Best known for work on afternoon soaps, notably her eight-year stint as flashy fashion mogul Sally Spectra on
The Bold and the Beautiful, Conley also appeared on stage in
Night of the Iguana and
Cyrano de Bergerac (both opposite Richard Chamberlain) and a number of prime-time guest spots. But daytime was her prime time, with tough-gal turns on
Days of our Lives,
Capitol and
General Hospital before winning the villainous part of black-market baby broker Rose DeVille on
The Young and the Restless. That soap's cocreator William J. Bell dreamed up the role of Sally Spectra just for Conley, and during her tenure she was nominated for two Daytime Emmys and got the chance to masquerade as Mae West, a German spy and a nun. Although her battle with stomach cancer kept her off
The Bold and the Beautiful for months, she was still technically part of the cast when she succumbed to the disease in January 2007.
Darlene Conley Fast Facts:
- Was discovered by theater producer Jed Harris at age 15.
- The first American soap star to have her wax likeness in London's Madame Tussauds.
- Appeared in concerts with Bold and the Beautiful castmates in Holland and released a pop single in Europe.
- Darlene Conley Relationships:
- Carol Fontana - Sister
- Kurt Hensch - Ex-husband
- Melba Conley - Mother
- Raymond Conley - Father
- Raymond Woodson - Son
- Sharon Mylan - Sister
- William Woodson - Ex-husband
