Who Did This Strawberry Shortcake Doll Peddler Grow Up To Play On Soaps?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but we wonder what good is a picture when you can’t recognize the subject? Above is a snapshot of a future star of soaps, but can you guess who this peddler of Strawberry Shortcake dolls grew up to be?

Star Of The Soaps

Obviously, this young woman (now all grown up) is either currently starring in, or is an alum of, one of the four remaining daytime dramas – The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of 0ur Lives, General Hospital, and The Young and the Restless – but that’s probably not enough of a hint.

So try these on for size. Her professional career began when she was 9 years old. She is a soap hopper. Her first film saw her cast opposite Peter O’Toole. She married a fellow daytime performer. She is the recipient of a Daytime Emmy award. And her first TV role was a recurring part on the medical drama St. Elsewhere.

But just who can be? Is this a photograph of Barbara Crampton (ex-Maggie Forrester, BB), Cady McClain (Jennifer Rose Horton Deveraux, DAYS), Robin Mattson (ex-Heather Webber, GH), or Tricia Cast (Nina Webster, YR)?

Barbara Crampton

Though Crampton has a plethora of soaps roles to her credit – DAYS (ex-Trista Evans Bradford), Rituals (ex-Sandy Hutchison), Santa Barbara (ex-Paula), YR (ex-Leanna Love), Guiding Light (ex-Mindy Lewis), BB, and Spyder Games (ex-Dr. Leslie Bogan) – the fact is, she didn’t begin to act professionally until her mid-twenties…and her first film role was the erotic thriller Body Double, which didn’t feature O’Toole. So there’s no way that she’s today’s featured actor.

Robin Mattson

She’s played scheme queens on GH, Ryan’s Hope (ex-Delia Ryan), Santa Barbara (ex-Gina Capwell), All My Children (ex-Janet Dillon), BB (ex-Sugar), and DAYS (ex-Lee Michaels), a put-upon heroine on Guiding Light (ex-Hope Bauer), and she was a former prostitute turned Madame looking to reunite with her son of As the World Turns.

But the majority of Mattson’s history doesn’t match our mystery performer. Just for starters, she began acting at the age of 7 and her screen debut was made in the O’Toole-less Namu, the Killer Whale.

Tricia Cast

Cast was 12 when she was hired to play Amanda Wurlitzer, the Tatum O’Neal role in the TV version of The Bad News Bears, and she never starred opposite O’Toole in a feature film…so, like the three talented ladies before her, Cast isn’t the person we’re looking for.

Cady McClain

It was McClain herself who posted this adorable flashback photo, and she accompanied it with a message that reads in part, “Here’s a FB to an early ‘80’s commercial where I was the ‘Strawberry Shortcake’ spokesperson.

“I’ve been in front of a professional camera since I was 9 years old. I’m grateful to have been able to learn not only the acting side but some of the importance of communication and protocol of the technical side.

“I know in my bones both the magic of the illusion, and the teamwork required to make it happen. You see a face, I see 100 people- gaffers, truck drivers, caterers, makeup and hair artists, camera people, PA’s and producers – who all played their part in making the image possible.”

So, if you guessed that the future star of soaps see in the picture above was Cady McClain, the winner of the 2004 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor and the spouse of GH veteran actor Jon Lindstrom (Kevin/Ryan), then you were absolutely correct!