Screen Idol-Turned-Soap Star Dies

1950s movie legend Farley Granger died at his Manhattan home on March 27 at the age of 85 from natural causes. Movie buffs will forever remember Granger for his roles in several Alfred Hitchcock films, including 1948’s Rope and 1951’s Strangers On A Train, but after leaving Hollywood for New York City, the actor found a successful second career in the world of daytime dramas. He received a Daytime Emmy nomination as Outstanding Actor in 1977 for his role as ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s Dr. Will Vernon, and played Trent on THE EDGE OF NIGHT before settling in at AS THE WORLD TURNS in 1986 as Earl Mitchell, one of Lisa’s numerous husbands.

ATWT grande dame Eileen Fulton (Lisa) tells Soaps In Depth that she was just beside herself when she learned that Granger would be playing her next Oakdale beau. “Such a handsome man. When I was in high school, his movie about the Hatfields and the McCoys came out,” Fulton says of 1949’s Rosanna McCoy, starring Granger and Joan Evans as young lovers caught between their feuding families. “We all had such a crush on Farley. When I heard that he was going to be my husband, I got all dressed up that morning to go to the studio. I wore black with pearls, I was really dolled up. I ran in, jumped on his lap and sang the little melody from the movie, and he said, ‘Oh, I just hated that movie!'”

Granger had a special fondness for his leading lady, as well. “I’ll never forget the night he took me home from a cast party. He said, ‘Eileen, I love you. I really love you,'” Fulton recalls with a smile. “I remember looking down from being dazzled by his words… and saw his black sneakers sticking out from his tuxedo pants! He laughed and said, ‘No one will notice my feet. But if they do, then I know I’ve lost my touch.’ He never lost his looks or his charm. When I ran into him a year ago at a gathering, he was just as magnificent. I don’t think he ever lost his touch.”

Fulton adds that she has Granger to thank for her success as a cabaret singer. “He is the one who is responsible for getting me my voice teacher,” she shares. “I’m singing all over the country now. I love that. And I loved working with him.”