John McCook Reminisces About Late Bold and the Beautiful Star Darlene Conley

On The Bold and the Beautiful, John McCook’s Eric is one of the nicest guys around. In fact, probably the worst thing he ever did was bamboozle the original Sally Spectra, who was played by the late Darlene Conley. On the 17th anniversary of her death, McCook reminisced about Conley, whose bombastic presence and dazzling personality are still fondly remembered today, along with her place in soap opera history.

She Amped Up the Energy

McCook spoke with Soaps and remembered being in the makeup room getting ready when Conley’s voice could be heard, almost as if the great Ethel Merman had entered the joint and livened things up. He said she would announce, “Hello, darling!” upon entering the studio and between her outlandish wigs and wardrobe, as well as amazing presence, McCook explained, “Everything about her was unique, and there will never be another like her. She dared to do what nobody else would.”

He described how her large personality electrically charged the air when she entered a room. He praised her enthusiasm and professionalism, as well as the fact that she appeared to bring with her “the circus and vaudeville and theater and burlesque and opera…she brought it all when she came into the room!”

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Eric’s One Bad Deed

When Eric thought Sally had stolen some of Forrester Creations designs, he purposely got close to her and even proposed to her, and she believed he was truly in love with her. This was all a scheme to get Sally to cop to the theft, and McCook felt bad about it, remarking that, “It was probably the most evil thing Eric has done in all the years I’ve played him.” But at the end of the day, Conley was his scene partner and for that experience he was grateful. “She acted the hell out of the material,” he enthused.

Conley’s electric personality livened the studio up, and McCook fondly remembered what it was like. He explained any given day during production could turn out to be a lackluster same old, same old. But when Conley would make her grand entrance, “She’d come to remind you that this was show business, baby!” (Revisit more of Sally and Eric’s 1990s antics.)