Darlene Conley (July 18, 1934 - January 14, 2007)

With her large frame and even larger red hair Darlene Conley became known as one of Daytime television's most memorable divas. She had minor roles in a few films including The Birds and Valley of the Dolls. On television she made appearances on such shows as "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", "The Hollywood Squares", "SoapTalk", "Ironside", "The Bill Cosby Show", "Gunsmoke", "Mary Tyler Moore", "The Jeffersons", "Little House on the Prairie", "Cagney & Lacey", "Murder, She Wrote", "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" and "Highway to Heaven." She entered the Soap arena in 1979 as the villianous Rose DeVille on "The Young and the Restless." She played the role until 1980 and then again from 1986 to 1987 and then briefly in 2000. She appeared on "Days of Our Lives" in 1983 and "Capitol" and "General Hospital" in 1984. In December of 1988 she made her first appearance as the character that would make her a legend. Her character was Sally Spectra and the show was "The Bold and the Beautiful." Sally was a fashion diva and the rival of the show's matriarch Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery). The battles between Sally and Stephanie went on for more than ten years and were a constant entertainment for viewers. Finally though in 2002 the two brawling old broads finally set aside their differences and became very good friends with Sally affectionately calling Stephanie "Highness" or "Queenie" and Stephanie responding with "Doll." Several of her friends appeared as guest stars including Fabio and Phyllis Diller. Conley suffered a fall in 2004 and broke several bones. In all her future appearances she would either be seen in a wheelchair or seated. Rumors began to spread in late 2006 that Conley was ill with cancer. Conley's final on screen appearance as Sally Spectra aired on November 29, 2006. Conley passed away from stomach cancer on January 14, 2007. At the end of the January 26, 2007 episode cast member John McCook was present to pay tribute to the late actress. A montage of Sally's greatest moments was featured. The character of Sally Spectra was written out of the show by having her move away to St. Tropez to live in retirement. Conley's character Sally is the only soap character to have a portrait in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum...she can been seen in Las Vegas and Amsterdam. Now that Darlene Conley has left us...Susan Flannery is left without a decent "sparing" partner. Lesley Anne-Down's Jacqueline Marone is good...but she's not Sally...!