Beth Ehlers bolts Guiding Light for All My Children
You could call it bailing from a sinking ship, assuming you think the current changes on Guiding Light are something like being on the Titanic. On the other hand, it may just be a talented actress spreading her wings to take on a new challenge. However you couch it, Guiding Light star Beth Ehlers is bolting the CBS soap for ABC’s All My Children. She’ll be assuming the role of Liza Colby Chandler, the part most recently played by Marcy Walker (who played Tangie back on Guiding Light in 1993).
This is the second major exit from GL, and it seems that the bottom line reason for the departures is the bottom line. Cost cutting across the board at the P&G soaps — GL and As the World Turns — have squeezed the actors salaries. Martha Byrne and Scott Bryce left ATWT in recent months, reportedly in contract disputes, and Ricky Paull Goldin departed GL last month and was quickly snatched up by All My Children. Just like Ehlers.
And how coincidental that they were a major couple in Springfield. They even won a special Daytime Emmy in 2002 as America’s Favorite Couple — GL’s Harley and Gus. Well, now they can spark that same chemistry in Pine Valley. Move over, Erica and Adam and Tad and Joe, you’ve got company.
A little over a year ago, I interviewed Beth for TV Week, and she talked about her tenure on GL. “It was the only show she’d ever appeared on, and she’s been there on and off since 1987. “When I came on 20 years ago, I very quickly learned the Guiding Light was based on family and relationships. It was a real actors’ show. I feel lucky to have been a part of it. This is the only show that I’ve ever done and I’m proud of that.” Now she can see what it’s like to be proud of being part of All My Children. She’s expected to start early this summer.
Courteney Cox Arquette Biography
A whisper-thin, raven-haired beauty of TV and film, Courteney Cox first registered with audiences when she was plucked from the crowd by Bruce Springsteen in the Brian De Palma-directed video for The Boss’ hit 1984 single “Dancing in the Dark”. Work for the prestigious Ford Modeling Agency and appearances in Noxzema and Maybelline commercials (among others) and a bit part on the CBS soap “As the World Turns” preceded the video, after which she snagged a regular role in the short-lived primetime series “Misfits of Science” (NBC, 1985-86). Cox then joined the cast of the hit NBC sitcom “Family Ties” for the final two seasons (1987-89) as the brainy girlfriend of Alex P Keaton (Michael J Fox). She made the leap to the big screen, appearing in the little-seen caper film “Down Twisted” and the children’s sci-fi epic “Masters of the Universe” (both 1987), and “Cocoon: The Return” (1988), none of which registered much with critics or audiences.
For the rest of the 80s and into the early 90s, Cox alternated between TV and feature films, often trading on her girl-next-door qualities. While she landed the female lead opposite Jim Carrey in the smash hit “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” (1994), she was overshadowed by the flashy antics of her co-star. Cox finally achieved small screen stardom as the neurotic aspiring chef Monica Geller, serving as the anchor of the ensemble, in the hit sitcom “Friends” (NBC, 1994-2004)–initially viewed as the star of the show, she easily settled into the emerging ensemble and, after a few seasons of playing Monica relatively straight, she showed her comedic chops as the character’s quirks–such as her hyper-cleanliness–emerged. She displayed her dramatic prowess as a blind rape victim in the made-for-cable movie “Sketch Artist II: Hands that See” (Showtime, 1995) before becoming the first of the “Friends” to score a big screen hit with Wes Craven’s “Scream” (1996). Cast against type as savvy, ambitious TV newscaster Gale Weathers, Cox delivered a strong performance and she reprised the part in the inevitable sequels “Scream 2″ (1997) and “Scream 3″ (2000). Unfortunately, “Commandments” (both 1997), in which she portrayed the unhappy wife of Anthony LaPaglia, embarking on an affair with her brother-in-law (Aidan Quinn), failed to mine the versatility she displayed in the Craven movies. After a string of roles in unimpressive films–”3000 Miles to Graceland,” “The Shrink Is In” and “Get Well Soon” (all 2001), Cox focused primarily on her series and her marriage to her “Scream” co-star David Arquette, whom she married in 1999 (the actress also added the Arquette name to her professional credits). As the final season of “Friends” wound down in 2004, Cox Arquette, had her share of options, motherhood was looming, she’d signed to appear in a slate of feature films, and she ahd her husband had already served as executive producers and design consultants on the home improvement reality series “Mix It Up” (2003-2004) on the cable network WE: Women’s Entertainment, a series that focused on helping couples blend their disparate design senisbilities when they move in together.
