As My World Still Turns: The Uncensored Memoirs of America's Soap Opera Queen [Hardcover]

Eileen Fulton (Author), Desmond Atholl (Author), Michael Cherkinian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1995

The original conniving vixen of the soap opera world recounts her thirty-five years as Lisa Miller on As the World Turns, detailing the often unpredictable life on the set, the death threats she has received, and her love life. 40,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For 35 years, Eileen Fulton has played the scheming Lisa on As the World Turns. Here is her frank and often funny autobiography of her Southern childhood as a minister's daughter, her rise to stardom and a personal life as dramatic as the soap she stars in. Fulton survived six marriages, 52 lovers, death threats from fans and attempts on the part of network executives to "kill" Lisa. Fulton is full of funny anecdotes: for instance, during one live episode, she was locked in an oxygen tent; unable to breathe, she had to wait for a commercial break before crying for help. In addition to her daytime TV job, Fulton also had a lucrative career as a singer. Today she is a businesswoman and still holds her own as Lisa. Although this book will undoubtedly entertain fans, reading it leaves the unsatisfying feeling that Fulton has presented only the surface. Coauthors Athull and Chernikian are freelance writers. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Soap opera fans will dote on every word penned by the original "Glamorous Scheming Vixen," whose own story is a little tamer than that of the character she has portrayed on television for over 30 years: Lisa on As the World Turns. With a light touch and more than a bit of humor, Fulton relates a series of anecdotes about her life on and off camera. The early days of live daytime drama are recollected, as are Fulton's forays into stage, screen, and recording. Although candid, this is no tabloid tell-all; those looking for dirt will have to dig elsewhere. Those looking for a mildly amusing account of life on and off the soaps will find it here. Recommended for public libraries where Soap Opera Digest is read.
Carolyn M. Mulac, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Birch Lane Pr; 1St Edition edition (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559722746
• ISBN-13: 978-1559722742
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,840,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Original Daytime Diva", April 1, 2011

By 

Terry Richard "Terry Richard" (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: As My World Still Turns (Paperback)

Before Susan Lucci there was Eileen Fulton, the first actress to ever play a total bitch on a daytime soap opera. In "As My World Still Turns" Eileen discusses, in great detail, her life as a television and stage actress as well as touching on some personal matters, such as being married over five times and having an endless amount of lovers. However, what readers will find most fascinating are her accounts of how she became Lisa, the character viewers loved to hate on "As the World Turns" since Irna Phillips first introduced her way back in 1960, to her battles with writers, especially Phillips, over the direction her character was going. She writes about how terrified she was in the early days of filming "Turns" when the series aired live five days a week during the sixties and early seventies. She also discusses the times she quit the show over her battles with executives and her distaste for certain storylines, and how, eventually, she always came back to the soap as it was her first love.

Eileen writes a bit about her stage work and her recording career, but for fans of soaps and "As the World Turns" this is a great read and a nice encyclopedia for fans to possess.

4.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed the book, November 9, 2010

By 

Marion (California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: As My World Still Turns: The Uncensored Memoirs of America's Soap Opera Queen (Hardcover)

As a fan of "As The World Turns" for over 50 years, I enjoyed this book. It was interesting to know what went on behind the scenes with Eileen Fulton and the rest of the cast. Her life has been interesting.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Careening through artifice, July 23, 2002

By 

R. Tiedemann "Sunnye" (Bellevue, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: As My World Still Turns (Paperback)

I don't watch soaps and have never seen "As The World Turns" so my judgment of this book is strictly on the book itself. I picked it up because of her name -- Fulton is a family name -- and it turns out it's a stage name so we're not kin.

Oddly enough, the book interests me because it's about a world that I find artificial and unappealing, and it certainly confirms my original opinion. Building a career as a stage actress, soap star and nightclub performer (she's also a singer) isn't easy and Eileen Fulton has worked hard to achieve her success. She is content with her successful career and her personal life, although husbands and lovers don't stay around for long. It is her career that she values above all, and that's what she has at the end of the book. It reminds me of an old popular song that Vaughn Monroe used to sing: "Dance ballerina, dance...and never mind the seat that's empty in the second row...."

The book reads like most other star autobiographies -- artificial, like it's written by a professional trying to sound like an amateur. I'd guess that it's ghost written, probably by the same person who wrote Lee Iaccoca's book. It is entertaining, though, and I'm sure it's a valid look at a life dedicated to theater and television.