HOLLYWOOD—This week’s Leading Ladies Gold Standard goes to three of the best actresses in Hollywood, and three of daytime television’s biggest and most popular stars. Susan Flannery, who portrays Stephanie Forrester on “The Bold and the Beautiful”; Lauralee Bell, who portrays Christine Williams on “The Young and the Restless”; and Katherine Kelly Lang, who portrays Brooke Logan Forrester on “The Bold and the Beautiful” are undeniably the very best the industry has to offer. The three powerful performers have characters that can wreak havoc on the citizens in their respective towns of L.A. and Genoa City, but they offer a great deal of excitement to viewers of their shows.

What can you call Susan Flannery if not a force of nature, when it comes to her powerful and tremendous gifts as a thespian in the industry? Ms. Flannery’s performance during the last months of 2010 will leave her at the top of everyone’s wish list for Best Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama. Stephanie’s one of Bel Air’s most respected queens of society. Now having beaten stage four lung and brain cancer, having battled nemesis Brooke Logan for over 30 years and then most recently befriending her and offering her the hand of forgiveness, viewers are ready for Hurricane Stephanie to bulldoze down the sexy paramour who continues her rampage of sex on the Forrester men. This week Susan’s poignant support of longtime friend Taylor and also her fascinating scenes with other costars makes one long for “B&B” to go to an hour-long drama instead of the half hour format. She packs a powerful punch in 30 minutes as the show’s reigning queen of talent.

“Y&R’s” and daytime TV’s biggest soap star Lauralee Bell made a big entrance on Thursday, January 13. Christine returned to Genoa City because of drama going on in her friend Nina’s life and in the life of Chris’s friend Ronan, who is Nina’s eldest son. The chemistry between Lauralee and Jeff Branson is gold that should be mined. Her skills as an actress are essential to making “Y&R” one of the most exciting shows on television. Bell’s storyline is hopefully not short-lived but will last for months to come. Her exquisite beauty is only eclipsed by her ability as one of the industry’s greatest actresses of today.

Katherine Kelly Lang, who is Brooke Logan on “B&B” is still as sexy as ever. Brooke is perhaps the most uninhibited woman sexually since Mae West pranced on the sound stage at Paramount Studios. Brooke is not a bad person, but her poor choices lead her into the firestorm of scandal. Just in 2010 she was caught kissing her stepson, Thomas, at the Forrester fashion show and even had sex with her 18-year-old daughter’s boyfriend, Oliver, at her daughter’s graduation party.

This week, Lang was charismatic and sensual at the Forrester International press conference in Paris. Possibly having more open minded members of the media, as the French press are known to be was too much temptation for Brooke to keep her sexy hands off of stepson Thomas? Whatever problems she faces, it’s dazzling to say the least to see her work her charms on the audience just as her character does the Forrester men.

“Y&R” just celebrated its 22nd anniversary as daytime television’s number one rated drama. “B&B” is helmed by two-time Emmy winning producer Bradley P. Bell. Both shows air on CBS daytime.

Photographs Courtesy: Susan Flannery and Katherine Kelly Lang by Gilles Toucas, Bell Phillip TV Productions and Lauralee Bell by CharlesBush.com
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