Paul Raven

In 65,there was a possibility of Edge going primetime.Variety reported that CBS and P&G were thinking along these lines after the success of Peyton Place.The report stated they had decided to put a hold on those plans to see how Peyton fared over the long run. Imagine if Edge had been given that chance...

In 1978 Barbara Stuart filled in for an ailing Rachel Ames for 6 weeks on General Hospital.

James DePaiva tried out for Jamie on AW that went to Laurence Lau and was interested in the Ben Warren role on GL.Was in talks with Rauch,but elected to stay at OLTL.

Shaffer took over in 67.Emily never married Len.She married Nick,but I have never read much about them or why they divorced. Jo mentioned Arthur and this must have been not long after his death. The other thing i noticed was that the supporting characters-,Emily,Nick,Andrea and even Len had it pretty easy script wise-they didn't have a lot of lines.

Great stuff!! Thank you Saynotoursoap.So this was mid 66. I liked Melissa as Patty.I wonder why she left/was replaced? Same with Virginia Gilmore.Books have off in 67,then Lesley Woods before Joan Copeland.Was Andrea written out between actresses?Was Woods just temp until Copeland? Interesting to see that in the 15 min,the show moved quite quickly.from daytime at the hospital,to evening at Jo's.Also,the fact that they moved straight to Patti/Andrea with no time elapsing. There seemed to be less filler.Later on ,we would have had Andrea open the door to Patit,preliminary chit chat and much more before Andrea's offer. Also,Burr DeBenning was playing Nick,whereas some references have Ken Kercheval in the role from 65.

I've done some research via newpaper archives.Geraldine was announced in Dec 71 as Jennifer and Gillian in March 72,so it looks like Geraldine was let go after her first 13 week cycle.

Alda makes it seem like Days was his first soap,with all that talk about regrets he didn't do it sooner.But he was on Love of Life in the mid 60's. When Pat Falken Smith returned Stuart Whyland,previously the big power broker in Salem, was revealed to be fronting for the DiMeras and was ushered out of town. I thought that was clever. Incidentally,Martha Smith,who played Sandy Horton for a brief time in the early 80's has popped up on Selling LA on HGTV.She is now working in real estate.

In that 80's era of big,big hair Colleen really stood out with that chic cut.It really became her signature look. Regarding Barbara's mother Jennifer,little mention is ever made of Geraldine Court,who originated the role.How long was she on? Did anyone (saynotoursoap?)see her in the role? I see Gillian Spencer took over in 72.Was this because Irna returned and didn't like Geraldine in the role?

How long did SF keep GL on the air?

Patty is 12 years younger than Hays-did that show onscreen? Also I assume she was brunette for the role,as most of what I have seen her in,she was blonde. A very suspicious delivery man was found near the bookstore and when Lisa described the man to Jay, he realized he was his stepfather, Gil Stallings. Nobody believed that Gil is the one who tried to kill Lisa twice. One night, Gil locked Lisa in a closet and told Jay he married his mother for the money but the money was left to Jay. He would kill Lisa and made it look as though Jay killed her and then killed himself. Grant learned form Salt Lake City police Gil inherited Jay’s legacy and realized Jay and Lisa were in danger. He surprised Gil who had shot Jay. Jay was hospitalized and Gil was killed escaping.

Andrea refused to let go of Sam to the point that she would rather kill him than let Jo have him.She had already turned Len against him.Sam was dependant on a drug(for medicinal porposes) that if combined with liquor could kill him so Andrea mixrd it into a drink.Andrea mistakenly took the drink and almost died.Sam was put on trial for attempted murder. On the witness stand,Andrea admitted an affair with another man,whom she was seeing the night Len's twin brother died in a fire. This all happened around 1968.Jo was involved as it affected her relationship with Sam and the fact that her son in law was Sam's son.

After Sam disappeared,presumed dead,Jo got involved with Tony,who had his own complications-Marcy,the wife faking paralysis to hold onto him.They divorced finally and Jo and Tony were due to be married when Sam returned -his personality affected by his ordeal in Africa..Jo broke up with Sam and planned to marry Sam,but her earlier blindness returned,this time a psychosomatic illness caused by her conflict over the two men. On the wedding day,Jo could not go through with it and a deranged Sam took her to a cabin.Everyone assumed they had been married and were on their honeymoon.Two hippies arrived (one played by Susan Satrandon) and shot Sam.Jo escaped.She was found unconscious and her sight returned.Tony and Jo wed.

