Deidre Hall
Deidre Hall | |
|---|---|
 Deidre Hall, November 2005 | |
| Born | Deidre Ann Hall October 31, 1947 |
| Years active | 1970-present |
| Known for | Marlena Evans in Days of our Lives |
| Spouse(s) | William Hudson (1966-1970) Keith Barbour (1972-1977) Michael Dubelko (1987-1989) Steve Sohmer (1991-2006) two sons |
| Website | DeidreHall.com |
Deidre Ann Hall (/di:dɹə hɔl/) (born October 31, 1947) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Dr. Marlena Evans on NBC's daytime drama Days of our Lives, which she played for 32 years. The character is considered an icon to the soap, and has experienced some of the most outrageous storylines in soap opera history.[1] She is also an ambassador for Operation Smile.
Hall has won many awards for her portrayal of Marlena. She has won three Soap Opera Digest Awards for outstanding lead actress in 1984, 1985, and 1995.[2] She won Outstanding Contribution by an Actress/Actor in 1986.[2] Hall also received an award with Drake Hogestyn in 2005 for Favorite Couple: John and Marlena.[2] She has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy numerous times but has never managed to achieve one.[3]
Early years
Hall and her twin sister, Andrea Hall, were born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Lake Worth, Florida. At age 12, Hall was elected Junior Orange Bowl Queen. She is a graduate of Lake Worth High School, Class of 1965, and studied psychology before sidetracking into acting.[4]
Career
Along with her sister, Andrea, Hall appeared in press materials for the 1952 Hudson Twin-H-Power engine. In her late teens, Hall traveled to Los Angeles for the summer - while attending Palm Beach Junior College[5] - and there she landed some modeling jobs and commercials through an agent.[4] Quickly, she began appearing in television shows, thinking it was temporarily until landing a serious career as a psychologist.[4] In a later interview, she recalled that one day, she realized that acting was her serious career.[4]
In the 1970s, she portrayed the superheroine Electra Woman in "ElectraWoman and DynaGirl", a Sid and Marty Krofft children's show.
Hall appeared on a number of shows, including Emergency! (as Nurse Sally Lewis in the first two seasons), and The Young and the Restless (as Barbara Anderson), before joining Days of our Lives in 1976 as Dr. Marlena Evans. In an interview, Hall said that she thought that she would have no chance, considering that she was uncertain to pursue a career in soap operas, as well as having had to compete against established soap opera veterans for the role.[5] Hall was cast, though, and the role skyrocketed her to fame, which was proved by fan protests when a 1979 NBC promo hinted that Hall's character would be killed off.[4] Two separate daytime television magazines named Hall the best soap actress of 1983.
In 1986, Hall began playing Jesse Witherspoon on the family drama, Our House, which ran for two seasons. She initially reacted without concern on playing on two television series at a time, explaining that she filmed Our House on weekdays while taping Days of our Lives on Saturdays.[4] However, Hall exited Days of our Lives in 1987 when it became too difficult to co-ordinate her prime time and daytime schedules. Our House was cancelled in 1988, though she did not immediately return to the soap opera.
Instead, Hall continued to make guest appearances on a variety of prime time shows until March 1991, when she made a dramatic return to Days of our Lives. This decision was a result of a request by producer Ken Corday, who hoped her return would have influence on the low ratings.[5] According to the actress, she was approached to play a new character, but she refused and insisted on portraying Marlena, with a contract for six months only.[5] Producers were reluctant to give into Hall's requests, fearing that the fans would leave after six months when Hall left.[5] However, Hall remained on contract with the show for eighteen more years until January 24, 2009, when she was terminated due to budget cuts mandated by NBC. Her salary on Days was in the range of $60,000.00 per month, much higher than most other daytime serial actors. Hall has appeared in over 3800 episodes.
In 1995, Hall produced and starred in Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story, a made for TV movie about her personal struggles to become a mother. Longtime Days co-star Suzanne Rogers is featured in the program.
Since at least early 2009, Hall has occasionally guest-hosted Clout, a talk radio program syndicated through Air America Media.
In 2010 Deidre Hall and her writing partner Lynne Bowman wrote "Deidre Hall's Kitchen Closeup."
