Sally Spectra | Gallery |
Sally Spectra | |||||||||||||||
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Darlene Conley as Sally Spectra | |||||||||||||||
The Bold and the Beautiful | |||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Darlene Conley (1989-2006) Uncredited actress (2012) Ruth Williamson (2017) | ||||||||||||||
Current status | Former, Contract | ||||||||||||||
Duration | 1989–2006, 2012, 2017 | ||||||||||||||
First appearance | January 11, 1989 | ||||||||||||||
Last appearance | February 1, 2017 | ||||||||||||||
Cause/reason | Left town | ||||||||||||||
Created by | William J. Bell | ||||||||||||||
Profile | |||||||||||||||
Family | Spectra family | ||||||||||||||
Namesake(s) | Sally Spectra II | ||||||||||||||
Gender | Female | ||||||||||||||
Born | 1935 | ||||||||||||||
Age | 89 | ||||||||||||||
Occupation | Former Owner of Spectra Fashions Former Executive Assistant at Forrester Creations | ||||||||||||||
Residence | Canary Islands | ||||||||||||||
Ruth Williamson as Sally Spectra | |||||||||||||||
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Sally Spectra (formerly Alexander and Garrison) is a fictional character on the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. She was portrayed by actress Darlene Conley from 1988 until Conley's death on January 14, 2007, and made a guest appearance by Ruth Williamson on February 1, 2017.
Larger Than Life/Flamboyant Sally Spectra[]
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 the old time movies.
For many years, Sally owned and operated Spectra Fashions (later named 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, Sally's receptionist, Darla Einstein, who Sally thought of as a daughter and Saul Feinberg. Also seen often was fashion designer Clarke Garrison, who Sally at first blackmailed to design for Spectra while working for Forrester but later crossed over 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., Sally's son. Sally's fears were realized when she discovered that Clarke was involved with Kristen Forrester. With the help of her Spectra family, Sally managed to prove Clarke's infidelity in court and thus avoid losing her company. Sally divorced Clarke and he left town.
Her relationship with the Forrester family was mixed. Eric Forrester 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 Forrester family and often crashed many of their family events. These actions did not sit well with Stephanie Douglas and the two began a long feud. However, the feud between them ended in later years.
Her daughter, Macy, was married to Thorne Forrester 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. Brooke Logan tried to get between Thorne and Macy, and Sally Spectra did not like Brooke one bit. Brooke and Macy had been long time rivals (Brooke's other rivals include Sally, Stephanie, and Taylor). Macy then went out with Deacon Sharpe, Brooke's daughter Bridget Forrester's ex-husband, whose marriage was ended by Brooke getting pregnant with him and having Hope Logan.
Sally then had a rivalry with ex-fugitive Sheila Carter defending Stephanie in which Sally and Stephanie were friends in the end.
Sadly, her company eventually went under, after a very disastrous gamble of choosing to compete with the Forresters 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. 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 in with Thorne, Darla, and their daughter, Alexandria, 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 a mention by her son, C.J., that she had been ill. Finally, in November 2007 it was revealed by C.J. 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 owner of Spectra Fashions had gone bankrupt, ownership of the company reverted back to Sally. She decided not to return to Los Angeles and run it but instead to sell the company. There were no plans to kill the character off, as initially speculated.
In April 2009, Clarke revealed that Sally was in the Canary Islands, again 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 was still hanging on the wall. On Christmas Eve 2009, Stephanie told Pamela Douglas that unlike in past years, she did not receive a Christmas card from Sally, which usually consisted of her boasting about all the cabana boys. Stephanie believes she will still hear from her, but in the meantime offers a toast to her picture.
In 2017, it was revealed that Sally had a sister, Shirley Spectra, and two grandnieces: namesake Sally Spectra II and her younger sister, Coco Spectra. From an unknown tropical locale, Sally was shown from behind calling the younger Sally, beseeching her to save Spectra Fashions, which had fallen into rack and ruin and was scheduled for demolition.
Crimes Committed[]
- Stole designs from Forrester Creations (1989, 1993, 1995);
- Wrongly arrested for stealing Forrester designs while dressed as a man (1990);
- Blackmailed Bill Spencer Sr. into running a feature on Clarke Garrison (1990);
- Lied she was pregnant to entrap Jack Hamilton (1991);
- Stopped Stephanie Douglas' wedding by planting an X-rated photo in the minster's Bible (1997);
- Blackmailed Stephanie Douglas into becoming her housekeeper (2002);
- Faked a second heart attack (2003);
- Blackmailed Brooke Logan into returning control of Spectra Fashions (2003);
- Tampered with Brooke Logan's paternity test (2003).
Maladies & Injuries[]
- Fell into the Forrester pool, after being dodged by Stephanie Douglas (1992);
- Slapped by Stephanie Douglas. (1993);
- Shot by Anthony Armando (1995);
- Thrown into Lake Como by Stephanie Douglas (1997);
- Suffered a massive heart attack after grieving over Macy Alexander's alleged reappearance (2003);
- Collapsed and suffered a second heart attack after arguing with Brooke Logan, Ridge Forrester, Massimo Marone and Nick Marone over a potential sale by Brooke of Spectra (2003);
- Sustained a broken leg (2004);
- Confined to a wheelchair (2006).