AW's ratings woes began before the 90 min expansion.The move to 90 min was a misguided ploy to boost sagging ratings.Against a resurgent GH under Monty/Marland and the expanded GL,AW began to drop in 78. The P&G clash of shows began when EON moved to ABC and was up against Somerset. Bev was asked to return to AW in 84 but decided against it for several reasons,one being the daily trip to Brooklyn was too draining for her.

A 1973 Variety article states that Mary Grover was part of the original Y&R cast.Does anyone know anything of this? Was she replaced by another actress?

I just found out that Wynne Miller (Jessica Buchanan) was the niece og legendary band leader Glenn Miller.

I found this review on imdb.The most detail I have seen on the shows storylines. I followed this short-lived serial for most of its 6-month run on ABC back in 1970 - and it's amazing how TV soap watchers from that era still remember it as fondly and curiously some 40 years later. I recall "The Best Of Everything" being preempted or cut into a few times so local ABC news affiliates could update viewers on such life-changing events taking place in the real world (Vietnam War, Kent State shooting), not just an alternate world in Manhattan we watched through the eyes of this show's ingénues: Linda Warren (former child actress Patty McCormack), April Morrison (Julie Mannix) and Kim Jordan (Katherine Glass). Patty McCormack was Oscar-nominated for her dead-right portrayal of cold-blooded pig-tailed murderess Rhoda in "The Bad Seed" in the mid-50s. But as career girl Linda on TBOE, the producers saddled the young actress with a hackneyed love triangle that went nowhere. It kept Patty's alter ego too low-key and forgettable, rather than letting Linda be written as a soap vixen variation of devious Rhoda, all grown up and taking New York and its men by storm. Married Mike Carter (Jean-Pierre Stewart) had fallen for Linda, but was obligated to his needy, bitter wife Anne (Diane Kagan), who had some rare, incurable disease and/or was wheelchair bound (yet may have been faking it to keep Mike and Linda apart). Linda was often featured in the office scenes at the Key Publishing Company with her fellow stenographers: blonde, perennially rattled April and cool, upbeat Ginnie Curtis (Gwen Mitchell), an attractive young black woman who lent a sympathetic ear to her troubled co-workers. I don't recollect her having a storyline of her own, but she always wore groovy hair pieces and miniskirts. The company's steno pool was supervised by a tense older gal, Kate Farrow (Me'l Dowd), who was often at odds with the other women - since they brought their ongoing personal baggage to the office daily, getting little work done. April was having a shameful fling with playboy Dexter Key (James Davidson), son (or was he the orphaned grandson?) of wealthy, imperious Amanda (Gale Sondergaard, movie actress who won the first Best Supporting Actress Academy Award given - she was 71 when TBOE aired). April became pregnant, but no marriage proposal from Dexter followed - just panic. I remember finding April's character a bit strident, but maybe it was just Julie Mannix's tight hair bands and overbite that distracted me. And I suspect April lost the baby after a car accident, or perhaps after a confrontation with Dexter's nasty mommy. Details are sketchy on that one - the same set-up of sorts was used in the 1959 movie "The Best Of Everything" (also based on the novel by Rona Jaffe), where in the film version, April impulsively jumped from a speeding car and subsequently miscarried her love child fathered by Dexter. Several characters lived and intersected in the same apartment building owned and managed by kindly Violet Jordan (veteran movie actress Geraldine Fitzgerald) and her husband Joshua, while their young daughter Kim was either in college or grad school. She had a crush on tenant Eddie Perrone (Victor Arnold), a doctor at the hospital with whom she shared space in a basement room, which they had converted into a small laboratory. Eddie thought Kim was a nice kid, but he had eyes for wispy April, while April was headed for hard times with callous Dexter. Dexter had a free-spirited and outspoken sister, Joanna (Bonnie Bee Buzzard), who was usually at odds with the rest of her ruthless, pretentious kinfolk. Also in the Jordan's building lived an unhappily-ever-after married couple, Barbara and Ken Lamont (Rochelle Oliver and Barry Ford) and their young son Johnny. Barbara sank into a severe depression as her rocky marriage fell apart, though neighbors in the building tried to rally her sullen spirits, with little success. Ken eventually moved out and planned to divorce Barbara and seek custody of son Johnny since Barbara could barely function with her persistent melancholia. It was here where the story gets moving: Kim moves on from her infatuation with doctor Eddie, and begins dating a guy from the wrong side of the tracks, blonde motorcycle-riding tough guy Randy Wilson (Ted LePlat, a dancer on "Where The Action Is" a few years prior). At first the easy-going Jordans are nervous for their only daughter, but Kim's warmth and optimism turns Randy around, and he opts to leave his old street gang behind. Enter the unforgettable villain Squirrel (effectively realized by Gregory Rozakis, who portrayed a similarly sinister role in the Charles Bronson film "Death Wish"), a sadistic punk who vows vengeance against the Jordan family, blaming Kim for Randy's defecting from his gang, a dangerous group of dope peddlers and thugs. Inside the Jordan's apartment building one day, Squirrel slips into the basement laboratory and plants a box of chocolates laced with LSD. Unfortunately, little Johnny Lamont stumbles upon and consumes the drugged candy, has a horrible reaction and is hospitalized, sending frazzled mother Barbara further off the deep end. Meanwhile, the police suspect Kim is responsible for making the illegal drugs and for causing Johnny's condition. Randy confronts Squirrel and vows to rat him out to the police to save Kim from blame. But then Randy dies in an accident while riding off on his motorcycle to incriminate Squirrel (or did Squirrel's thugs run him off the road, or rig the brakes on his bike?). Kim finally realizes Squirrel's true colors and crimes, but is beaten up, stabbed, and left for dead outside a deserted storefront by Squirrel and his henchmen before she can expose his reign of terror, clear her name, and avenge Randy's death. Whew! So much for living in Manhattan in 1970. Memorable show and great cast. It deserved a happier ending.

