Alexandra Spaulding
After a hiatus from daytime, Gail Kobe, then executive producer of Guiding Light, lured McKinsey to Guiding Light in February 1984 in the newly created character of Baroness Alexandra Spaulding Von Halkein.
The skilled McKinsey made certain that each of her characters were different. On Another World, Iris would do anything to get whatever she wanted. McKinsey played Iris' desire for her father's approval as the root of her need for power. Iris could be pathetic, sympathetic and a tyrant. As GL's Alexandra, she played the character's love for power and the desire to best her brother Alan. And not to forget her longing for the love and affection of Lujack/Nick, her twin sons whom were forcibly taken away from her at birth by Brandon Spaulding.
While Alexandra could be a snob (and ruthless) at times, she also could let her hair down, as when she went bowling with then beau H.B. Lewis (Larry Gates). Her ruthlessness was revealed when Alexandra married Roger Thorpe (Michael Zaslow) then discovered he was involved in an affair with the younger Mindy Lewis. McKinsey's performance during this storyline evolved from kitten like sweetness to a tiger based ferocity that had critics cheering. The scene where Alexandra humiliates Roger in public at the Country Club is now considered a classic, much like Reva's famous "Slut of Springfield" speech.
Interviewing McKinsey was a dream. There were never any "I just love everyone I work with" cliches. After she exited GL, McKinsey cited her "not very pleasant" work environment for one of the reasons she chose to leave GL. Looking at her contract, she discovered she could leave the show after every six-month period. So McKinsey took advantage of the contract the day before her annual eight-week vacation. McKinsey went on permanent vacation. McKinsey adamantly defended her choice to exit the show. Her bosses felt they had been bamboozled. "They're bent out of shape because, for once, somebody beat 'em at their own game," she said. "I had warned Jill (the show's then-executive producer Jill Farren Phelps) – although I don't think she paid attention to me – that I was not happy. I was not happy with the story line." She had confided in Phelps previously that she was frustrated enough to quit, and was told in response that perhaps she should read her contract.
McKinsey later quipped that perhaps it was Phelps and the rest of the GL production team who should have read the contract. "They didn't read the contract! I read it very closely. I knew every word. The next day, they were all combing over the contract. Somebody said, 'Maybe Beverlee's not familiar with the contract.' Well, of course she was! She wrote it, you bozos. She wrote it! I've had this out clause since 1986. I asked for it and it was P&G that determined how much notice they wanted me to give – and they chose eight weeks."
In addition to her issues with storytelling, which she said would not have motivated her to leave if her working environment had been happier, McKinsey noted that acting had simply stopped being fun for her. "The hours just made me crazy. They were too long," she explained.
Read more about this topic: Beverlee McKinsey