Latest news with #AstheWorldTurns'
New York Post
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘As the World Turns' soap opera star Eileen Fulton dead at 91
Eileen Fulton, the beloved soap opera star best known for 'As the World Turns,' has passed away. She was 91. Fulton died on Monday, July 14, in her hometown of Asheville, N.C., following 'a period of declining health,' according to an obituary from Groce Funeral Home. Born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty in Asheville on September 13, 1933, Fulton's father worked as a Methodist minister, and her mother was a public school teacher. Advertisement 7 Eileen Fulton in the 1960s. Courtesy Everett Collection 7 Eileen Fulton as the conniving Lisa Grimaldi in 'As the World Turns.' ©CBS/Courtesy Everett Collection The legendary actress once said that her first performance took place at church when she was just 2 years old. Advertisement 'I jumped from my mother's lap and ran to the altar and sang, 'Mama's little baby loves shortening bread,'' she told CBS News in 1998. 'They couldn't shut me up, and they haven't been able to shut me up since.' After studying drama and music at Greensboro College, Fulton moved to New York City in 1956 and took classes with famed acting teachers Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg. 7 Eileen Fulton as Lisa Grimaldi in a 1965 episode of 'As the World Turns.' ©CBS/Courtesy Everett Collection But it wasn't until 1960 that the actress, now using the stage name Eileen Fulton, was cast as Lisa Mae Bailey in the drama film 'Girl of the Night' alongside co-star Anne Francis. Advertisement Later that same year, Fulton was cast as the conniving Lisa Grimaldi on 'As the World Turns' during the soap's fourth season. Although her character was initially supposed to have a short role in the CBS drama, Fulton remained on 'As the World Turns' until the show came to an end 50 years later in September 2010. 7 The soap opera star in 'Our Private World,' a brief spin-off of 'As the World Turns,' in 1965. Courtesy Everett Collection Don Hastings, who played Bob Hughes, portrayed Fulton's on-screen love interest for the majority of the soap's lengthy run. Advertisement 'I had a lot of experience being conniving as a minister's daughter,' Fulton shared with NPR in 2010. 'I found the people in my daddy's church fascinating.' 'When I went up for Lisa, she was just a nice girl next door. And just for the summer, for Bob's interest,' she added. 'I didn't want to play anything so close to myself. So I decided to just give her a background.' 7 Eileen Fulton as Lisa Grimaldi in 'As the World Turns.' ©CBS/Courtesy Everett Collection 'I thought about where her family came from. I thought about what she really wanted. And I thought amazing thoughts when I did those scenes,' Fulton continued. 'I didn't change their lines – not yet, because I knew better – but I certainly had other ideas about what I'd like to do with that Bob. And it read.' By the end of the series, Fulton's character had gone through eight husbands and dozens of different lovers. Fulton was surprised when CBS announced that 'As the World Turns' would end in 2010 after an impressive 54 seasons. 7 Eileen Fulton and the cast of 'As the World Turns' in 1971. ©CBS/Courtesy Everett Collection 'It's just a shock – it's like mother and daddy got divorced or died or something,' she said at the time. Advertisement However, the actress was confident that everyone from the show would land on their feet. 'We're all very good at what we do, and we'll all be working again,' she added. 7 Eileen Fulton attends a farewell to the cast of 'As the World Turns' at the Paley Center for Media on August 18, 2010, in New York City. Getty Images Besides 'As the World Turns,' Fulton starred in the Broadway play 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' in 1963. She also appeared in 'Our Private World,' a brief spin-off of 'As the World Turns,' in 1965. Advertisement Fulton earned a Soap Opera Digest Award for her role as Lisa Grimaldi in 1991 and was later presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Daytime Emmys. 'I have gone through two lives, my own and Lisa's, and not many actors get to do that,' she told The New York Times in 1995.