- Also Credited As:
Courteney Cox, S. Belsky - Born:
on 06/15/64 in Birmingham, Alabama - Job Titles:
Actor, Model
Family
- Brother: Richard Cox. older
- Father: Richard Cox. born c. 1931; divorced Cox’s mother in 1974; remarried in 1975; underwent treatment for liver cancer in 2001; died on September 3, 2001
- Mother: Courteney Copeland. divorced Cox’s father in 1974; married businessman Hunter Copeland in 1976
- Sister: Dottie Pickett. born c. 1962
- Sister: Virginia Cox. eldest sister
- Step-father: Hunter Copeland. married Cox’s motherin 1976
Significant Others
- Husband: David Arquette. met during filming of “Scream”; Arquette announced their engagement in October 1998; married on June 12, 1999 in San Francisco
- Companion: Ian Copeland. brother of musician Stewart Copeland of The Police; born c. 1949; Cox’s stepcousin
- Companion: Michael Keaton. together from 1989 until separating in July 1995
Education
- Mount Vernon College, Washington, DC, architecture
Milestones
- 1984 Cast as the dancing girl in the Brian De Palma-directed video “Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen
- 1984 TV acting debut on the CBS daytime serial, “As the World Turns”; had bit role as friend of Marisa Tomei’s Marcy
- 1985 Cast as a regular on the TV series, “Misfits of Science” (NBC)
- 1987 Joined the cast of the NBC sitcom “Family Ties”, portraying Michael J Fox’s love interest
- 1987 Feature acting debut, “Down Twisted”
- 1987 TV-movie debut, “If It’s Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium” (NBC)
- 1988 Co-starred in the feature “Cocoon: The Return,” opposite Steve Guttenberg
- 1990 Acted in CBS miniseries, “Judith Krantz’s Till We Meet Again”
- 1990 Returned to films, appearing in the earnest, well-acted, but routine “Shaking the Tree” and the disappoiting “Mr Destiny”, starring James Belushi
- 1991 Starred with D B Sweeney in the little-seen thriller “Blue Desert”
- 1993 Cast in the short-lived CBS sitcom “The Trouble With Larry”
- 1994 Co-starred as would-be chef Monica Geller in the ensemble sitcom “Friends” (NBC)
- 1994 Listed by PEOPLE magazine as one of the world’s 50 Most Beautiful People
- 1994 Was leading lady to Jim Carrey in the screen comedy “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective”
- 1996 Returned to features as bitchy TV newsreporter Gale Weathers in the hit horror film “Scream”
- 1997 Co-starred in the pallid triangular comedy-drama “Commandments”
- 1997 Reprised role of Gale Weathers in the sequel “Scream 2″
- 2001 Had co-starring role in “3000 Miles to Graceland”
- 2002 Featured alongside Kenneth Branagh and Heather Graham in “Alien Love Triangle”, the Danny Boyle-directed segment of the anthology film “Light Years” (filmed 1998)
- 2003 Produced “Mix It Up,” a decorating show on cable network WE
- 2004 Starred the production company Coquette with husband David Arquette
- 2005 Played Adam Sandler’s demanding girlfriend in “The Longest Yard”
- 2005 Took a dramatic turn in “November” playing Sopie, a woman who’s boyfriend is shot to death in a robbery
- Appeared in commercials for products including Noxzema, Maybelline and Tampax (was the first person to say “period” in a nonpunctuation context on network TV)
- Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama
- Cast as a D.A. in Nick Cassavetes’ “Alpha Dog,” a drama based on the life of Jesse James Hollywood (lensed 2005)
- Moved to NYC the summer before her freshman year in college; began working with Ford Modeling Agency, posing as a teen model for TIGER BEAT and YOUNG MISS magazines and for covers of romance novels marketed for young girls
- Returned to NYC after attending one year at Mount Vernon College in Washington, DC
- Will join Tim Allen in the superhero comedy “Zoom” (lensed 2005)