What The Cast Of Step By Step Is Doing Today

The first season of Step by Step devoted a lot of screen time to Carol Lambert's work at the beauty salon next to the sprawling Lambert home, and with it, Carol's interactions with Penny Baker, her lusty, vivacious, and big-haired co-worker and sister. Patrika Darbo was a regular cast member of the show for its first 22 episodes, only to disappear with the arrival of season two. Darbo returned to the world of character acting, as she'd already made small but memorable appearances in more than two dozen films and television series, including as a scout leader in Troop Beverly Hills, "Art's Wife" in The 'Burbs, and Marlene in the 1990 dark comedy Daddy's Dyin'...Who's Got the Will?

After being written out of Step by Step, Darbo moved on to daytime dramas. She portrayed Nancy Wesley on Days of Our Lives from 1998 to 2005, with returns in 2013, 2016, and 2019, as well as Shirley Spectra on The Bold and the Beautiful. In 2016, she accomplished what no other Step by Step cast member has to date: She won an Emmy Award for acting, for her role in the short-form horror-comedy Acting Dead.