Lynne Moody may best be known to soap fans for her role as doomed Pat Williams (AKA Dr. Samantha Sollars) on Knots Landing, but the actress also had a stint on General Hospital as Florence Campbell, Marcus Taggert’s mom, from 2000-02. A popular story on soaps is a heroine being reunited with a long-lost child and that’s something Moody experienced in real-life.
Lynne Moody Gets A Happy Ending
The Sedona Red Rock News in Arizona reported that in June of 2018, Moody and the daughter she gave up for adoption when Moody was a teenager were reunited.
On December 10, 1964, Moody, at the age of 18, gave birth to a baby girl for whom she wasn’t able to care. While Moody went to live in a home for unwed mothers, her daughter was adopted by a family. Lisa Wright, Moody’s daughter, knew since childhood that she was adopted but had always wondered about her origins and ethnicity makeup. She used the DNA testing service known as 23andMe.
First, a potential match came through for Wright and a connection with a man named Carlton Moody. Wright cautiously reached out to Moody, and he gave her some info.
“I told him that I was adopted as a baby and that my mother was very young and had come to Los Angeles because she wanted to make it in Hollywood,” said Wright. “Before I could finish, he stopped me and said, ‘Lisa, you are my niece.’ Now, I’m in my office, sweating and crying. He said he knew exactly when his sister had her baby and then said, ‘As of this minute, you are my favorite niece.’”
Moody told Wright that her birth mother never stopped loving her and was hoping to find her. (Lynne Moody never wed or had other children.)
When Moody told his niece who her mother was, Wright said, “Wait…I know that name.” A quick image search on the web and Wright saw Moody’s picture. “I then realized that I grew up watching my mother on TV…it felt like a dream.”
Next, Wright and her birth mother met in person. “For 54 years I had to learn how to deal with the fact that I had a daughter out there, not knowing if she was dead or alive,” Moody said. “For the first time in my life I was able to say, ‘Yes, honey, I am your mother.’ I was still nervous. I wasn’t sure if she’d hate me, resent me, accept me, love me. I didn’t know.”
When they were finally reunited, hugs were exchanged and tears flowed. Later, Wright met additional relatives. Moody, in turn, has also met her grandson, Nick, 31.
“The last year and a half has been mind-blowing from the reactions to the embracing of her by everyone,” Moody says. “It’s a story about love and never giving up. At 73 I’m experiencing a new world as a result of what has happened and I couldn’t be happier.” General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes.
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