Morgan Fairchild Appeared On 4 Different '80s Primetime Soap Operas

If you owned a TV set at any point in the last five decades, odds are you've seen Morgan Fairchild grace your screen at some point — especially if you love soap operas. Known for the 1982 thriller "The Seduction," Fairchild has had a long and illustrious television career. Among her many television accolades, it probably comes as no surprise that she managed to find the time to appear on four different primetime soaps throughout the 1980s. Fairchild had her longest-running role as Constance Weldon Semple Carlyle in "Flamingo Road," on which she starred for 38 episodes. She had slightly smaller parts on both "Falcon Crest," as Jordan Roberts, and "Paper Dolls," as Racine. In addition to these recurring characters, she made a one-off appearance on the pilot for "Hotel" in 1983 as a call girl named Carol. 

Before her soap stardom, Fairchild made her small screen debut in a 1976 episode of the detective drama "Kojak," before spending the remainder of the decade making single-episode appearances in other huge series, such as "Happy Days," "Dallas" and "Mork & Mindy." She later appeared in the forgotten hit '80s series "Simon & Simon," played Chandler Bing's mom in the iconic 1990s sitcom "Friends," had a recurring role in 2006's "Fashion House," and even voiced characters on "The Simpsons" and "Rugrats." Fairchild's string of soap opera roles came relatively early in her career and she would follow them up with many more projects over the following decades.

Prior to her 1980s soap appearances, Morgan Fairchild was in an episode of the legendary soap opera "Dallas" in 1978. She played Jenna Wade, the childhood sweetheart of Patrick Duffy's Bobby Ewing, who found herself under pressure to get out of Dallas when she was revealed to be the mistress of a prominent businessman.

Just two years after her time on "Dallas," in 1980, Fairchild was cast as Constance on "Flamingo Road." Unlike most soaps, the series was based on a book – a 1942 novel of the same name by Robert Wilder. The series charted the struggles for social status among residents of Truro, Florida. "Flamingo Road" ended in 1982. The following year, Fairchild had her brief stint on "Hotel," trading the campy tone of "Flamingo Road" for a decidedly darker story about sexual assault.

In 1984, Fairchild starred in all 13 episodes of the short-lived "Paper Dolls." Her character, Racine, was a manipulative modeling agent at the heart of the show, controlling the careers of two young models. The series also starred Lloyd Bridges of "Airplane!" fame as cosmetics tycoon Grant Harper. Between 1985 and 1986, Fairchild then appeared in all 29 episodes of Season 5 of "Falcon Crest," a series that also featured stars such as Mariska Hargitay, Jonathan Banks of "Breaking Bad," and Cesar Romero, the original Joker from 1966's "Batman."