Erica Kane's (Susan Lucci) many romances are legendary. Her feuds with other women are commonplace. So many people come in and out of Erica's life, but one person was always there, no matter what: her mother, Mona Tyler (Frances Heflin). The sweet, long-suffering secretary stuck with Erica through thick and thin, dishing out oft-ignored advice to her hard-headed daughter. No matter how often Erica yelled and disrespected her mother (going so far as to sleep with one of Mona's boyfriends!), Mona was always there for her. Then, one day, she wasn't. As Mona's casket was being lowered after her funeral, it finally hit Erica; the one constant in her life was gone. Erica's grief overcame her and she let all her pain and anguish go with desperate pleas, begging her mother to come back to her. But this was one time Erica would not get her way, and the woman who often played the petulant child finally had to grow up. She had to be to her daughters what Mona was to her. That moment marked a turning point in the life of one of daytime's most iconic characters, adding a layer of maturity to the Scarlett O'Hara of soaps.
Erica Kane's (Susan Lucci) many romances are legendary. Her feuds with other women are commonplace. So many people come in and out of Erica's life, but one person was always there, no matter what: her mother, Mona Tyler (Frances Heflin). The sweet, long-suffering secretary stuck with Erica through thick and thin, dishing out oft-ignored advice to her hard-headed daughter. No matter how often Erica yelled and disrespected her mother (going so far as to sleep with one of Mona's boyfriends!), Mona was always there for her. Then, one day, she wasn't. As Mona's casket was being lowered after her funeral, it finally hit Erica; the one constant in her life was gone. Erica's grief overcame her and she let all her pain and anguish go with desperate pleas, begging her mother to come back to her. But this was one time Erica would not get her way, and the woman who often played the petulant child finally had to grow up. She had to be to her daughters what Mona was to her. That moment marked a turning point in the life of one of daytime's most iconic characters, adding a layer of maturity to the Scarlett O'Hara of soaps.