Sherilyn Wolter, who played evil Elena on Santa Barbara, reunited with about 50 former cast mates, writers, directors, and production team members for a 40th reunion fan event in Burbank, Calif. on Friday night. Proceeds from the evening benefitted the Conasauga Shakespeare Coalition of which Lane Davies (ex-Mason Capwell) serves as artistic director.
The actress’s turn as Elena was chilling. She tried to kill Eden (Marcy Walker) and steal her true love, Cruz (A Martinez). With her dying words, Elena lied to her (and Mason and Eden’s) father C.C. Capwell (Jed Allan), “Cruz killed me, daddy.” (In reality, Elena offed herself, but she wanted to stick it to her enemies on her way out the door!)
Perhaps, Wolter is best known for her 1983-86 turn as Celia Quartermaine Putnam Holt on General Hospital. The ABC soap is famous for inviting actors back to the show to reprise their characters. Alas, with the off-screen death of ex-husband Jimmy Lee Holt (Steve Bond), Celia doesn’t have too many connections to the canvas – outside of the Quartermaine family.
Or does she? While on the pre-reunion show red carpet, TV Insider chatted with Wolter and called up a photo of current GH actress Sofia Mattsson, who plays Sasha Gilmore Corbin. Her reaction? “Oh, I see [a] resemblance,” Wolter immediately responded.
“I loved being on General Hospital,” she adds. “I had a ball, and I met some great actors and made some great friends. I got to experience what it’s like to be famous, which is not always what it’s cracked up to be. I am still friends with Emma [Samms, Holly].”
The duo’s real-life friendship mirrored the close bond that Celia and Holly had on-screen. “It was very interesting and very unusual for soap operas to have women who were friends [and not rivals]. We enjoyed that.”
Should GH opt to create a familial tie between Celia and Sasha, who just happens to be working for the Quartermaine clan as a chef (hmm…), would Wolter be up for a return to Port Charles? “I’d be there!” she says with a smile.
Wolter’s other soap credits include stepping in for Hunter Tylo to play Taylor on The Bold and the Beautiful when she was out with chicken pox in 1990. In 1993, Wolter continued to show her range as a hitwoman named “George” on Guiding Light. The following year, she appeared on Monty – no, it wasn’t a show about late, legendary GH producer Gloria Monty, but rather a short-lived sitcom starring Henry Winkler (Happy Days).
General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC
