Tuesday September 20: Fun "AMC" Characters

By Sylvia Gurinsky


This week's special YesterTube tribute to "All My Children" continues with a look at the series' most fun characters:

5. Myrtle Lum Fargate: The character started out as a con artist with a heart of gold and turned into a respectable businesswoman and everyone's surrogate mom - especially Erica Kane.

4. Benny Sago: He adored Estelle and little Emily Ann and faced down his gambling demons. But Phoebe Tyler Wallingford's chauffer was never more fun than when he was talking to the "Duchess."

3. Trevor Dillon: This tough-talking cop had his own way of doing things in staid Pine Valley society. He wooed and won his opposite, Natalie Marlowe - and even had a date in a hideous jacket with lovely Erica Kane:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5VJTRXAjKA

2. Verla Grubbs: Her visits to Pine Valley have been brief, but never dull: She's Langley Wallingford's daughter and a friend of Myrtle Fargate. Best of all, she's played by "AMC" fan Carol Burnett:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knrveTAQ4ps

1. Opal Gardner Courtland: Played by Dorothy Lyman during the 1980s, Opal Gardner - biological mother of Tad Martin - was coming up from the bottom of the barrel. She could be manipulative, even with beloved daughter Jenny. Jenny's death would change Opal to a certain degree, and played by Jill Larson from 1990 on, Opal would strike up an unlikely friendship with Erica Kane - and an even more unlikely romance with Palmer Courtland.

Here's terrific 1990 scene with Larson's Opal, including Sean Cudahy (Alan Dysert). Watch Eileen Herlie, as Myrtle, and James Mitchell, as Palmer, trying very hard not to laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=surPLkDMazw

Tomorrow: Best "AMC" characters!