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Lisa Grimaldi is a fictional character from the CBS soap opera, As the World Turns. The character was portrayed by Eileen Fulton for 50 years from May 1960, until the last episode aired in September 2010, with Fulton becoming one of the longest-serving soap opera actors in the United States. Lisa is considered to be the first soap "vixen" and was one half of the first ever super couple, Bob and Lisa Hughes.
Fulton's eagerness to play Lisa as a villainess contributed to the character's popularity and therefore its longevity. In the Archive of American Television interview, Fulton explained that the character was originally written to be a "nice girl", which she did not find compelling as an actress, and that, while she read Phillips' lines exactly as they appeared on the script, she said them with a "scheming tone" in her voice. When Phillips saw Fulton's performance she said "I can write for that little rascal. She can play a bitch!" In The Soap Opera Encyclopedia, Christopher Schermering writes, "Although Lisa was guilty of many lapses, nothing made her more hated by her audience of housewives than a simple sequence in which she hired a maid to clean house and went gallivanting about town. When mother-in-law Nancy complimented Lisa on what a nice home she had made for Bob, audiences were furious." (1987). 9780345353443, Ballantine Books. ISBN 9780345353443
A scheming "vixen" in her early years, TIME magazine once referred to Lisa as a "superbitch" and the "most hated woman on TV." Time (magazine) Since those days, Lisa has gone on to become a well-respected presence in Oakdale (the fictional town in which As the World Turns is set), often offering advice and support to the town's younger residents.
When the character of Lisa was introduced in 1960, the name "Lisa," which had only seen a popular resurgence in the previous ten years, was the sixth most popular baby name in the United States. Cleveland Evans: Baby names revolved around TV’s ‘World’ Fulton's Lisa was credited with speeding up the popularity of the name for baby girls; "Lisa" became the most popular name for girls between the years of 1962 and 1969.
The character departed on May 3, 1965, and briefly crossed over into her own primetime spinoff series, Our Private World, for a few months in 1965, during which Lisa left Oakdale and moved to Chicago. She returned to Oakdale on January 16, 1967, where she remained until the final episode in 2010.
Recasts for Lisa were Pamela King filling in as Lisa during 1964 and Betsy von Furstenberg playing the role from late 1983 to early 1984 during a contract dispute between Ms. Fulton and Procter & Gamble. On multiple occasions from 1991 to 1994, former movie actress Jane Powell and soap opera veterans Maeve McGuire replaced Ms. Fulton during that same the time period as did soap opera veteran Jennifer Bassey. Australian actress Carmen Duncan, best known to American audiences for her role as Iris #3 on Another World, filled in for Fulton for three episodes in late 2004 while she was on emergency medical leave.
By the 1970s, Fulton's Lisa was always credited at the end of each program, after the names of the rest of the cast appeared in the credits. The character had become so integral to the story on As the World Turns that by 1987, actress Fulton was credited with playing the role of "Lisa" at the end of each day's show, and not with a surname (which was Mitchell at that time; Lisa had many marriages through the years). Fulton would be credited simply as playing "Lisa" with no character surname until the show ended its run in 2010. In its final years, Fulton along with a number of other veteran actors were rarely seen on canvas. In a 2009 interview, Fulton was confused as to why the writers found it so difficult to write for older characters. "It could be an age thing, but one of my favorite soaps is the British series EastEnders. They have no problem with featuring older actors. And giving them romantic and dramatic storylines."
A year into Bob and Lisa's marriage, after their son Tom was born, Lisa became tired of living as the wife of a young resident, resenting Bob's long hours in the hospital. She had an affair with flashy businessman Bruce Elliott, asking him to take her with him when she left town, but he told her the affair was just a diversion for him, and that he cared nothing for her. Meanwhile, Bob, whom she had already alienated, had found out about the relationship and divorced Lisa. Lisa responded by poisoning Tom's mind against his father, eventually fleeing to California with Tom, without Bob's knowledge. When Bob finally tracked them down, he found Lisa in a near-catatonic state, following a brutal rape. He brought her back to Oakdale, enlisting the help of Sylvia Hill, a nurse with whom Bob had been involved. Once Lisa recovered from the trauma, she attempted to guilt Sylvia into ending her relationship with Bob, falsely suggesting that she was the only thing preventing Bob and Lisa to reconcile. Nancy also cautioned Sylvia that Lisa was the only person she would ever accept as her daughter-in-law. Though Sylvia eventually decided to end her relationship with Bob, Bob informed Lisa that he was not interested in a reconciliation with her.
A short while later, Michael decided that he wanted to play a role in his son's life, and tried to get Lisa to marry him, but by this time, she wanted nothing to do with him. Around the same time, Lisa's son Tom had returned from Vietnam with a drug habit. One night, Michael caught Tom breaking into his office to steal drugs, and Michael used this information to blackmail Lisa into marrying him. By this time, Lisa hated Michael with a passion, and though she did marry him (to save Tom), she refused to have any kind of a sexual relationship with him. Michael responded by orchestrating a series of events designed to make Lisa appear as an unfit mother, so he could divorce her and sue for custody of Chuckie. However, in early 1970, Michael was murdered, and Lisa was nowhere to be found. Tom was the prime suspect, and, thinking his mother had committed the murder, he said little to demonstrate his innocence. When Lisa returned to town, she could not remember the events leading to Michael's murder, but eventually the murder was revealed to have been committed by the mother of a young woman with whom Michael had had an affair.
