The More, The Merrier
Tracey E. Bregman (Lauren, 1983-95; 2000; 2001-present)
Past Soap Roles: Lauren, BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL, 1992, 1993, 1994,1995-98, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004; Phillips, SPYDER GAMES, 2001; Donna, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, 1978-80
Bregman was only 16 when she began on DAYS as Donna, and then grew up on TV throughout her long career on Y&R. Though many Y&R and B&B stars have crossed over between shows, she’s one of the few who became a regular on both. In between her Bell soap stints, she took on the role of a high-powered exec in MTV’s campy serial drama SPYDER GAMES.
“I felt [my firing] coming,” Bregman told Soap Opera Digest in the 2/27/96 issue. “It was a loss for me. But because I’d been doing BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL for the last three years, I had established relationships — so it was safe.”
“My heart has always been at Y&R,” she admitted in the 5/30/00 issue, when she was first asked to return to Genoa City after being let go from B&B. “I spent so many years playing Lauren, and then all of a sudden I … wasn’t. There was never any kind of send-off or real good-bye or death scene [on B&B]. It just kind of feels like, ‘What happened?’ So this will be nice — no matter how long it lasts.”
Sharon Case (Sharon, 1994-present)
Past Soap Roles: Anne, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, 1994; Debbie, AS THE WORLD TURNS, 1992-93; Dawn, GENERAL HOSPITAL, 1989-90
Being a recast has worked out well for Case. She was the second of four Dawns on GH and the third Sharon on Y&R. On GH, Case’s character romanced Ned, while she’s described her ATWT alter ego as someone who just “hung around.”
“I was with [ATWT] for a year and a half,” she explained in the 7/13/99 Digest. “After losing two jobs twice in a row, I thought, ‘Jeez, I’ll probably never get a role on another daytime show.’ ”
As for her GH experience, she recalled, “When they let me go, I was disappointed because it had been such fun. Leslie Charleson [Monica] played my mom. She was very nice. I saw her as a mentor.”
Judith Chapman (Gloria, 2005-present)
Past Soap Roles: Anjelica, DAYS, 1989-90; Sandra, ONE LIFE TO LIVE, 1987; Ginny, GH, 1984-86; Charlotte, RYAN’S HOPE, 1983; Natalie, ATWT, 1975-78
After taking on six soap characters, Chapman has mastered the art of portraying schemers — and even describes the sometimes ethically and morally challenged Gloria as being “the nicest” of her alter egos!
[GH’s] Ginny “was an evil, conniving, child-abandoning murderer,” she laughed when recalling her various roles in the 12/6/05 Digest. “I also adored playing [DAYS’s] Anjelica because she was so over-the-top.”
As for her ATWT role, “Back when I was playing nasty Natalie on WORLD TURNS, I was outside of Bloomingdale’s and this woman came up to me, pointing her finger,” she marveled. “In the middle of New York City, she began shouting, ‘You whore! You nympho!’ I didn’t know what to do!”
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