Antoinette Byron is Australian.She was on Neighbours and Home and Away also.

SOD reported that Cynthia Bostick ,who had been on FRFP,temped for Cindy Pickett as Jackie on GL,before her role as Marcia on ATWT.

Michael Corbett was Warren Carter. As far back as RH,he was putting his earnings into real estate(renovating and flipping) while other soap stars were putting theirs up their noses and partying. Smart gay boy! He has written books on property and hosted and guested on TV on the subject.

iIonly saw Ratray as Scott.The Corringtons wrote off the couple.Whether they had no interest or Courtneyt wanted to leave and forced their hand,I don't know. I don't remember Scott being killed.I thought that when Kathy came back they had divorced and he was in jail for drunk driving. Maybe I am imagining that? What happened to her son Doug? Hendersonite,I looked through old cast lists to see if there was anybody else with the name Parker,but nothing came up.

The later stories were such a mish mash. Regarding Kathy,was her family ever mentioned or brought into play? Maybe Hendersonite could help here. Natalie Schafer,of Gilligans Island fame played Wade and Clay's mother Helen.Brett Halsey,the first John Abbott on Y&R was Clay. Doris Ramsay was played by Gwyda Donhowe who later played Ilsa on AW.She had previously played Dr Lee Sanderson on SFT in 72. In 1988 she was stabbed to death by her husband Norman Kean in their apartment. He then went to the roof of the building and jumped to his death.

Margaret Hamilton,best remembered from The Wizard of Oz,recounts that her role on Storm was one of her favorites I did a whole stack of Studio One live dramas and I did all the series of the time like Phil Silvers. My best TV time was on "The Secret Storm," the afternoon CBS soaper for four years (1953-57) as the maid. My employer was Marjorie Gateson, that great old timer from my Hollywood era. We’d acted together in "Stablemates" (1938) and here we were on live afternoon TV! Full interview here http://thecolumnists...n/bawden64.html

Hendersonite,thank you for your responses. The missing page is my fault as I skipped it while scanning .I will add it in.