Ilene Kristen is the
latest ABC legend to get the ax
Will the slaughter ever end? During the past year,
ABC has cavalierly dismissed some of its greatest stars - Finola
Hughes, James DePaiva, Linda Dano, Kin Shriner, and Marcy Walker, just
to name a few - in favor of new, young, and often inexperienced actors.
And now Ilene Kristen has been added to the list. The actress, who
plays trashy opportunist Roxy Balsom on One Life to Live, has been told
that her contract will not be renewed when it runs out next month.
According to an ABC publicist, "There is no more story for Roxy."
And that has Kristen mystified. "I'm really
scratchin' my ass over this one," says the veteran star, who saw her
airtime start to decrease last spring after she got an Emmy nomination.
"I'm not mad, but it makes no sense. Roxy is so bent, so delightfully
inappropriate - the possibilities for her were endless."
It certainly seemed so. Kristen, who earned legend
status as the original Delia on ABC's Ryan's Hope, joined OLTL in 2001
and was so quickly embraced by viewers that the writers gave Roxy two
adult offspring and a mom (the inimitable Sylvia Miles). Alas, ABC
Daytime chief Brian Frons - who was hired after Kristen's arrival - did
not share the fans' enthusiasm.
"But there's nothing I'd have done differently,"
Kristen says. "I'm a pro. I suit up and I show up, ready to act full
throttle - and I can do that somewhere else. I'm sad, but I'm being
very Zen. Who knows? Maybe this is a gift."