Eileen Herlie

A celebrated actress, particularly noted for her interpretations of Queen Gertrude in "Hamlet," Eileen Herlie has primarily been delighting daytime viewers for more than 20 years as the irrepressible, no-nonsense and down-to-earth carny woman turned boutique owner and boarding house proprietress Myrtle Lum Fargate on ABC's "All My Children." Herlie first joined the daytime drama in 1976, playing the former variety performer who arrives in the fictional Pine Valley looking to start a new life. Shunned by some, she recognizes a man who had been wining and dining the town's doyenne, Phoebe Tyler, as a former petty thief. The storyline which ensued endeared her to all, yet after an initial few years on the show, her character was married off and written out of the show. But, Herlie had become so popular that the producers brought her back as a widow, and she has since dispensed good cheer and common sense, even befriending Erica Kane (Susan Lucci).