Lesli Kay (born Lesli Kay Pushkin on June 13, 1965 in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

) is an American actress, who is known primarily for her roles on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...

'' and ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...

''.

Career

At age 12, she had the first individual girl's bat mitzvah in the state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. She moved to New York City at the age of 15 to pursue a modeling career. Kay later worked at

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and won $27,500 on ''

Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or ''Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-Jo ...

''. In 1997 she made her daytime debut as Molly Conlan on ''

''. For some time the character was not very popular due to Molly's villainous behavior, but she eventually won a 2001

Daytime Emmy The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

for Best Supporting Actress in addition to charming viewers during her romance with Jake McKinnon ( Tom Eplin). When Jake was killed off in 2002, Molly again became adrift, and Kay left the show in early 2004 after a number of promised storylines never appeared. Kay popped up a few months later to recast the popular, brassy character of

Lois Cerullo ''General Hospital'' is the longest-running American television serial drama, airing on ABC. Created by Frank and Doris Hursley, it originally was set it in a general hospital (hence the title), in an unnamed fictional city. In the 1970s, the c ...

on ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

''. Kay (and the resurrected character of Lois) exited ''GH'' in early 2005 after mutually agreeing to part ways with the show. In November 2005, Kay assumed the role of

Felicia Forrester Felicia Forrester is a fictional character from the CBS Daytime soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful''. Originally portrayed by actress Colleen Dion-Scotti, the role was portrayed on-off Lesli Kay from November 2005 to 2014, with a brief r ...

on ''

'', taking over for

Colleen Dion Colleen Dion-Scotti (also credited as Colleen Dion) is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Felicia Forrester on the CBS soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B ...

after a year's absence. ''Bold and the Beautiful'' Head Writer

Bradley Bell Bradley Phillip Bell (born June 29, 1964) is an American television writer and producer. Bell is an eight-time Daytime Emmy Award winner and is executive producer and head writer for ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', an American soap opera. Ea ...

had planned to kill her character off from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. However, a huge fan outpouring, including

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

s and numerous letters, in addition to Kay's job of making the role her own, convinced Bell to keep Kay on the cast. Her character, Felicia Forrester was resurrected from the dead. Lesli Kay invested herself into the cancer storyline so much that she shaved her head for the role. In 2007, Kay was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress at the ''34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards'' but lost to

Genie Francis Eugenie Ann Francis (born May 26, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Laura Spencer (General Hospital), Laura Spencer on the television soap opera ''General Hospital'' from 1977 to present, for which she won a ...

. In 2008, it was announced that Kay would crossover to ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

'', in what was considered to be a semi-permanent basis. Kay's crossover to ''Y&R'' was short-lived and she returned to her home series. In 2009, it was announced that Kay would make history in becoming the first actress to hold two roles on two separate coasts, when she was announced to be returning to the role of Molly on ''As the World Turns'', while maintaining her role as Felicia on a recurring status. She stayed with ''As the World Turns'' until the show's final episode on September 17, 2010. Kay continued making appearances on ''B&B'' until 2014, and then reprised the role in 2016.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

*
SoapCentral profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Lesli American soap opera actresses Actors from Charleston, West Virginia 1965 births Living people Daytime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series winners 21st-century American women