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Lauralee Bell is opening up about growing up on soap opera sets with her parents, Young and the Restless creators William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell
On a new podcast, Bell says her parents were very hands-on and “never argued”
“They were also always around. Like, even though they were both fully working parents, my father typed in our kitchen dining room area,” she said
Despite growing up on soap opera sets — and being raised by parents who created two of the most iconic daytime shows — Lauralee Bell’s childhood was largely traditional.
Bell, 56, debuted on The Young and the Restless in 1983 as a teen model named Cricket. The show was created by her parents, William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, who also created the companion soap, Bold and Beautiful.
But despite their busy schedules (Lee was also a successful talk show host), the couple always made time for their children.
“I guess they were too busy to really ever argue. They never argued,” Bell told soap stars Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart on the latest episode of the CBS podcast Soapy. “He was helping her, coming up with questions for her show the next morning, but had to crank out another five episodes [of the soap]. Like they were very, I think, obviously supportive of each other.”
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Lauralee Bell
Bell added, “They were also always around. Like, even though they were both fully working parents, my father typed in our kitchen dining room area. So he was always sitting there, which is comforting. And my mom would drop us off at the school bus, go do her talk show, and be back by the time we got home.”
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Bell’s father died in 2005 at age 78 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Her mother died in 2020 at age 91 of heart failure.
Speaking about how important work was to both of them, Bell said on the podcast, “They — especially my father — loved every single day of his work life. Hopefully personal, too, but he loved what he did.”
But that didn’t mean the couple were too serious to have fun — and their positivity, Bell said, has influenced the way she parents her own children. Samantha and Christian.
“My dad was the goofiest guy on the planet,” Bell said, adding, “I think their positivity and their goofiness just was so helpful for me to raise our kids in this day because I just think every day is a challenge for them. I wake up, I’m like this: ‘Morning! It’s gonna be a great day. You’ve got this.’ “
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