In Memoriam: Eileen Fulton, beloved as Lisa on As the World Turns, Has Died at 91

By Michael Maloney
Published Jul 20, 2025 00:52 ET
Eileen Fulton, who played Lisa on As the World Turns for nearly 50 years, had friends on soaps including The Young and the Restless | Image: JPI
Eileen Fulton, who played Lisa on As the World Turns for nearly 50 years, had friends on soaps including The Young and the Restless | Image: JPI

Eileen Fulton, beloved for her run as Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Shea Colman McColl Mitchell Grimaldi Chedwyn on As the World Turns, has died at the age of 91. The actress began her career on ATWT in 1960 and, except for a brief hiatus, played the role until its finale in 2010. Fulton passed away on July 14 in Asheville, North Carolina.

In Memoriam: Eileen Fulton

Eileen Fulton (Lisa) worked for years on ATWT with the late Helen Wagner (Nancy) and Colleen Zenk (Barbara) | Image: JPI
Eileen Fulton (Lisa) worked for years on ATWT with the late Helen Wagner (Nancy) and Colleen Zenk (Barbara) | Image: JPI

Born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty in Asheville on September 13, 1933, Fulton's father was James B. McLarty, a Methodist minister, and her mother, Margaret Glenn McLarty, was a public school teacher.

In 1956, Fulton graduated from Greensboro College with a bachelor's degree in music. With her parents' support, she moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. There, she studied acting with Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg, and dance with Martha Graham.

In 1960, she landed in her defining role -- Lisa Miller on ATWT. Ambitious Lisa wed medical student Bob Hughes (Don Hastings), but proved to be a source of frustration to both Bob and the Hughes family. Lisa split from Bob and went on to have seven other marriages.

Lisa became so popular that Fulton was spun off into a nighttime series playing her ATWT character. Our Private World, originally titled The Woman Lisa, aired in 1965 for two nights a week. The series lasted from May to September. Fulton returned to playing Lisa on ATWT in early 1967.

The world revolved around Lisa McColl

Lisa, played by Eileen Fulton, was synonymous with As the World Turns | Image: JPI
Lisa, played by Eileen Fulton, was synonymous with As the World Turns | Image: JPI

Lisa's many storylines included fighting Grant Coleman's (James Douglas) ex-wife Joyce (Barbara Rodell) for Grant's affections, battling Lucinda Walsh (Elizabeth Hubbard) to clear the name of her late husband, Whit McColl (Robert Horton), and suing Dr. John Dixon (Larry Bryggman) for medical malpractice related to the death of her husband, Eduardo Grimaldi (Nicolas Coster). The courtroom drama engineered by Lisa was one of ATWT's highlights in the mid-1990s.

Two actors who worked alongside Fulton on ATWT are still on soaps today -- Christian LeBlanc, who played Kirk McColl, Lisa's stepson, is Michael on The Young and the Restless; Tamara Tunie, who played Jessica Griffin, the woman who married Lisa's step-nephew Duncan McKechnie (Michael Swan) by marriage, plays Anita on Beyond the Gates.

Throughout the years, Lisa managed the Wade Book Shop, the restaurants Diana's and The Mona Lisa, and operated a boutique, Fashions, with her pal Barbara Ryan (Colleen Zenk).

Fulton left the show in 1983 when contract renegotiations collapsed, but she returned to the series the following year, and she remained with the show until its finale in 2010.

Something to sing about

Eileen Fulton had a real-life cabaret act that was worked into Lisa's story on As the World Turns | Image: JPI
Eileen Fulton had a real-life cabaret act that was worked into Lisa's story on As the World Turns | Image: JPI

In addition to her cabaret act, which she performed in venues in New York and at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, Calif., Eileen Fulton co-authored two autobiographies, How My World Turns in 1970, and How My World Still Turns in 1995. She also penned a series of mystery novels.

As Lisa mellowed over the years, she became a source of support to many in Oakdale, including troubled Julie Wendall (Susan Marie Snyder), who reminded Lisa of herself. Lisa appeared in the ATWT finale. Her final scenes were with John and Lucinda. After the show concluded, Fulton took her one-woman show, Blame It on My Youth, to San Francisco.

In 2019, Eileen Fulton returned to Black Mountain, North Carolina. She is survived by her brother, Charles Furman McLarty, and his wife, Karen, a niece, Katherine Morris, and her husband, David, and their three children, Everly Ann Morris and Easton Lane Morris, and a sister-in-law, Chris Page McLarty. Fulton was predeceased by her parents and her brother, James Fulton McLarty.

also-read-trending Trending

The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the Reverend James B. McLarty Music Scholarship at Brevard College in Brevard, North Carolina, or the Margaret Glenn McLarty ’28 and Eileen Fulton Music Scholarship Fund at Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Soap Central sends sincere condolences to Fulton's family, friends, and fans at this difficult time.