HOLLYWOOD—The entertainment industry has always been run by women who are talented both on and off screen. In the 1930s, Hollywood had some unsung heroes behind the scenes at MGM and the other major studios who ran the offices of studio chiefs, handled wardrobe for our on-screen divas, and some of these women in front of the camera like Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford and Betty Davis ran industries unto themselves, employing agents, publicists, hair and makeup teams. Now the ladies can work both in front of and behind the camera and still make a major impact on our lives. Today three of the many women include Lee Phillip Bell, co-creator and former producer of “The Bold and the Beautiful”; “The Young and the Restless,” Susan Lucci, who is the queen of daytime television; and Constance Towers, who is a major daytime player on “General Hospital.”
Lee was a giant in Chicago’s television industry. She and her handsome and very talented husband William “Bill” J. Bell had three beautiful children, Bradley, Bill Jr. and Lauralee, who are household names today, all the while Lee, continued to have the top rated show in the windy city called “The Lee Phillip Bell Show.” She and her husband from Chicago created the two iconic soap operas that remain the two top-rated daytime dramas today. Lee and Bill moved to Beverly Hills over three decades ago and to this day she’s in her office several days a week at “B&B” making calls, keeping everyone’s morale high with her infectious sincere energy, and there is simply no Hollywood super couple who ever had so many creative and talented offspring. Lee’s brood of three is Hollywood’s “triple threat.” Lauralee has beauty and talent, Brad is gifted and award-winning and Billy’s the man who keeps it all together. The Bell Dynasty remains supreme.
Susan Lucci, once a fixture in New York City as well known as the statue of liberty, has moved to Hollywood after almost 40 years in the same role as Erica Kane on ABC’s “All My Children.” Susan is in the process of completing her autobiography and shows no signs of slowing down. It is actresses like Susan who have beauty, style and grace that make viewers by the millions fall in love with them. Whether it’s her timeless beauty or those multimillion dollar dimples, with a smile that lights up the northern skies, “La Lucci” as Regis Philbin calls her has the ”˜it’ factor that is undeniable, and the envy of other leading ladies.
Constance Towers is nothing if not gracious, classy, talented and beautiful. On “General Hospital” she portrays the evil Helena Cassadine, the billionaire who is often carrying a knife in her purse. When do you know that Helena has a knife in her purse? Whenever you don’t see it in her hair poised to slit someone’s throat. Being bad is not in Towers’s nature, but she plays it so well. Before she joined “GH”, she’s worked with Glenn Ford, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, William Holden and even Michael Douglas. Those of us who know her personally realize her true calling was the stage, but she’s been directed on film by mavericks like Samuel Fuller and John Ford.
Constance is married to former Ambassador to Mexico John Gavin, who is one of the nation’s most respected businessmen, she is a grandmother of three adorable angels and has always put her children before her career. So why has she remained so successful? It must have something to do with her talent as an actress.
These three ladies have many more decades of hard work ahead of them, which is great for those of us who love entertainment.
Photographs Courtesy: Lee Phillip Bell by Bell Phillip Television Productions, Susan Lucci and Constance Towers by ABC Studios
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