HOLLYWOOD—This week’s Leading Ladies Gold Standard goes to three of my favorite actresses, who perform almost operatically on a daily basis and are among the most underrated stars in television: Lesley-Anne Down, who portrays Jackie Marone Knight on “The Bold and the Beautiful”; Katherine Kelly Lang, who plays the sexiest woman in the world Brooke Logan on “B&B”; and Susan Lucci, who portrays Erica Kane on ABC’s “All My Children.” Each of these women is poised, filled with beauty, but are also creative giants in the daytime television genre. This week they played what they do best: lusty, beautiful women, who seem almost as addicted to love as they are to drama..
Jackie, played brilliantly by gorgeous Lesley-Anne Down, had a week that almost every woman dreams of. She felt like Cinderella. As the week started, son Nick finally was able to agree to allow her and her handsome husband Owen to return to Jackie M Designs. Jackie chose her husband’s side when he made a mistake and fell into bed with her daughter-in-law Bridget, who was married to Nick at the time. Jackie knew that her marriage would survive the affair, as the sexy cougar was far from intimidated by her husband’s fling with a much younger woman. Jackie is confident and felt as though she’d dealt with bigger issues in her life and this one passed, just as she had predicted. By Friday, her beloved son Nick officiated her renewal of wedding vows to Owen. Down played it all so effortlessly.
Brooke Logan, who is known to “B&B” viewers as the sexpot from the San Fernando Valley who became the whore of Beverly Hills, is played by the talented and lovely Katherine Kelly Lang. Kelly is a solid performer, who mastered the art of high drama and surprises. You’d have to do so if you are going to work for mega talented and gifted head writer and executive producer Bradley P. Bell. This week Brooke stood strong against nemesis Amber Moore and threatened Amber, warning her not to interfere in Brooke’s daughter Hope’s relationship with Liam Spencer. Brooke has battled Amber Moore before, when Amber seduced Brooke’s son and used that relationship to become a Forrester. By the end of the week, Brooke was on a plane to the romantic capitol of the world – Paris, alongside her sexy stepson. Paris with Brooke Logan? The sexiest recipe for disaster that anyone back in L.A. can ever imagine.
Susan Lucci has played Erica Kane for over four decades now. The one thing Lucci is able to do is make each new romance in Erica’s life as fresh and sensual as the one before. Despite having been married more times than Zsa Zsa Gabor or Elizabeth Taylor, Susan makes us feel as though it’s Erica’s first time at romance. This week Erica kissed her former attorney and one-time captor Caleb, and it sent him into a romantic tailspin. What wasn’t a tailspin, was the incredible and solid performance by the Emmy-winning actress, who makes love in the afternoon not only her mantra, but must-see TV.
“All My Children” airs weekdays on ABC, “B&B” airs weekdays on CBS.
Photographs Courtesy: Lesley-Anne Down and Katherine Kelly Lang by Gilles Toucas, Bell Phillip TV Productions and Susan Lucci by ABC/Disney Studios
