MALIBU—Since returning to CBS’s “The Young and the Restless” last month as Christine “Cricket” Blair Williams, Lauralee Bell has brought a mature beautiful character back to the show that is the number one daytime drama for well over two decades and counting. Bell has grown immensely as a dramatic actress, even while portraying white trash Karen on the Webby Award-nominated Internet series “Family Dinner,” which also stars Oscar-winner Cloris Leachman and Brentwood’s funny lady Phyllis Diller. Lauralee is perhaps the biggest soap star in the past 25 years and truly one of the most magnificently beautiful and talented ladies who has ever graced the small screen.
Currently Lauralee is performing in extraordinary fashion at the CBS TV City location where William J. Bell Studios films one of the longest running and most respected daytime dramas in entertainment history. As Christine, Bell is keeping a secret child from her best friend, Nina, trying to deal with her best friend being involved romantically with her ex-husband Paul and conducting surveillance for the U.S. Justice Department on dirty cops in Genoa City. On Lauralee’s first day back on the set of “Y&R” one of her costars, Stephen Nichols who portrays Tucker McCall on the soap, told me, “I haven’t met her yet, but I’ve seen her on the monitor, and from what I can tell Tommy, your friend is one damn good actress.” Damn good is pretty much the best way to sum up the talent of not only Lauralee, but Bradley, Maria and Bill Bell, Jr. The Bell family is Hollywood royalty; however, Lauralee does not trade on being an American princess at all. She works very hard at her craft and in my humble opinion, between her amazing performance, and the best storyline currently on any daytime TV show, she and her sister-in-law Maria Arena Bell have at least two Emmys coming next year for this groundbreaking and exciting storyline currently on “Y&R.”
Lauralee Bell when not on set is at her beautiful Malibu home with her handsome and talented husband Scott and their two beautiful kids. Whether on the beach or on a sound stage at CBS, Bell like her beautiful mother, Lee Phillip Bell, can be counted on to do everything with the Midas touch. Tune in and watch her at her best.
Dennis O’Hare’s amazing performance as the vampire King of Mississippi on the HBO drama “True Blood” has been excellent. However, last Sunday night his normally superb performance was topped by his over the top and deliciously grand performance as the grieving villain Russell, who murdered a newscaster on air and gave a speech to the viewing public that left fans shocked and applauding his performance.
The very talented character actor who has done both television and film in Hollywood is a humble, yet dignified thespian who like Lauralee Bell on “Y&R” is capable of doing almost anything with a role that he’s given. Critics hailed O’Hare’s casting in the role, but have been mystified by the fact that he is doing not only superb, but his best work ever in this role. Fans are looking forward to Sunday night’s upcoming episode of “True Blood” to see the murderous rampage of King Russell continue.
Whether it’s Maria Bell or Alan Ball, “Y&R” and “True Blood” are two shows that are not only exciting and entertaining, but are completely under-appreciated for their groundbreaking writing and acting. Maria Bell is headed for an Emmy next year for a series that gets better by the hour, and Lauralee Bell’s fans want her to stay on for a long time. While Truebies realize that King Russell’s end is possibly near, they will never forget the awesome performance by Dennis O’Hare.
Photographs Courtesy: Lauralee Bell by Lesley Bohm Photography and Dennis O’Hare as Russell by John P. Johnson and HBO Productions