New York Post
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Soap star on crusade to save her husband — accused of spying
Emmy-winning soap star Martha Byrne is in the midst of her most challenging role yet — starring in a real-life spy drama. A seemingly routine job taken by her husband, former NYPD cop Michael McMahon, 57, unraveled into an almost 10-year nightmare, resulting in him becoming the first private investigator convicted of spying for the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the US. In one scene which could have been plucked from Hollywood thriller, a dozen FBI agents surrounded their New Jersey home in the fall of 2020. Advertisement 8 Martha Byrne's book is out today. 'From the moment the FBI knocks on your door, your fight-or-flight instinct kicks in,' said Byrne, who played Lily Walsh on 'As the World Turns' in the mid-'80s and again from 1993 to 2008. 'It starts when you wake up until nightfall, when sleep is interrupted by a powerful demonic entity threatening to tear your entire life apart.' 8 Martha Byrne said she found strength in her Catholic faith in the battle to exonerate her husband. Tamara Beckwith Advertisement The mother-of-three has transformed herself into an investigator, advocate, personal trainer and even amateur psychiatrist for her husband's cause. McMahon denies he knowingly worked for the Chinese government, and has long maintained he is a scapegoat used by the Department of Justice to score political points by making an example of him. Byrne's continuing fight to exonerate McMahon is told in her new book, 'In the Interest of Justice: One Woman's Fight Against a Weaponized Justice Department to Save Her Husband.' 8 Michael McMahon, a highly decorated NYPD veteran, suffered a series of panic attacks after his arrest on conspiracy for acting as a spy for China in 2000. Tamara Beckwith Advertisement 'You don't have to have the largest army to conquer the enemy, just the smartest,' she writes. Armed with her computer and cell phone, Byrne, 55, has become an expert on Operation Fox Hunt — the Chinese government's scheme to track down and prosecute dissidents in foreign countries, mostly without the cooperation of their sovereign governments. The Post previously revealed a Chinese police station in Lower Manhattan, where officials allegedly often work with local private investigators to nab Chinese nationals, usually on charges from the motherland. McMahon was convicted of stalking a New Jersey couple who are Chinese expatriates. He maintains he had no knowledge he had been working on behalf of the PRC. Advertisement 8 Martha Byrne acted as a domestic drill sergeant in order to keep her husband's spirits up while they prepared for his trial in 2023. Tamara Beckwith After his 2020 arrest, McMahon began having panic attacks, according to Byrne, who snapped into action and became his personal trainer. 'You can have one day in bed,' she told her husband. 'But ONLY one … Depending on his mood, I balanced the dual role of cheerleader and tough love drill sergeant.' She also knocked on doors — going to police precincts in New Jersey to tell her husband's story, and seeking out other private detectives to warn them they were potential DOJ targets and of the need to verify Chinese clients were not working for the PRC. 'Justice would most certainly prevail,' she writes. 'We just had to fight.' 8 Martha Byrne worked as an investigator and advocate for her husband, trying to clear his name. Gregory P. Mango Not everyone rushed to help. Byrne went to see 2017 New York City mayoral candidate Bo Dietl, who runs one of the biggest PI firms in the world, based in Manhattan. She claims he listened to her story and then had a colleague hand her a card with a lawyer's name on it before abruptly ending the meeting. The Post previously revealed that Dietl went into business with a Chinese security company in 2015 and had boasted on WABC's 'Sid and Friends in the Morning' that he had surveilled the exiled Chinese billionaire dissident Miles Guo. He has never faced any charges related to this and declined to comment Wednesday. Advertisement Among those who have backed Bryne's fight is retired FBI agent Kevin Hecht, one of the foremost experts on Chinese counterintelligence, who began investigating Operation Fox Hunt in 2016. Despite his extensive experience, Hecht told The Post last week that he was never consulted on McMahon's case. He called McMahon's case an example of 'malicious prosecution' on the part of the DOJ. 8 Bo Dietl worked with a Chinese security firm and conducted surveillance on a Chinese billionaire. Paul Martinka Advertisement 'The facts of this case show McMahon was not part of the Fox Hunt scheme, but rather, used to obtain documentation of a civil nature, such as real estate and other financial footprints,' Hecht said in a statement. While preparing for McMahon's trial, which began 2023, the family was horrified when they found out that the federal government had obtained a secret warrant to track their emails. 'One day in early 2021 we received a very disturbing letter from Microsoft alerting us they had complied with a search warrant issued on December 31, 2018, from the Department of Justice for our emails,' she writes. 'We knew the government must have looked through our emails but seeing it in writing is something I can't describe. Microsoft's letter [said] the warrant was now finally closed. How long had it been open? We felt completely violated. I had no idea if they had spied on our children. How often was I followed' Advertisement 8 The People's Republic of China set up a 'police station' in Lower Manhattan in order to spy on dissidents in New York. REUTERS The family never found out. But Byrne said agents scoured 10 years of her and McMahon's banking records and credit card bills. Now, as McMahon prepares to turn himself in to authorities to serve his 18-month sentence on June 16, they are hoping for President Trump to intervene and issue a pardon. 'It brought me hope when I saw the caliber of people Donald Trump appointed to his administration … many who at one time had been targets of the government themselves,' she wrote. Advertisement McMahon was hired in fall 2016 by what he believed was a translation company from New Jersey to do surveillance on a luxury Short Hills, NJ, home occupied by a relative of Xu Jin and Liu Fang, and to use public records to find companies and other assets registered to the couple. 8 Byrne, seen here at home with McMahon, says the family has almost exhausted their funds trying to exonerate McMahon. Tamara Beckwith/NY POST He was told that he was locating assets for a civil court case. Xu and Liu, he was told, had stolen money from a construction company and the people who hired him wanted to find where the cash had gone. What he was not told was that Xu was a former Wuhan official who had fled China amid allegations of corruption. McMahon's work was used without his knowledge in a 2018 New Jersey civil suit against the couple and others, brought by the Xinba Construction Group Co., alleging they had embezzled millions. Xinba won a nearly $15 million default judgment in 2019, court records show. Meanwhile, Byrne and her family have practically exhausted their savings on legal fees, she writes, adding they have very little left to fund an appeal. 'Not sure what more I can do,' she told The Post. 'Pray. That's all I do. And slowly, prayers are getting answered.'
