Sally Spectra
| Sally Spectra | |||||||||||||
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| The Bold and the Beautiful character | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Darlene Conley | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 1989–2007, 2012 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | January 11, 1989 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | October 26, 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Created by | William J. Bell | ||||||||||||
| Classification | Former, regular | ||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||
| Other names |
Sally Alexander Sally Garrison | ||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Home | Canary Islands, Spain | ||||||||||||
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Sally Spectra is a fictional character from the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Sally was played by actress Darlene Conley from 1988 until Conley's death on January 14, 2007, appearing until January 26, 2007, and again on October 26, 2012, as an extra playing The Bangles' Eternal Flame via a flashback memorial background.
Storylines
Sally, among other things, was a woman who lived life large. She was known for her large figure, open and very jovial personality, and her trademark red coiffure. She was often compared to the gal pal in old time movies.
For many years, Sally owned and operated Spectra Fashions (later renamed Spectra Couture). For most of that time, the company was called a knock-off firm, since her designers often stole from the more established Forrester firm. At Spectra, Sally was usually helped by her daughter Macy Alexander (Bobbie Eakes), Sally's receptionist, Darla Einstein (Schae Harrison), who Sally thought of as a daughter and Saul Feinberg (Michael Fox). Also seen often was fashion designer Clarke Garrison (Daniel McVicar), who Sally at first blackmailed to design for Spectra while working for Forester but later crossovered to Spectra completely and began to woo Sally. Despite being warned by her family and friends that Clarke only wanted her company Sally married him. Despite the fact that Clarke at first claimed to be impotent he eventually fathered C.J. (Mick Cain), Sally's son. Sally's fears were realized when she discovered that Clarke was involved with Kristen Forrester (then played by Terri Ann Linn). With the help of her Spectra family Sally managed to prove Clarke's infidelity to court and thus avoided losing her company. Sally divorced Clarke and he left town.
Her relationships with the Forrester family were mixed. Eric Forrester (John McCook) admired her scrappiness, since that was how his father was when he began working in fashion. Sally, in fact, was absolutely crazy about Eric. Sally always kept the Forresters on their toes and often managed to get one up on them. Sally was fascinated with the Forester family and often crashed many Forrester family events. These actions did not take kindly with Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery) and the two began a long feud. However, the feud between them ended in later years, as the two women came to more fully understand and respect one-another.
Her daughter, Macy Alexander, was married to Thorne Forrester (Winsor Harmon) for quite a number of years, and had a long on-again/off-again relationship. Her surrogate daughter, Darla, was also married to Thorne until her life was tragically cut short recently (see main article).
Sadly, her company eventually went under, after a very disastrous gamble of choosing to compete with the Forrester's head to head. She shut down, and then sold off, what was left of her company. She then began working at Forrester Creations as the new receptionist, replacing Megan Conley (Maeve Quinlan). This came about after trying, and failing, to find a suitable receptionist. Sally offered her services, but warned that she didn't come cheap. She wanted a limo and a handsome driver with biceps, a sign of her very flirtatious and fun-loving nature. Sally also moved with Thorne, Darla, and their daughter, Alexandria (Harley Graham) for a while, and stayed with Thorne and Alexandria even after Darla's death. Sally had some medical issues recently which resulted in needing to use a wheelchair. (This was due to a real-life leg injury that Darlene Conley suffered)
Sally last appeared on-screen in November 2006 (shortly after, Darlene Conley died on January 14, 2007). For a long time after Darlene Conley's death, nothing was explained about Sally's absence, except mention by her son, C.J. that she had been ill. Finally, in November 2007 it was revealed by CJ to Clarke (and to the viewers as well) that Sally was alive and well, and true to her flirtatious and fun-loving nature, was living in the South of France with a string of cabana boys. It was also revealed that since the new owners of Spectra had gone bankrupt, ownership of the company had been reverted to Sally. She decided not to return to L.A. and run it but instead to sell the company. There are no plans to kill the character off, as initially speculated.
In April 2009, Clarke revealed that Sally is currently in Canary Islands with a string of cabana boys.
On July 27, 2009, Sally called Clarke to send her love and best wishes to everyone at Jackie M where her picture still hangs on the wall.
On Christmas Eve 2009, Stephanie told Pam that unlike in past years, she did not receive a Christmas card from Sally, which usually consisted of the boasting of all the cabana boys. Stephanie believes she will still hear from her, but in the meantime offers a toast to her picture.
At Christmas 2010 Stephanie buys the Insomnia by CJ, who told her that his mother is fine. In 2011, during the Thanksgiving Day, Stephanie and Eric receive a phone call from Sally, who informs them that she is spending a holiday on a Greek island.
Family
Sally has been married twice, first to Adam Alexander (Michael Swan) by whom she had a daughter, Macy and later to Clarke Garrison (Daniel McVicar), with whom she has a son named C.J. (Clarke Jr.) (Mick Cain) She was also a doting grandmother figure to Thorne's daughter, Alexandria, with whom she had a very loving relationship. Sally also considered Darla (Schae Harrison) her daughter since she was an orphan.
Relationship with Stephanie Forrester
Her relationship with Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery) was unique. For years, they often fought and fussed, due to her firm's knock-off reputation. These spats often ended with Sally taking an unceremonious dip in the water, usually instigated by Stephanie. (At that time, her catch phrase was a usually loud "Hello, Stephanie!") One time, Stephanie and Sally were drunk in Stephanie's office at Forrester, and Stephanie allowed Sally to cut her hair, which ended disastrously, but hilariously. This was the explanation for Susan Flannery's sudden change of hair style, from her previously shoulder-length, to her now trademark cropped style.
Time helped cement the two women's friendship. Sally called Stephanie "Highness" or "Queenie"; at first the nicknames were meant to be sarcastic, but became terms of affection. (Stephanie called her "doll" and she also referred to her as "Sal, my gal") She was considered to be part of the extended Forrester family, often joining Stephanie at family functions (this was by virtue of Sally's daughter Macy, and later, her surrogate daughter, Darla, being married to Thorne Forrester). Even after Forrester was unwillingly sold to Nick Marone (Jack Wagner), Sally was still considered family, and beloved by everyone. In fact, Eric considered her a Forrester herself. She also gave nicknames to others in her extended family, namely Felicia Forrester (Lesli Kay), whom she affectionately called "Fifi." In addition, Sally defended Stephanie against Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown), who was harassing the Forrester matriarch after poisoning her with mercury pills, this planted the seeds of Stephanie and Sally's friendship.