Paul Raven

The Variety article said that GH was planning a 4 week story arc based around a black couple.She would be a schoolteacher who is assaulted by a student she flunked. They stated that theater actor Bobby Dean Hooks was in the running for the male role.I guess he was later known as Robert Hooks.

Has it ever been mentioned that Beverlee McKinsey was on LOL? Variety reported in July 66,Bev, who was noted as having understudied leads in Barefoot in the Park and As Wednesday on Broadway,was joining LOL in a 'running lead'.

Variety reported in April 65 that Billie Allen would be portraying a confidante to a Flame character newly arrived in Manhattan.Yje article goes on to say that GH and Young Marrieds would be adding black characters to their casts.

From the craziness of Hollywood to the craziness of preachin'...

That 73 article solved a mystery for me re the Benjamin family.I have seen those names in cast lists but never was sure who they were. I wonder if they were contract players and how much airtime they got as I have never seen them mentioned in summaries. I have a feeling that Jay was a policeman and Terry a nurse so they could easily blend into the canvas without leading stories.Maybe there was more planned for them but writer changes got in the way. Seems under John Edwards SFT was really trying to be contemporary and relevant and it was working.

In August 68,entering her second year as headwriter Rita Lakin worked out a deal with Colgate,NBC etc to co write the show with Rick Edelstein,citing exhaustion at being solo head writer. They each got 16 weeks off per year and shares the more than $100,000 pay check. Lakin communicated with exec producer Allen Potter by mail and a 10 min phone call each week. By 69 Lakin was working in primetime as story editor for Mod Squad.

'Joyce and I are not the Perfect Couple' - true.They divorced in 74. He then married onscreen daughter in law Suzanne Zenor (Margo) Joyce went on to marry William Asher (who had been married to Elizabeth Montgomery).Interestingly,Asher adopted Mallory's son who was called John Mallory Asher.

The decision to drop so many characters,add newbies and expand to 90 min was crazy. I can understand the decision to drop John to some extent,but alternatively Pat and John could have remarried and become the new tentpole couple-something the show lacked.Or Pat meets a new man with children. Mike and Marianne were viable characters and their romances and marriages could have been a focus for years.Give Russ a decent love interest/wife,perhaps with a teen child of her own,and have them have their own child.Or do the Sharlene story years earlier,with her having a child by Russ. Use what's there rather than trying to re-invent the show.The show never really recovered from decisions made late 70's/early 80's

Feinstein returned to daytime soaps in 88 on GH as a love interest for Bobbie.He was a senator,I think, named Gregory Howard.Diane McBain (Foxy,Days) was his wife Clare. I recall that this was a character and story created during the writers strike and quickly dropped once the strike was over.

In March 75, Variety reported that CBS was exploring the possibility of extending Search and ATWT to 45 min each ,with SFT running 12.30 - 1.15 and ATWT from 1.15 - 2.00. Apparently affiliates were not happy about losing the 1.00 - 1.30 slot and CBS instead expanded ATWT to 60 min. Things might have been different for Search if the expansion had gone ahead.

March 68,just 6 months after its debut,Variety noted that LIAMST was facing the ax,despite heavy promotion and juiced up storylines.It was below a 30 share and running third behind Newlywed Game and Days of Our Lives.And this was off the back of the #1 soap ATWT. LIAMST thing was brought on to boost CBS in the ratings as NBC shows hit their stride,Days and DRS had hit the best ever numbers. That was the time that Nancy Hseuh was dropped.

Great to see Irna Phillips in that pic.Interesting that Hickman and Bartholomew both went from child actors to daytime execs.I've never seen a photo of Bartholomew at that age-he looks like he did as a youngster whereas 10 years later he was much heavier. Sad that so many of those actors have passed away.

John Gibson was the first Henry from 59-62. Boruff played the role from 62 -66.Then Lester Rawlins and Paul McGrath played Henry in 67.

