Farewell, Eileen Herlie

TWIT is very sad to report that soap opera actress Eileen Herlie has died. The soap legend was 90 years old, and died on Thursday from pneumonia. Eileen played one of the most beloved characters on "All My Children", the motherly Myrtle Fargate, for over three decades. Eileen joined the soap in 1976, and became a surrogate mother for my beloved Erica Kane.

Herlie was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, and worked for several years in the Scottish National Theater and in the English theater. Among the hit London plays she appeared in was Jean Cocteau's "The Eagle Has Two Heads." Her movie credits include two filmings of "Hamlet," the Richard Burton version and the 1948 Laurence Olivier production, in which she also played Gertrude. Her other movies include "Freud" (1962) with Montgomery Clift and Sidney Lumet's "The Sea Gull" (1968) with Simone Signoret, James Mason and Vanessa Redgrave. Before joining "All My Children," Herlie was a regular on Broadway. She made her debut in Thornton Wilder's "The Matchmaker" in 1955, playing milliner Irene Molloy in the comedy, which starred Ruth Gordon as Dolly Gallagher Levi.

Herlie's AMC character Myrtle ran a boarding house in the fictional Pine Valley, and was always there to dispense her wisdom to Erica and other characters who sought her guidance. In fact, Myrtle was just about the only person who would not hesitate to put Erica Kane in her place, all the while Erica would take what Myrtle would dish out and leave Myrtle with a smile. An eery coincidence surrounds Eileen Herlie's death this week: rumor has it that her character Myrtle is going to be killed off on AMC next week when tornadoes hit Pine Valley.

Myrtle was one of my favorite characters on AMC, even though she didn't get much air time. In fact the last time her character appeared was back in June. She loved Erica Kane and her family unconditionally, and was a very classy lady on the soap. One of my favorite things about her character was when they showed her at her boarding house, she would offer her guests spiked lemonade. Of course, she'd have a glass with them.

You will surely be missed, Eileen. The show will not be the same without you. My beloved Susan Lucci said it best; "I'm sure Eileen is lighting up the sky's in heaven with her flaming red hair and lovely Scottish accent," Lucci said. "The earth's loss is heaven's gain!"