Pamela Payton-Wright obit

ONE LIFE TO LIVE Actress Pamela Payton-Wright Dead at 78

 

She was not on the list.

Veteran actress Pamela Payton-Wright, best known to soap fans as Addie Cramer on ONE LIFE TO LIVE, has died at the age of 78. She passed away on December 14 in Harmony, PA.

Payton-Wright began her career in in the early ’70s with roles on popular primetime series like CANNON, MANNIX, GUNSMOKE, and BONANZA as well as appearing in movies like Corky and Going in Style. She also had a very successful career on Broadway in shows like The Cherry Orchard, The Crucible, and M. Butterfly. She played Juliet in Romeo & Juliet and Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Addie was beloved by OLTL characters and fans alike. 

In 1979, she joined the cast of NBC sudser ANOTHER WORLD as Hazel Parker for a year but is best remembered for her turn as Agatha “Addie” Cramer on OLTL, a character she portrayed on a recurring basis from 1991 until the soap left the air in 2012. Addie was Dorian’s older sister and Blair’s mother. Dorian was stunned to learn that her sister hadn’t died but had been institutionalized by their parents and the siblings enjoyed an emotional reunion. Later, Addie was able to rejoin society with the help of a new medication and became a proper part of the Cramer family, even briefly marrying Dorian’s ex, David Vickers!

Payton-Wright is survived by her son, Oliver Dickon Hedley Butler and his wife, Cynthia Flowers, as well as brother Gordon Trafford Payton-Wright, sisters Brenda Payton-Wright Davies and Barbara Payton-Wright Quackenbush, and her two nephews, Payton David Quackenbush and Peter Wright Quackenbush. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones during this difficult time. For more on your favorite OLTL stars, keep reading the ABC edition of Soaps In Depth magazine.

After graduating from Tuscaloosa High School, Payton-Wright graduated from Birmingham–Southern College in 1963.[citation needed] She began her film career in 1972 as Rhonda on Corky. She later joined the cast of Another World in 1979 in the role of Hazel Parker, a role she played for one year.

Payton-Wright appeared in numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, notably receiving praise for her portrayal of Laura Wingfield in the 1976 production of The Glass Menagerie. Following numerous film roles and television appearances, Payton-Wright joined the cast of the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live, in 1991, and was the first to play the role of sweet natured, but simple-minded Agatha "Addie" Cramer. She played this part recurringly on the show.

She died on December 14, 2019, in Harmony, Pennsylvania, aged 78, from undisclosed causes.

 

Filmography

Film

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1972    Corky            Rhonda           

1979    Going in Style Kathy  

1980            Resurrection            Margaret        

1981    The Dark End of the Street            Mary Ann     

1986    My Little Girl            Delly Bettinger          

1987            Ironweed        Mother

1988            Starlight: A Musical Movie             

1990    The Freshman            Liz Armstrong       

1993    Me and Veronica            Agnes  

1999    In Dreams            Ethel    

2004    Saving Face     Dr. Morgan           

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1969    NET Playhouse            Electra            "The Prodigal"

1971    Cannon            Ginger            "Fool's Gold"

1971    Mannix            Lisa Stabler            "Murder Times Three"

1971            Medical Center            Jessie            "Idolmaker"

1972            Medical Center            Lori            "Cycle of Peril"

1972    Young Dr. Kildare            Ruth            "Deaf Heart"

1972            Gunsmoke      Emma Donavan            "Yankton"

1972            Bonanza          Zeena Harris   "Search in Limbo"

1972    Look Homeward, Angel   Laura James   TV film

1973    ABC's Wide World of Entertainment            Rosalind          "The Haunting of Rosalind"

1974    Movin' On       Francie Simms  "Grit"

1975    Great Performances            Laetitia Lewis            "Brother to Dragons"

1976    The Adams Chronicles            Louisa Adams TV miniseries

1979–80            Another World            Hazel Parker  TV series

1987            Spenser: For Hire            Karen Fuller    "I Confess"

1991–2012            One Life to Live            Addie Cramer            Recurring role

1993    Law & Order            Katherine McKinnon            "Pride and Joy"

1994–1997            Homicide: Life on the Street   Sister Magdalena Weber  "Nearer My God to Thee", "Fits Like a Glove", "Extreme Unction", "Kaddish"

1999    Law & Order   Vivian McBride            "Sideshow"

Theater

Broadway

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1967–68            The Show Off            Amy    

1968    Exit the King     Juliette 

1968    The Cherry Orchard            Anya   

1968–69            Jimmy Shine            Constance Fry

1972    The Crucible            Abigail Williams          

1972            Mourning Becomes Electra  Lavinia Mannon           

1974–75            All Over Town            Millie   

1975–76            The Glass Menagerie            The Daughter         

1977    Romeo and Juliet            Juliet    

1988    A Streetcar Named Desire            Blanche Du Bois           

1988    The Night of the Iguana  Miss Judith Fellowes

1988–1990            M. Butterfly            Helga  

1995    Garden District Grace  

2003    Long Day's Journey into Night            Mary Cavan Tyrone  

Off-Broadway

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1970    The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds            Tillie            Mercer Arts Center

1975    Jesse and the Bandit Queen  Belle            Joseph Papp Public Theater/Susan Stein Shiva Theater

1980    The Seagull Mash            Joseph Papp Public Theater/Newman Theater

1982    Don Juan     Dona Elvire            Delacorte Theater

1984    Young Playwrights Festival Mary            Joseph Papp Public Theater/Martinson Theater

1998    Richard III            Margaret         Theater at St. Clement's Church

1998    Richard II            Margaret         Theater at St. Clement's Church

1998    Til the Rapture Comes Home   Althea Dale            Delacorte Theater

2000    What You Get and What You Expect  Louise Erkenter            New York Theatre Workshop

2003    Fifth of July      Sally Friedman            Peter Norton Space

2003    Duet            Eleonora Duse            Greenwich Street Theatre

2004    The Day Emily Married                        59E59 Theater A

2006    Indian Blood   Eddie's Grandmother            59E59 Theater A

2008    Some Americans Abroad            Harriet Baldwin            Second Stage Theatre

2009    Vieux Carré   Carrie            Theater 80 St. Marks

2009    The Orphans' Home Cycle Part I            Mrs. Coons  Peter Norton Space

2009    The Orphans' Home Cycle Part II            Sarah Vaughn / Ruth Amos   Peter Norton Space

2010    The Orphans' Home Cycle Part III            Inez (Thornton) Kirby   Peter Norton Space