Jill Farren-Phelps
- Producer
- Music Department
- Production Department
Phelps studied at Carnegie Mellon University, where she received a BFA
in directing. She stage-managed at New Jersey's McCarter Theater before
becoming a production assistant for various New York stage productions,
including shows directed by
Mike Nichols and
Bob Fosse. She began her television career in
1974 as a production assistant on
Guiding Light (1952).
From 1977-84 Phelps became an Emmy Award-winning music director on the
ABC Daytime drama
General Hospital (1963). In
1984 she joined
Santa Barbara (1984) where she
ultimately rose to the position of executive producer. During her
tenure the show garnered three consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding
Drama Series. From 1991-95 Phelps returned to her first stomping
grounds, taking the helm of the longest-running Daytime soap
Guiding Light (1952)
where viewers riled several of her casting decisions. Then, she served
as executive producer of
Another World (1964) where she
split viewers opinions but along with the creation of a dynamic new
opening and innovative new sets she managed to achieve a sharp ratings
increase. Afterwards Phelps returned to ABC Daytime serving as
executive producer of
One Life to Live (1968) from
December 1997 through December 2000 before switching to
General Hospital (1963) in
the same capacity where she stayed till January 2012, making it one of
the longest tenures of an executive producer in all of daytime
television. The show received numerous Emmy awards - but after an
initial ratings upswing suffered a dramatic loss of viewers during the
middle and end of her tenure. She was quickly hired by Sony Pictures
though to oversee teen family drama
Hollywood Heights (2012)
and eventually got installed as executive producer of the number one
daytime soap
The Young and the Restless (1973).
