Ellen Burstyn got her to break as a dancer on The Jackie Gleason Show during the mid-1950s. Soon after, various acting jobs began falling her way. One of those opportunities was starring as Dr. Kate Bartok in The Doctors. She later landed the lead in The Last Picture Show (1971 and her performance brought showbiz attention plus Oscar and Golden Globe award nominations.
For her role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore directed by Martin Scorsese, Burstyn won the Best Actress Oscar. Three years later, in 1978, she received the Best Actress nomination for Same Time, Next Year, and in 1980 and in 2000 she received it for Resurrection and Requiem of a Dream, respectively. What a busy lady!
Nathan Fillion
Soap operas excel in spinning the most outrageous romantic tales. Just ask Nathan Fillion and he will tell you. Fillion’s character in One Life to Live was named Joey Buchanan, and it was outrageous alright.
Teenage Buchanan apparently had a thing for older women, and he was often seen in the company of his lover, Dorian Lord, who was also his mother’s sworn enemy. Thank god it was just a show!
Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan’s face might as well appear in the dictionary under the definition of romantic comedy. She is Sally from When Harry Met Sally and Kate from Kate and Leopold. Basically, if it’s a rom-com — she’s there.
Before her days as ruler of the genre, Ryan was also part of a soap opera cast. The show was As the World Turns, and she played Betsey Stewart Montgomery Andropholous. A name longer than her marriage to Dennis Quaid.
David Hasselhoff
Blue eyes, perpetually tanned skin, and shoulders broad enough to land a helicopter on — David Hasselhoff has got it all. And when you have it all, you are bound to get snatched by a soap opera at some point.
"The Hoff" was indeed snatched by the soap opera The Young and the Restless. He put his assets to work and played Dr. William Foster (AKA Snapper) for several years.
Marisa Tomei
Marisa Tomei is a simply gorgeous actress who comes across as being unchanged by the passing of time. People who haven’t been keeping tabs on her professionally over time wouldn't remember that she’s now 55, let alone that she started in As the World Turns.
Jealous folks are convinced that plastic surgery or at least a host of beauty procedures are responsible for this. However, we can’t believe this is true. We maintain that Marisa is a natural celebrity beauty.