Lisa had a few more flings, including one with Bob's older brother, Don Hughes, attorney Dick Martin, minister Wally Matthews, and the rich Simon Gilby. Around this time, she believed herself to be pregnant, though her doctor revealed Lisa suffered from an ovarian cyst.
Though Grant and Lisa were very happy together, Lisa's ongoing jealousy of Joyce and later Valerie continue to be a problem, and at one point, Grant asked Lisa for a divorce. Lisa pretended to be ill, and staged an elaborate scheme designed to demonstrate Valerie's true calculating ways. Though she succeeded in this, Grant and Lisa's lives continued to be complicated, this time by a new woman, Tina Cornell, who had a played a role in the previous manipulations involving Valerie, and was injured as a result. Lisa invited Tina to recuperate with her and Grant. Tina told Lisa that she had developed agoraphobia, but she in fact was becoming obsessed with Grant. When Lisa discovered this, she ordered Tina to leave, but Grant saw this as just another case of Lisa's jealousy. He and Lisa separated, but when Tina attempted to seduce him, he realized that Lisa had been right all along.
Though he claimed to be through with scheming women, Joyce now reentered Grant's life, pretending to be terminally ill. Though Lisa disputed Joyce's claims of illness, Grant believed her and the two became engaged. He learned that Lisa was correct, but Lisa was hurt by Grant's refusal to believe her, and refused to give her relationship with Grant another try. Grant left town in late 1981, though he and Lisa would get over their bitterness and would become friends again.
Though deeply saddened by Whit's death, Lisa embarked on two new business ventures during this period that would help her through the sorrow. In 1985, Lisa joined her friends, Kim Sullivan Hughes and Barbara Ryan, to launch Fashions, a high-end boutique showcasing top designs. Kim and Barbara eventually both sold their shares in the business to Lisa; she remains the sole owner through the show's conclusion in 2010. In 1986, Lisa and Craig Montgomery purchased a restaurant formerly known as Caroline's, and reopened it as The Mona Lisa. Lisa became the sole owner when Craig left Oakdale in the late 1980s, and presumably still operates the restaurant today although it was neither seen nor referred to on camera after 2005. In addition to these two businesses, Lisa also co-owns the Lakeview Hotel with Lily Snyder.
In 1986, though Brian McColl's girlfriend Shannon O'Hara (who herself had become very close to Lisa), she met Shannon's uncle, the mysterious, charming Earl Mitchell. The two began dating, and though Earl had a mysterious side, disappearing without explanation for days on end, Lisa agreed to marry him. A few months into their marriage, Earl disappeared, and Lisa soon received a message that Earl had been kidnapped. Her ex-husband Grant returned to Oakdale to show his support. Lisa received a call from someone who claimed to know of Earl's whereabouts, but when she drove to meet him, her brakes failed. She was not injured, but started to see images of Earl and hear his voice, causing her family to worry and question her sanity. The truth about Earl was finally revealed: he was an Interpol agent who'd been killed while attempting to investigate James Stenbeck.
In late 1994, Lisa married Eduardo Grimaldi, a Maltese people gangster. Lisa's happiness lasted only a few weeks, because Eduardo was shot by an associate, and was rushed to Oakdale Memorial. His cousin Orlena Grimaldi sneaked into his room and killed him, resulting in Lisa believing Eduardo's death was due to medical incompetence on the part of John Dixon, who was on duty in the ER when he was brought in. Lisa sued John for malpractice, threatening to end his career, before the truth of Eduardo's death came out. John took revenge on Lisa by wooing her and proposing to her, only to publicly dump her at their engagement party. She and John remained estranged for some time, until he and their mutual friend Barbara Ryan rescued Lisa from Martin Chedwyn, a criminal who had forced Lisa to marry him as part of a scheme to smuggle assets out of Hong-Kong before the changeover in government in 1999. Lisa forgave John for the public spectacle at their engagement party, and the two remained on good terms thereafter.
In the early 2000s (decade), Lisa befriended Oakdale newcomer Isaac Jenkins, introducing Isaac to her goddaughter Bonnie McKechnie (whom he would later marry), and partnering with Isaac and Bonnie in their new club Java. She would remain involved with Java until Isaac and Bonnie left town, at that time, selling her shares in the club. She was featured in a tribute episode in May 2000, honoring Fulton's and costar Don Hastings' 40th anniversaries on the show, in which a mean spirited tabloid story causes Lisa and Bob to reminisce about key events in their lives (via flashbacks).
In more recent years, Lisa has retreated from the spotlight, interfering in the lives of her son and daughter-in-law, and mentoring Oakdale's younger residents.
In June and July 2008, Lisa became involved in the dramas between Barbara, Paul, Meg, and Sofie. This ended when Paul Ryan found Sofie dead in her hotel room. It was revealed that Cole had killed Sofie.
Lisa played a key role in organizing Tom and Margo's twenty-fifth anniversary party.
Lisa reappeared in April 2009 to be involved in the mystery of Luke and Noah's kidnapping.
A special two-part tribute episode aired on May 17–18, 2010, commemorating Fulton's fiftieth anniversary on the show, and she was also prominently featured in the August 2010 episode memorializing longtime castmate Helen Wagner.
She appeared in the final episode in September 2010. In her last scenes, Lisa made peace with former fiance John Dixon and rival Lucinda Walsh.
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