Sally Spectra is a fictional character from the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Sally was played by actress Darlene Conley for almost twenty years, from January 12, 1989 until Conley's death on January 14, 2007. Introduced in the show's early years, Sally owned and operated Spectra Creations, competing with (and copying from) the show's core family, the Forresters. She was known for her large figure, open and jovial personality, and her trademark red coiffure. Like many dramatic, fashionable and larger-than-life female figures, she was appreciated by fans as a gay icon. She was also celebrated as a fuller-figured woman; Conley described Sally as "unabashedly sexy and completely comfortable not being a size 8. She knows men get a kick out of her." The character was originally intended to be a short-term character, but the show brought her on full-time after an "overwhelmingly positive response" from viewers. In 1991, Conley said, "Other soaps have tried the older, outrageous woman, but have only picked up the eccentricities... [Sally's] a successful businesswoman. She does function on several levels, and she laughs at herself. Believe me, no one laughs at Sally Spectra first." Looking back on her character, Conley wrote in 2006, "When William J. Bell came up with the idea of the character of Sally Spectra, I knew that she was perfect. Sally was funny and she knew it and she used it. She used humor to get to people, had tons of opinions of her own and she wasn't afraid to open her mouth and say 'em. And that was right up my street and I never looked back, not once... What a lucky broad I am to have Sally." Conley was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work playing Sally. Her first, in 1991, being the first time an actor from The Bold and the Beautiful was nominated for an Emmy.