General Hospital Leads Daytime Emmy Nods

ABC’s General Hospital earned 18 Daytime Emmy nominations yesterday while The Young and the Restless scored 16 in anticipation of the 37th annual kudofest set to air live on CBS from Las Vegas on June 27th.

Both ABC’s GH and CBS’ Restless will vie for the outstanding drama series opposite CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful and ABC’s All My Children, which received 11 and 10 nominations, respectively.

The canceled CBS drama As the World Turns earned 13 nominations, while ABC’s One Life to Live snagged 13. NBC’s Days of Our Lives earned nine.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show got eight nominations, including one for outstanding talk show, while The View scored five and The Oprah Winfrey Show, four. Veteran soap writer Agnes Nixon, who created the series All My Children and One Life to Live, will be the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Here are some of the major categories:

Outstanding lead actress: Crystal Chappell as Olivia Spencer (Guiding Light); Michelle Stafford as Phyllis Newman (Y&R); Maura West as Carly Tenney (ATWT), Sarah Brown as Claudia Zacchara Corinthos (GH), Bobbie Eakes as Krystal Carey (AMC).

Outstanding lead actor: Peter Bergman as Jack Abbott (Y&R); Jon Lindstrom as Craig Montgomery (ATWT); Michael Park as Jack Snyder (ATWT); Doug Davidson as Paul Williams (Y&R); James Scott as EJ Dimera (Days).

Outstanding talk show, entertainment: Rachel Ray, Live with Regis & Kelly, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Outstanding talk show, informative: Dr. Phil, The Dr. Oz Show, and The Doctors.

Outstanding talk show host: Rachael Ray, Bonnie Hunt, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, and the women of The View.

Outstanding morning program: Good Morning America (ABC), Today Show (NBC), and CNN/American Morning.

Tribute to a Gay Soap Star: James Mitchell … aka Palmer Cortlandt of “All My Children”

While reading the obituary on actor James Mitchell in the LA Times, there were plenty of surprises to his "All My Children" fan.

The man who played the gruff patriarch Palmer Cortlandt for more than three decades on ABC’s All My Children was 89 years old! He also had the lead roles on Broadway musicals including Paint Your Wagon, Billion Dollar Baby, Brigadoon and Bloomer Girl. James also toured with Chita Rivera in The Three Penny Opera. He had many movie roles including The Turning Point, The Band Wagon, Oklahoma and Deep in My Heart.

And the most importantly surprise was that we did not know he was gay!

On the obituary, at the end of the second paragraph, it attributes the information about his death last Friday to his longtime partner Albert Wolsky.

Mitchell’s last All My Children appearance was earlier this month on the show’s 40th anniversary episode which was taped sometime in December. Palmer was gruff on the outside and could be quite a ruthless schemer in days gone by, but at the core of it was a deep love for his family.

All My Children fans may recall when he first came on the show as the over-controlling father of the beautiful Nina. Once she finally got a life of her own, and moved away, he had a lovely remarriage to Daisy (Nina’s mom) then a terrible one to Cynthia and also marriages to Donna and Opal.

May "Palmer Cortlandt" rest in peace.

"Palmer Cortlandt" has Passed Away at 79

Soap Opera Digest is reporting that longtime All My Children star James Mitchell (Palmer Cortlandt) died Friday, January 22nd, in LA of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, complicated by pneumonia.

Sacramento native Mitchell appeared on the soaps The Edge of Night as Lloyd Griffin and Where The Heart Is as Julian Hathaway prior to his run on All My Children which began in 1979. He earned seven Daytime Emmy nominations for the role of Palmer.

Mitchell started his career as a dancer and achieved great success appearing in films such as Moonlight in Havana, Rhythm of the Islands and White Savage.

Taylor Miller, who played Mitchell's daughter Nina on All My Children, spoke fondly of him in our recent interview: "James Mitchell (Palmer), one of the kindest men in the world, was about finding the humor in situations." She also spoke about requesting to come back to the show last year to spend time with him: "I wanted to come back on the show because James [Mitchell] is not feeling well. And I wanted to come back to be with him, to be able to see him more. And they said, 'No.'"

Mitchell recently appeared on All My Children's 40th anniversary show on January 5th.

Susan Lucci Shocked by All My Children's LA Move

It's not like she has to cross the wild prairie to get there, but for Susan Lucci the idea of moving west with her daytime drama All My Children is a overwhelming.

"We just found out a day and a half ago, and we've been dancing a marathon at All My Children ever since," the actress, 62, stated at Thursday's New York City Feed the Children's Daytime Gives Back event. "So, we're all walking around in shock."

What's Lucci's game plan for moving from New York (where AMC stops filming in December) to Los Angeles (where it starts up again January 4th)? "I don't know ... I love the show and I love playing Erica [Kane]," says the Scarsdale native who even went to college in New York. "But I'm just now going to have a couple of days off. It's a lot to think about."

Not that she's against switching coasts. "Everybody understands that it's a huge vote of confidence on the part of ABC ... it's going to be a great move for the show."

But still, "It's overwhelming," she admits. "I'm a New Yorker. My family is here. I love this city. So I have a lot to think about. "

All My Children's "Myrtle Fargate" has Died

Eileen Herlie, a stage and TV actress who appeared on All My Children for more than three decades as the motherly Myrtle Fargate, has died at 90. Herlie died Wednesday, October 8th of pneumonia, said Julie Hanan Carruthers, the ABC soap opera's executive producer.

The actress joined the long-running show in 1976 to play Myrtle, who became the surrogate mother to many of the soap's major characters, including Erica Kane, portrayed by Susan Lucci.

"I'm sure Eileen is lighting up the sky's in heaven with her flaming red hair and lovely Scottish accent," Lucci said. "The earth's loss is heaven's gain!"

Herlie's last appearance on the program was in June.

Before joining All My Children, Herlie was a regular on Broadway. She made her debut in Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker in 1955, playing milliner Irene Molloy in the comedy, which starred Ruth Gordon as Dolly Gallagher Levi.

Herlie is survived by a brother, nieces and nephews.