Meeks from rural Florida who is in his early 20s. “As soon as he found out that I was going to be his Angel, he contacted his mother and said that Lisa was his Angel,” she chuckles. “I sent him a little letter saying, ‘Just because I’m an actress, don’t think I’m gorgeous. I’m old enough to be your mother — and probably your grandmother.’ I look forward to meeting him someday, and I’d like to meet his mom, too!”


(Fulton will perform a cabaret show at Opia in New York on Saturday, May 21; call 212-688-3939 for more info.)

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