Paul Raven

Thank you supes for that scan.Great interview. It would have been interesting if the show had kept to the theme of rich and poor families. Bell did that with the Williams and Abbotts, but the Williams got lost along the way and Paul became fairly successful. Having a poorer,working class family opens up a lot of story possibilities -as Bell obviously believed.

I guess Katie was a combo of Traci and the original Leslie Brooks-living in the shadow of more glamorous and 'successful' sisters Ashley/Chris/Lorie. A lot of B&B was based on Bell's earlier stories. Snapper/Storm The Logans/The Fosters - father deserting the struggling family. Snapper/Chris/Greg - Storm/Caroline/Thorne Caroline's rape/Chris' rape. Brooke entering the world of the Forresters/Jill and the Chancellors

The Dec 2 1986 SOD had a photo spread on 'The It's OK to Say No' concert which was the culmination of the teen pregnancy story. Ex Doobie Brother Michael McDonald was pictured with Danny,Amy ,Traci and Nathan. Lauren is shown belting out a tune. Danny is pictured rockin' on(in full length brocade jacket!) -in the storyline, his exposure to the plight of pregnant teens made him wonder whether the suggestive lyrics in rock music might be contributing to the problem. He organized a concert dedicated to the proposition that teenagers should have the freedom to turn down sex. Michael McDonald performed 'Our Love' and 'Sweet Freedom'. Danny performed 'Be Good to You' with Traci, one of several tunes Michael Damian composed for the show. Amy managed to forgo her telephone duties at the detective agency long enough to share the stage with Danny. I recall Danny,Lauren,Traci et al finishing up on stage leading the adoring audience in a rousing chant of "It's OK to Say No". It really was quite hideous! Michael Damian's talents as singer and composer were on a par... Love Tracey but the girl should never have been handed a microphone...

SOD issue April 21st 1987 reports that Terry Lester's absences from Y&R were due to his role in the ABC TV movie Hollow Point with Linda Purl (Doreen- Secret Storm)

Matt the character had a lot of potential and it is unfortunate that he was forgotten. He had relationships/friendships with both Ashley and Nikki - similar to Lucas Prentiss and Leslie/Lorie. There was some mystery hinted at about his past in South America but for whatever reason bill bell lost interest and Matt was gone. i hoped that he would return-he could have been the Chet character that kidnapped Victor-maybe he turned bad and resented his wealthy brother. Or Victor gets word that Matt has died,leaving a teenage daughter who comes to live with the Newmans. Just the frustrated writer in me...

Just catching up on this thread,and enjoying it! Luv iold Y&R talk. Terry was off for sometime and Brett Porter filled in.Apart from a superficial resemblance,he was in no way an adequate replacement. This may have been when Terry was filming his pilot. That was 'Blade in Hong Kong'.It was a 2hr pilot that was filmed in Hong Kong and it aired in May 85 meaning that it had been passed over for the fall schedule and its only hope would have been if it had been a rating success (that didn't happen). I do remember some lean times for Katherine when she and Rex were happily married.They were lucky to be on once every 2 weeks.I recall them turning up in one ep wearing jogging suits and discussing keeping fit! It was filler.i always found Quinn Redecker a little annoying as Rex-the constant clearing of his throat and haphazard line readings. My memory is hazy but I think Amy was never officially written out and then months later she popped in for one episode and vanished again. Can anyone else remember more details? Was Amy ever friendly with Traci? Also re Ashley,she had a fizzled relationship with co-worker Brian Anders when she first came on. She was working in the lab using the name Susan Ashley.After a few months (weeks?) Brian vanished. Ashley and Brian had a SOD cover so they're were obviously expectations that they would be a hot couple.

Carl,Leslie Denniston wasn't the ballerina that was involved with Bob. That was Dana, played by Deborah Hobart,who went on to play Amy Dudley on AW. Leslie's character Karen was an earlier romance for Bob(78). Karen had some sort of shady connections. I think that Karen was dumped when Hunt/Ellis took over from the Soderbergs. When Steven Markle was cast as Mel on OLTL.SOW stated that Robert Foxworth, Gil Gerard and Kent McCord (Adam 12) were considered for the role. I wonder if this was just a wish list and those actors were not actually involved at any stage. It seems unlikely that Robert Foxworth in particular would be interested in soaps.

I only saw Barbara Stanger and Melinda Fee. I liked Stanger because she brought a definite personality to Mary-an iciness and reserve that was unique. Fee's Mary was more of your standard soap bitch. I think Stanger could have played the transition of Mary into more of a villianess quite effectively.

Just read an interview from 1970 in which Mary Stuart states that she has a 10 year contract with the show! I wonder how unusual that was at the time?

I think Turner was fired due to weight problems. Just discovered that Jada Rowland's one time partner and father of her son Sparks Blu(!) was murdered in early 1979. Jada married Columbia University professor David Helfandd in 1982.. According to Wikipedia -David J. Helfand is chair of the Department of Astronomy at Columbia University as well as the co-director of the Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory. He has also served as part of the university's Physics Department. Don't know if they're still together.

He also replaced Peter Simon as Scott on SFT for a while before Scott and Kathy were written out.Peter had played Scott for so many years and was so identified with the role that Ratray never stood a chance. i wonder if he hoped for a long stint on a soap but never lucked out.

Jane Wyman interview where she talks about her movie career and Falcon Crest http://thecolumnists.com/bawden/bawden52.html

I have never read that Brooke Bundy played Patti.

Yes Carl.i recall that Janice or Jaime said that they washed their hair in plastic tubs and things were pretty primitive. it's surprising looking back,that those conditions were tolerated by anyone.Back then,i know on Days at least,men supplied their own wardrobe and got dry cleaning allowance.

Quite a relaxed day compared to the present. However,as the show was 'live tape' that afternoon performance had to be spot on. Also,the scenes were longer so there was much more dialogue to remember and deliver.I think the tape equipment at the time was not sophisticated enought to allow for the show to be taped out of sequence over a few hours. Am I correct?

That's the late Keith Charles as Nick Kane. Charles is up there as the actor with the most soap roles.

Isn't that the infamous Christina Crawford as Joan Borman Kane?

Great articles! Particularly interested in the set design article. Marlena's penthouse was one of the few sets in any soap that had a decent staircase and upper level. Some of those 'mansions' on soaps that have those tiny,spindly looking staircases that barely rise above ground level always bug me.

Apparently Higgs had been depressed for some time and had spoken of suicide.Notes were found in the apartment referring to his intentions dated a year previously. He was 47 years old. This is always so difficult for friends and co workers.Back in 77 there was probably less awareness than these days,but even now,there isn't a lot others can do. Please keep posting. I haven't posted much lately as I have other stuff (renovations,setting up a new business etc)going on,but I check SON daily.

Just read about actor Richard Higgs who played Andrew Marriott.He committed suicide in late 1977.When he didn't show up at work,Ron Tomme went to his apartment and discovered the body. Higgs also played Dan allison on The Doctors. Ron Harper took over as Andrew.

Thanks for the correction.I wonder why some particular info on soaps is wrong,when other stuff is accurate.

Bev scored a film role in Bronco Billy because Sondra Locke (Clint Eastwood's then partner )was a fan. I have never seen that movie as it holds zilch interest for me,but it would be interesting to see BM in another role.

Isn't that Kathy Glass (MJ)?

Kate/Polly was on in 1962.

Billy and Natalie arrived in 80. Natalie was originally Laurie Klatscher but Jane Badler took over in 81.