@@NS-vw8pm Same here. Other actresses that followed paled in comparison. She portrayed Opal as brash and classless but that's what made her so lovable. I also was crushing on Jenny at the time.
The chemistry between DL and KD was amazing,DLs scenes with Darnell Williams were also amazing,wish Lyman had come back for atleast some interviews like KD and LL did she deserved her Emmy(S)
Opal was a horrible mother. After a couple of years she mellowed out some but in the first year or so she was so mean to Jenny. Making her lie about her age and work at a sleezy bar dressed in a skimpy outfit, (at 16 years old), and yelling at her all the time were just some of the things she put her through. I wished Opal had to answer for her abuse and neglect to both her and Tad, but she never did. She was about 1/2 a notch better than Ray Gardner.
Well for me Kim was looking best in NYPD Blue days...Nowadays she became plastic doll.. I cant understand how some people cant stand the fact that everyone gets old.. As i said for me she was gorgious 15 years later than video above.
Dorothy Lyman was NOT asked to return to the role of Opal because many people said that she was extremely difficult to work with. Kim Delaney was also said to be very difficult. It has been said that DL and KD were fired from their roles because of this and they never quit (even though DL was on "Mama's Family").
Even DL said that she was free when AMC producers decided to bring back Opal and she was most definitely not contacted about it. This was at the time that Jill Larson was coming off One Life To Live as Ursula and she was free. Her AMC recast was one of the best in its history.
"Opal' is fired for being difficult. "Jenny' is fired for cocaine issues. Blimey! The two sanist members of a the Gardner clan are father and son,...a rapist and a womaniser. OoooKAY. Michael E.Knight was with the show til the very end and Gil Rogers made occasional return visits (like when Tad ended up in heaven after the tornado.)
Both actresses were never welcomed back. Kim Delaney was fired (though she did return as a ghost briefly in 1994) and no one wanted Dorothy Lyman back even when she was available when the show brought Opal back in 1989.
You never have that no more on soap... I love Dorothy Lyman I am sorry but the one who plays Opal now is just weird... This character is smart... with her country talking self...lol but you cannot pull the wool over her eyes.
