General Hospital’s Robin Mattson Breaks Her Silence: So Why *Was* She Recast as Heather?
When General Hospital viewers learned that Bold & Beautiful veteran Alley Mills (Pam) had been cast in Heather Webber, the hysterical villain that Robin Mattson had occasionally played since 1980, their jaws dropped right before Halloween. Why didn’t the crowd favorite simply return and add some heat herself? Mattson explained in a Facebook post.
She announced on November 11 that she would undergo hip replacement surgery the following day. “As nice as it is to be missed, and so many of you have wondered what happened to me, I just want to let you know that I’ve been recovering from my knee surgery,” she said.
Despite the excellent job Mills has been doing as Heather—a primetime legend thanks to her 1988–93 tenure on the original Wonder Years—understandable it’s that some viewers might wish to see Mattson in the character’s orange jail jumpsuit. Although Mattson is the soap legend most commonly identified with the role, Georganne LaPiere, Cher’s sister, played it first in 1976. Mary O’Brien, who caused havoc in the late 1970s, played it second.
She told Soap Opera Digest that even Mills wondered, “Why isn’t Robin Mattson coming back to do this?” When Mills learned that the daytime drama’s regular Heather was unavailable, she stepped up to the plate to fill in, starting by rewatching previous scenes.
I began watching her when she was quite small. Robin, by the way, you’re stunning! I only packed General Hospital… Because Robin has been a part of the program since she was a little child, it was a lot of fun for me to conduct this research because I got to keep up with all the wacky antics.
Stephen Yates, Robin Mattson, and Don Stewart from THE GUIDING LIGHT, about mid-1970s, 1952-2009.
Guiding Light, starring Stephen Yates, was child’s play for Mattson (aka Ben).
Featured with permission from the Everett Collection
Other soap opera roles played by Mattson include those in Guiding Light, Ryan’s Hope, Santa Barbara, and All My Children. In Guiding Light, she played a baby-faced Hope Bauer, and in Ryan’s Hope, she took over Ilene Kristen’s role as Delia Coleridge.
(where she captivated audiences with her portrayal of “Janet From Another Planet” Green. She additionally made appearances in Bold & Beautiful’s Sugar, As the World Turns’ Cheri Love, and Days of Our Lives’ Lee Michaels.
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