From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crystal Chappell (born August 4, 1965) is an American actress. She played Olivia Spencer on Guiding Light, and Carly Manning on Days of Our Lives, from 1990-1993; she began reprising that role on October 2, 2009.

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==Acting==

Soap opera and serial roles

Chappell's first daytime appearance was as a day player on All My Children in 1989. In a July 2006 interview in industry magazine Soap Opera Digest, Chappell recalled actor Maurice Benard helping her through her first scenes.

After a brief run on Santa Barbara, Chappell was cast as Dr. Carly Manning Alamain (Katerina von Leuschner) on Days of our Lives. She portrayed the role from June 1990 to October 1993. Chappell and future husband Michael Sabatino met on Days of our Lives, where he played villain Lawrence Alamain. Chappell was front-burner for most of her time on the show, first when her character Carly was featured in a romance with lead character Bo Brady (Peter Reckell, Robert Kelker-Kelly), and then in a complex, Byzantine storyline that featured her heretofore unknown secret identity as a European blueblood. The story culminated in a controversial plot that had Carly buried alive by Lawrence's aunt Vivian (Louise Sorel). Chappell left after difficult contract negotiations and differences with head writer James E. Reilly.

Chappell's next role was as Maggie Carpenter on One Life to Live from October 1995 through September 1997. The character of Maggie was created for Chappell, and she was again paired with a romantic lead on the show, Max Holden (James DePaiva). The character was eventually written out.

From July 2, 1999 to September 18, 2009 she played complex villainess/anti-heroine Olivia Spencer on Guiding Light . The role of Olivia was initially only intended to be a short-term role, but Chappell's portrayal was so popular she was signed to a contract.

She won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama for her work as Olivia in 2002 and was nominated again in the same category in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, she earned her first nomination in the Outstanding Lead Actress category.

In 2009, her character Olivia Spencer and Jessica Leccia's character Natalia Rivera were involved in the hugely popular same sex paring, Otalia. Which saw two presumably heterosexual women move from sworn enemies to a close friendship, to eventually, after a long period of dramatic angst, admitting their feelings towards each other and becoming a couple. The couple have been embraced by fans and critics alike, being named a 'super-couple' by Nelson Branco, of TV Guide Canada and writes "In an age of contrived and soulless couples, Olivia and Natalia’s burgeoning romance felt natural, innocent, and most importantly, real.". The final episodes of Guiding Light saw Natalia and Olivia move in and start a family together.

Chappell is set to reprise her role on Days of Our Lives in September 2009 and begin airing in October.^[1]

Following the phenomenal success of the pairing Otalia on Guiding Light, Chappell is currently creating a webseries along with Hope Royaltey and Kim Turrisi named Venice: The Series which will centre around the life of Gina (Chappell), a gay designer living in Venice Beach, California. Chappell will be starring alongside ex Guiding Light castmates Jessica Leccia as Ani; Gina's ex, Jordan Clarke as The Colonel; Gina's homophobic father, Galen Gering will play Owen; Gina's brother and Gina Tognoni will play Sami; Owen's love interest. The show will be aired in December 2009.

Contract controversy

In 2005, Chappell was ambivalent about re-signing to Guiding Light, as her storyline had ebbed considerably. Shortly after re-signing her contract, she was offered the front-burner role of Paige on One Life to Live. Since "GL" had recently cut a number of its actors from the cast roster, Chappell met with the producers to see if she could be released from her contract with GL.

The show ultimately refused. In a July 2006 interview with Soap Opera Digest, Chappell indicated that, while there are no hard feelings, she wasn't sure why the show was so eager to keep Olivia as a character, since the character had not been used much, particularly since the pairing of Olivia and Phillip ended.

Other roles

Chappell has also made appearances in the prime time shows Walker, Texas Ranger, Silk Stalkings, Pensacola: Wings of Gold, and Burke's Law.

Personal life

Chappell was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, and attended Arundel High School. She subsequently attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She was married to Scott Fanjoy from 1988 to 1991. She has been married to actor Michael Sabatino since January 6, 1997. They have two children, Jacob Walker (born April 2001) and Dylan Michael (born September 2, 2003). Chappell has said that she enjoys watching Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and reruns of Will and Grace.^[2]

Filmography

Awards

Won

• 2002 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Guiding Light)
• 1993 Soap Opera Digest Award Hottest Female Star (Days of our Lives)

Nominated

• 2008 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Leading Actress in a Drama Series (Guiding Light)
• 2007 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Leading Actress in a Drama Series (Guiding Light)
• 2006 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Guiding Light)
• 2005 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Guiding Light)

See also

• Otalia

References

External links

• Crystal Chappell at the Internet Movie Database
• CC and Friends - Crystal Chappell's Website
• Crystal Chappell's Twitter account page
• Crystal Chappell's Facebook page
• Crystal Chappell en Lesbicanarias (Spanish)
• Venice the Series Facebook page
• Profile from SoapCentral
• Crystal Chappell We Love Soaps page
• [http://www.venicetheseries.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=252&Itemid=71