By 
Daytime is saddened by the untimely passing of one of daytime’s great actresses.
Daytime Mourns The Loss of Eileen Herlie
BY: JENNIFER SNYDER
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
Thursday, October
9, 2008, 3:29 PM
Daytime is mourning the untimely passing of one of their own today.
Eileen Herlie, 90, passed away today from complications from pneumonia,
according to a reports from SOAPnet and moderators at Thorsten Kaye's website.
Herlie's career began in 1948 when she was cast as Gertrude in Laurence
Olivier film production of Hamlet. She reprised the role of Gertrude in
the highly successful 1964 Richard Burton Broadway production of Hamlet.
From 1948 to 1968, Herlie was cast in various roles such as Henrietta Stein in
The Angel and the Trumpet (1950), Helen D'Oyly Carte in Gilbert and Sullivan
(1953) and Frau Ida Koertner in Freud (1962), which was nominated for two Oscars
and four Golden Globes in 1963.
Probably the best known as Myrtle Fargate on ABC's All My Children, Herlie
also portrayed Myrtle on One Life to Live in 2000 and on Loving in 1993.
Herlie joined All My Children in 1976 as a young, vibrant woman hired by Phoebe Tyler (the late Ruth Warrick) to impersonate Lucy Carpenter. Carpenter was said to
be deceased by a doctor, played by Nigel Fargate, Myrtle's friend. Myrtle
left Pine Valley and moved back to Minneapolis, but soon returned in 1978.
After moving back to Pine Valley, Myrtle and her good friend Mona (the late Frances Heflin), decided to
invest their money in a retirement home at Willow Lake. The two women soon
discovered it was all a scam, thanks to Brooke (Juliar Barr) and Edmund (John Callahan). Later, Myrtle
befriended Erica (Susan Lucci) and became her surrogate mother after Erica fell on hard times.
Through the years, Myrtle acquired a boarding house she named the Fargate House
and she was also the owner of The Boutique, a clothing retail store. She
retired in 2008.
In 1999, while visiting Pine Valley and searching for her own daughter, Rae
Cummings (Linda Dano) discovered her visit had unearthed some of Myrtle's own secrets.
Myrtle had a child of her own and had kept the secret for nearly 40 years.
Myrtle tried to keep the child she had given up for adoption a secret and went
to great lengths to keep her past hidden. She went as far as stealing
adoption records from the courthouse. In the end, Myrtle had to reveal to
Rae that she was the daughter she (Myrtle) had given up many years ago.
After the initial shock of finding her mother, Rae and Myrtle developed a very
close bond.
Eileen Herlie was one of the most talented actresses in Daytime. Her
vibrant personality and inviting smile will forever be remembered by fans and
colleagues, alike. She will be sorely missed. We at Soap Opera
Source extend our deepest sympathies to Eileen's friends and family.
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