For the past 10 years, Crystal has portrayed Olivia Spencer on CBS-TV's "Guiding Light." In 2002, she won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and received other nominations for the same role in 2005 as well as 2006. She garnered great attention and acclaim for her extraordinary performance in "Guiding Light's" Otalia storyline, in which two women unexpectedly come to realize they have fallen in love.
Crystal also starred as Maggie Carpenter on ABC-TV's "One Life To Live." Her myriad of fans continue to follow and support this versatile and talented actress in any of her endeavors. Although Crystal is most appreciative of her awards and recognition, her proudest achievements are her sons Jacob Walker and Dylan Michael Sabatino.
Crystal has also enjoyed starring on prime television including a guest-starring role on CBS-TV's "Pensacola, Wings of Gold" with James Brolin, USA Network's "Silk Stalkings" and one of the top rated episodes of "Poltergeist," to name a few. She also starred for two years on ABC-TV's "One Life To Live."
Crystal's acting training began long before she decided to become an actress. "Though I was born in Silver Springs, Maryland, our family frequently moved around when I was growing up," says Crystal, "and I became good at going into new environments and adapting." Crystal's father is a retired Washington D.C. fireman, and he and her mother would buy "fixer-upper" houses and completely renovate them. "It was a family affair," says Crystal, who along with her older and younger brother, helped by installing insulation and acting as the clean-up crew. However, by the time the family could enjoy the fruits of their labor, it was time to move on again. As a matter of fact, Crystal attended seven different schools throughout South Carolina and Maryland in a short period of time.
Drawn to the arts at an early age, Crystal penned volumes of poetry, read the classics and play-acted..."I was pretty much in my own world." In her junior year of high school, Crystal won the lead in the school play "Dark Of The Moon." It was at this time that she found a new sense of direction and "felt at home on stage." Her high school acting experience allowed her to win a Drama scholarship. Though she attended Coast Carolina College in South Carolina, strangely enough, she majored in Computer Science. Realizing that acting was not always a practical way to support herself, Crystal also studied journalism and worked her way through the University of South Carolina as an aerobics instructor.
While taking a year off from her studies, Crystal read about an audition at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. She won the lead in the play "Beauty And The Beast," but only after agreeing to enroll in the school's acting program. Cast in Wedekind's expressionistic masterpiece, "Spring Awakening," the school's production made it to the finals of the National College Theatre Festival where Crystal performed at The Kennedy Center. Having appeared at this prestigious theatre, Crystal's enthusiasm really soared and she began to feel that an acting career could become a reality.
After graduating from the University of Maryland, Crystal moved to New York to continue her acting studies in order to advance her career. While pounding the pavement, waiting tables, passing out photos and doing showcases, she was inspired by the book Sanford Meisner on Acting. She wrote to the author and famed thespian, who in turn, invited Crystal (and a few other students) to his home in the West Indies for more intensive training and to further hone her craft.
As luck would have it, upon Crystal's return to New York, she was cast as a day player on ABC-TV's "All My Children." She then moved to Los Angeles, continued studying with Meisner, acquired an agent and was cast as a high-class drug addicted dealer on NBC-TV's "Santa Barbara." However, the character died a week later. The pace of daytime television and heavy dialogue left Crystal so exhausted that... "I thought I would never do a soap again." Yet, a month later, she was offered the role of Dr. Carly Manning on NBC-TV's "Days of Our Lives," becoming one the most popular actresses on daytime television. While on "Days of Our Lives," Crystal also appeared on stage in the Los Angeles production of A.R. Gurney's hit play "Love Letters."
In addition to her daytime television roles, Crystal has also guest-starred on CBS-TV's "Walker, Texas Ranger," "Burke's Law," "Diagnosis Murder" and USA-TV's "Silk Stalkings." She has also starred in the feature films "Lady In Waiting" and "Bigfoot: The Unforgettable Encounter." Her other theatrical endeavors include "The Three Sisters," The Balcony," The Twelfth Night" and "The Comedy of Errors," to name a few.
There is no doubt that having already proven herself a successful and beguiling artist with a compelling repertoire, Crystal Chappell's classic beauty, charm, charismatic talent and business acumen establishes her as one of the leading performers in the arts today!
Special Note: Biography courtesy of Salk, Penny & Ledee Public Relations.