In 2011 Hall guest starred on the season finale of Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva.
She and Drake Hogestyn reprised their roles as Marlena Evans and John Black on September 26, 2011.
She and her writing partner Lynne Bowman are coming out with a beauty book titled "Deidre Hall's How does she do it" and it should be out on Amazon.com on or around November 1.
Personal life
Hall donated $1,000 to the campaign of Representative Dennis Kucinich for President.[6]
She has been married four times. Her husbands were:
- William Hudson (May 6, 1966 – 1970)
- Keith Barbour (1972–1977), a singer
- Michael Dubelko (1987–1989), a producer and writer
- Steve Sohmer (1991–2006), an author and screenwriter. Hall and Sohmer have two sons, David Atticus Sohmer (born August 23, 1992) and Tully Chapin Sohmer (born January 19, 1995). Both were born via a surrogate mother known as "Robin B".
In between her marriages to Barbour and Dubelko, Hall dated Louisiana State Senator Ned Randolph in the early 1980s. She made several campaign appearances during Randolph's run for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1982, which he lost to incumbent Gillis William Long. She is close friends with General Hospital's Jane Elliot.
Awards, honors and nominations
| Year | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Days of our Lives | Nominated |
| 1984 | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Nominated | |
| 1985 | Nominated |
| Year | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Soapy Award for Best Actress | Days of our Lives | Won |
| 1983 | Won |
| Year | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama | Days of our Lives | Won |
| 1985 | Won | ||
| 1986 | Won | ||
| 1995 | Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama | Won | |
| 1996 | Won | ||
| 1998 | Nominated | ||
| 1999 | Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama | Nominated | |
| Nominated | |||
| Won |
| Year | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | TV Land Award for Superest Super Hero shared with Judy Strangis | Electra Woman and Dyna Girl | Nominated |
Roles
- San Francisco International Airport (1970)
- Night Gallery (Blonde - 1971)
- Adventures of Nick Carter (Ivy Duncan - 1972)
- Adam-12 (Nurse - 1972)
- The Streets of San Francisco (Bank Teller - 1972)
- Emergency! (Nurse Sally Lewis - 1972-1973)
- The Young and the Restless (Barbara - 1973)
- Columbo (Receptionist - 1974)
- Kung Fu (Luise - 1975)
- Karen (Janet Bartel - 1975)
- S.W.A.T. (Diane - 1975)
- Joe Forrester (1976)
- Special Delivery (1976)
- Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (Electra Woman - 1976)
- Days of our Lives (Dr.Marlena Evans - 1976-1987; 1991–2009; 2011-present)
- Pray TV (Sarah of Nazareth - 1980)
- The Million Dollar Face (Barbara Sanderson - 1981)
- Hot Pursuit (1984)
- Hotel (Maggie Dawson - 1984)
- A Reason to Live (Delores Stewart - 1985)
- Our House (Jessica 'Jessie' Witherspoon - 1986-1988)
- Take My Daughters, Please (Nell - 1988)
- Wiseguy (Claudia Newquay, 1989)
- Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin (Linda Horton - 1989)
- Columbo (Dian Hunter - 1990)
- Murder, She Wrote (Claudia Carboni - 1990)
- And the Sea Will Tell (Muff Graham - 1991)
- For the Very First Time (Mrs. O'Neil - 1991)
- Woman on the Ledge (Quinn - 1993)
- OP Center (Kate Michaels - 1995)
- Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story (Herself - 1995)
- Drop Dead Diva (Herself - 2011)
References
- ^ "Deidre Hall - Days Of Our Lives - Soap Opera Digest and Weekly". Soapoperadigest.com. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ a b c "Deidre Hall Awards". SoapOperaDigest.com. 2004-02-20. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ "Deidre Hall snubs 'unfair' Daytime Emmys". Gold Derby.com. 2004-02-20. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ a b c d e f "Deidre works day and night" by Jerry Buck. Merced Sun Star, August 23, 1986. p. 40
- ^ a b c d e "Deidre Hall brings Marlena back to 'Days'". Lewiston Morning Tribune, August 2, 1991. p. 3c
- ^ "Election Center 2008: Candidates - Election & Politics News from CNN.com". Retrieved 2007-11-12.
External links
