Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful co-creator Lee Phillip Bell dies at 91
Lee Phillip Bell, the woman who co-created The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, changing the pathway for women in TV, has died.
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Lee Phillip Bell, the co-creator of the iconic and long-running daytime dramas The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, has died at the age of 91.
No cause of death was released but her death was confirmed by her children.
“Our mother was a loving and supportive wife, mother and grandmother,” read a statement from her five kids.
“Gracious and kind, she enriched the lives of all who knew her. We will miss her tremendously.”
Along with her husband, William Bell, Lee Phillip Bell was a TV powerhouse.
Together, she and her husband created the soap opera The Young and the Restless and, in 1987, the pair created the spin-off The Bold and the Beautiful.
Both are still on the air, and retain an avid fanbase in Australia. Bell won a daytime Emmy lifetime achievement award in 2007 for her work.
Longtime cast member of The Young and the Restless, Melody Thomas Scott, who has played the role of Nikki Newman since 1981, described Bell as “a true matriarch”.
We are all devastated by the passing of Lee Phillip Bell. A television pioneer and powerhouse in her own right, she elevated daytime television in co-creating “The Young and the Restless†with her equally iconic husband, Bill Bell. We sadly mourn our true matriarch. ðŸ™ðŸ»ðŸ’œ pic.twitter.com/V5nUaz4N5E
— Melody Thomas Scott (@MelodyThomasSco) February 26, 2020
“A television pioneer and powerhouse in her own right, she elevated daytime television,” Scott said.
Bell, who was also a respected broadcast journalist, hosted her own talk show, The Lee Phillip Show, for over 30 years, where she interviewed the likes of Judy Garland, Lucille Ball, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Clint Eastwood.
But she also drew attention to issues such as sexual assault, children and divorce, foster children, and babies born to women in prison, issues that, at the time, were rarely discussed on US network television.
She picked up an extraordinary 16 regional Emmy Awards for her work on the show and was the first woman to receive the Governors Award from the Chicago chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1977, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
She also received a 2007 Daytime Emmy for Lifetime Achievement for her decades of contributions to TV.
The Bell family’s daytime drama success wasn’t limited solely off-camera. Bell’s daughter Lauralee Bell, 51, has portrayed recurring character Christine Blair on The Young and the Restless since 1983.
Bell’s husband died in 2005. She is survived by her children William James Bell, Bradley Phillip Bell, and Lauralee Bell Martin, and eight grandchildren.
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Originally published as Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful co-creator Lee Phillip Bell dies at 91