General Hospital fans were in for quite a shock in late October when it was revealed that the mysterious role in which legendary actress Alley Mills (ex-Pam Douglas, The Bold and the Beautiful) had been cast was none other than LSD-happy, BLT sandwich-loving vixen, and all-around serial troublemaker Heather Webber.
The news of Mills' move to GH was announced in early October, but details about who she would be portraying remained a mystery. One popular theory that gained traction through social media and the internet rumor mill was that Mills might be on her way to Port Charles to take on the role of Carolyn Webber, Elizabeth's estranged mother.
Instead, fans were shocked on October 28 when Olivia Falconeri (Lisa LoCicero) told Hamilton Finn (Michael Easton) that the belligerent, orange-clad, straitjacket-wearing patient they'd just encountered at the hospital was none other than Heather!
While Mills has a long and prestigious résumé that includes many film and television roles, most notably as loving family matriarch Norma Arnold on ABC's The Wonder Years from 1988 to 1993, many have wondered why GH went in a different direction with recasting Heather. After all, Mattson had taken over the role in 1980 with great fanfare throughout the years and had never relinquished it -- until recently.
Mattson shared the reason behind her decision not to return as Heather in a post on the actress' official Facebook page.
"As nice as is to be mised [sic] 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 and today I'm going to have hip replacement surgery. Thank you all for your love and support! Looking forward to a fast recovery!" the post read.
In the post, which you can view here, Mattson shares a photo of herself at a table outdoors, surrounded by red roses. Mattson's fans were quick to wish the actress well ahead of her upcoming surgery.
If Mattson has anything in common with the on-screen characters she has played over the years, we know it will take a lot to stand in the way of her making a full recovery, given the number of death-defying escapes she's made on daytime in her career! In addition to her run as Heather, Mattson also played another mentally unstable character when she assumed the role of Janet Marlowe on All My Children in 1994. Because of the character's erratic behavior, fans and many Pine Valley residents infamously referred to Mattson's character as "Janet from Another Planet."
In addition to her work on ABC soaps, Mattson also played Gina on NBC's Sunset Beach from 1985 to 1993. To learn more about Heather's background, visit our comprehensive Who's Who character profile by clicking here.
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