The film and television community is mourning the passing of Arlene Dahl, a classic film star whose ties to the soap opera world included playing the role of Lucinda Schenck on One Life to Live and being the real-life mother of Lorenzo Lamas (ex-Hector Ramírez, The Bold and the Beautiful; ex-Lance Cumson, Falcon Crest) and the real-life grandmother of A.J. Lamas (ex-Rafael Ortega, As the World Turns).
"Mom passed away this morning in New York," Lorenzo posted on social media. "She was the most positive influence on my life. I will remember her laughter, her joy, her dignity as she navigated the challenges that she faced. Never an ill word about anyone crossed her lips."
Lamas went on to share, "Her ability to forgive left me speechless at times. She truly was a force of nature and as we got closer in my adult life, I leaned on her more and more as my life counselor and the person I knew that lived and loved to the fullest."
Born on August 11, 1925, Dahl began her career as a model before she decided to move to Los Angeles in the mid 1940s and seriously pursue acting. It didn't take her long to land a contract at Warner Bros., but she is most remembered for her subsequent work at MGM.
Some of Dahl's early screen credits include My Wild Irish Rose, The Bride Goes Wild, Reign of Terror, Three Little Worlds, Woman's World, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. She also appeared in the 1953 film Jamaica Run, which starred Fernando Lamas, who she would later go on to marry and start a family with. (Lamas was her second husband out of a total of six.)
Dahl dipped her toe into the world of soap operas in 1981 when she took on the role of OLTL's Lucinda Schenck, which she played until 1984. She also briefly played the role of Lady Lucille on All My Children in 1995.
In addition to soaps, Dahl had numerous other television credits, including Burke's Law, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Love, American Style, and The Love Boat. Her final two credits were late 90s appearances on Renegade and Air America, both of which starred her son Lorenzo.
When Dahl wasn't acting, she worked as a beauty writer and cosmetics executive, which led her to create her own cosmetics and lingerie company in the 50s called Arlene Dahl Enterprises. She also became a widely syndicated astrology writer in the 1980s, with her work being featured daily in major newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times. In 1960, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In announcing his mother's passing, Lamas shared his sympathies to her "loving husband [Marc Rosen] who, for the last 37 years, made her life so wonderful and joyous." Dahl is also survived by two other children -- daughter Christina Carole Holmes by third husband Christian R. Holmes, and a second son, Rounsevelle Andreas Schaum, by her fifth husband, Rounsevelle W. "Skip" Schaum -- as well as six grandchildren (including A.J. Lamas) and two great-grandchildren.
What are some of your favorite memories of Arlene Dahl's film and television career? Do you remember her work as OLTL's Lucinda and/or AMC's Lady Lucille? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