Henry Benedict was the father of Anne (Elizabeth Hubbard ) who married Paul Fletcher.

Variety reports that in Sept 71 Bethel Leslie and Jerry Day leave as headwriters to write film scripts.

In January 66 John Boruff joined Agnes Nixon as headwriter.He had been playing Henry Benedict on GL.This was when Agnes took over AW,so she must have stayed on at GL for a while also. Theodore and Mathilde Ferro became headwriters in May 67.

March 66 Robert Soderberg named as headwriter

CBS ruled the roost.It must have been unsettling for them just a few years later to see that dominance threatened. In June 67,AW knocked To Tell The Truth from its longtime position as #1 in the 3pm timeslot.By 68 it had been cancelled and replaced by Secret Storm.

Charles Grant (Preacher EON,Grant B& played Connor in 92/93

Judith McConnell was cast on Bright Promise but the show was cancelled.

just catching up on these great articles. Marion Brash looks very brash indeed. Variety reported that Judith McConnell had signed on for Bright Promise in Jan 72.Obviously the show was canned before she made it to air,unless she appeared briefly in the final weeks.

December 65 Daytime's Top 20 1. As The World Turns CBS 1.30 - 2.00 13.8 (NBC Let's Make a Deal,ABC Ben Casey) 2. Password CBS 2.00 - 2.30 12.1 (NBC Days of Our Lives,ABC The Nurses) 3. House Party CBS 2.30 - 3.00 11.8 (NBC The Doctors,ABC A Time For Us) 4. The Guiding Light CBS 12.45 - 1.00 11.9 (NBC Let's Play Post Office ,ABC Father Knows Best) 5. Search For Tomorrow CBS 12.30 -12.45 10.8 (as above) 6. To Tell The Truth CBS 3.00 - 3.25 10.3 (NBC Another World, ABC General Hospital) 7. Secret Storm CBS 4.00 - 4.30 10.3 (NBC Match Game, ABC Never Too Young) 8. Edge Of Night CBS 3.30 - 4.00 8.7 (NBC You Don't Say, ABC The Young Marrieds) 9. Love of Life CBS 12.00 - 12.25 9.2 (NBC Jeopardy, ABC Donna Reed Show) 10. News CBS 3.25 - 3.30 9.1 (see #6) 11. Dick Van Dyke CBS 11.30 - 12.00 9.1 (NBC Paradise Bay, ABC Missing Links) 12. Andy of Mayberry CBS 11.00 - 11.30 8.2 (NBC Morning Star, ABC Get The Message) 13. Match Game NBC 4.00 - 4.30 7.4 (CBS Secret Storm,ABC Never Too Young) 14. Yiu Don't Say NBC 3.30 - 4.00 6.9 (CBS Edge of Night, ABC The Young Marrieds) 15. General Hospital ABC 3.00 -3.30 6.9 (NBC Another World CBS To Tell The Truth) 16. News CBS 12.25 - 12.30 6.8 (see #9) 17, Another world NBC 3.00 - 3.30 6.5 (ABC General Hospital,CBS To Tell The Truth) 18. The Doctors NBC 2.30 -3.00 6.3 (ABC A Time For Us, CBS House Party) 19. Where The Action Is ABC 4.30 - 5.00 6.3 (NBC Local, CBS Local) 20. Concentration NBC 5.8 10.30 - 11.00 (ABC The Price Is Right.CBS I Love Lucy)

Variety reports that in June 69 ,Robert J Shaw departs as headwriter to be replaced by Robert and Eileen Pollack.It noted that the Pollacks had been away from soaps for 10 years,having last worked on Brighter day. By February 1970,the Pollacks were out and Richard and Esther Shapiro were announced as new headwriters. This contradicts the list of headwriters published in Soap World and other soap books.

Kathryn is looking a little Janis Ian in that pic. I read elsewhere what religion she followed,but can't remember offhand.