danfling

I am about to ask a very broad question. Excuse me for being so broad, and know that I ususally do not ask anything so general. Who can share information about Michael Levin before 1975 when he joined the original cast of Ryan's Hope? What professional experience in acting did he have? Was he already married to Elizabeth Levin? I know that he was a Jewish actor cast as an Italian-American character. He seemed to burst on the scene along with Kate Mulgrew. The pair was featured on a late-night preview of Ryan's Hope. I have been wondering about Mr. Levin for many months. I am sorry that he was not available to be interviewed for Mr. Lisantti's book.

I enjoyed the addition of Jeremy. He had starred in Mad Magazine's Up the Academy just before he was hired as Jeremy on Eight Is Enough.

If Procter and Gamble/NBC had not hired Paul Rauch to be the executive producer of Texas (a show which he was credited as having co-created), what producer would you have enjoyed as the executive producer of Texas?

Diane Kay (Nancy Bradford) was in an episode (possibly the pilot episode) of the ABC series Once a Hero. I think that Dusty Kay (television writer and producer who created the series) was her brother. I am not sure that they were brother and sister, so, if anyone knows for certain, I would love to know. She was also in the pilot (a few years earlier) of Flamingo Road (produced by the same company that produced Eight Is Enough - Lorimar). Her character died in the pilot.

Yes, Connie certainly was more interesting! I remember that the real Silver was eventually murdered, but I do not remember who killed her. Part of the storyline was that Palmer rolled her dead body in carpet and disposed the carpet and dead body. He and Erica remained friends due to this. But, I think that a better plotline would have been that Silver did not die, and Palmer told Silver to leave town. Palmer would have then told Erica that he dispensed with Silver's body (although she was not really dead). Palmer could have used blackmail at times in the future storylines to get Erica to help him with all the things that he plotted.

Who is Donna?

Ms. Phillips had used abortion as a storyline for the first time on Another World when character Pat Matthews had an illegal abortion. I don't think that NBC had all of the reservations that CBS seemed to have.

Concerning Connie Wilkes: I am sure that it was always planned for Connie to be an imposter for Silver. Silver had been mentioned many years earlier, so her existence (and that of Goldie) was known. This was almost the same plotline that Agnes Nixon had used when she was writing The Guiding Light. Back in 1967 or so, a character who claimed to be Tracy Delmar was introduced. (Victoria Wyndham played this character). She was the niece of Dr. Sara McIntyre (then played, I think, by Patricia Roe). It was later learned that this girl/woman was not actually not Tracy but another person named Charlotte Waring. Dr. McIntyre had not ever met or had not seen the actual Tracy for many years. But, in the case of Tracy/Charlotte, Tracy had actually died in another town with Charlotte taking advantage of the situation and deciding to pose as Tracy after she traveled to Springfield. The audience of All My Children did not learn that Connie was the imposter when Erica found out the truth. It was known pretty quickly that she was an imposter.

Here are two trends that I noticed back in the 1970s years: 1. The hiring of more foreign performers. I know that As the World Turns and The Guiding Light would both hire performers to play relatives of Elizabeth Talbot Stewart and as some of the family with whom Dr. Joe Werner was living in England. The Guiding Light also hired Theo Getz as Papa Bauer and Stefan Schnabel as Dr. Steven Jackson. Also, there were Canadian performers around (such as Tudi Wiggins and almost the entire cast of the serial Strange Paradise). But, I remember on the Hollywood serial General Hospital, an Autralian actress was hired to play a nurse at the General Hospital. She remained on the show for a year or two. (I cannot remember the name of her character or the name of the actress. I do remember that her hair was dark.) Then, suddenly, all of the soap operas tended to be hiring foreign performers. In the cast of All My Children, both Jeremy Hunter and Giles St. Claire were introduced in a matter of a few days. 2. Also, many of the actresses on the soap operas began changing their names in the billing. I remember that on All My Children, both Tricia Hursley (as Devon) and Candice Earley (as Donna #2) changed their names with a hyphen and the married name following their original name. (Intrestingly, both actresses divorced these husbands and the billing names were changed back.) Actress Jacqueline Zeman (who appeared on the Hollywood serial General Hospital) changed her name to Jackie Zaman-Kaufman. Marcy Walker (as Liza #1 on All My Children) may have changed her name in a similiar manner. I do remember that she married one of the actors who was appearing on the show as a member of Jesse Hubband's band.

I cannot remember any physical resemblance between Ms. Lynne and Ms. Loring, but I do agree with you that Ms. Lynne would have been a good Patti (better than Jacqueline Schultz).

Yes, both Dan and Betsy appeared at the same time. As I meant to say, Betsy was the person to whom Dan would ask for advise in his attraction to Brooke and the attraction that Devon had for him. Dan was a student at Pine Valley University, and Betsy had already graduated from nursing school by the time that she came to Pine Valley to work at the hospital. That would mean that Betsy was probably older than Dan. Dan, then Betsy, came after the death of Mary and after Jeff had moved away from Pine Valley. Dan left town prior to the departure of Betsy. All three of them were gone when Katie came to town. I think that this is the way that the Frame family on NBC's Another World were introduced by Agnes Nixon. Steve came to town first as a wealthy man who would mention his family back home. Later, Janice came to town but then left. Steve continued to be a character. I cannot remember if he had been pronounced dead by the time that Willis came to town or not. (I think that Steve may have still been on the show.) Later Otis (who changed his name to Vince) and Sharlene came to town. The sister named Emma appeared briefly, and her daughter (Steve's niece) Molly came to town later. Molly's sister Frankie was seen later. Jason also came later. Agnes Nixon only had Steve on the show while she wrote it. Other writers added these other relatives. It was said by actor George Reinholt when he first joined the cast of One Life to Live (as Tony #1) that Agnes Nixon was great in that she would mention things about her characters that meant really nothing but later would provide a mechanism to add new characters to a show years later. I think that members of Ava Rescott's family on Loving were gradually added in the same manner.

I think that Scott Glenn (Calvin Brenner on The Edge of Night) could have been either Dr. Ed Bauer or even Michael Bauer recast. (especially when Robert Gentry left the role as Ed)

I have long wanted to read a good biography or article about Margaret DePriest. Has anyone else seen one?

The character of Betsy never had too much storyline. When she was first brought onto the show, she was the third of the Kinnecott characters to come to the show. Mary had already died, but Dan was already on the show as Brooke's boyfriend (after she had broken up with Benny Sago). Betsy served as a character in conversation with Dan, and she was also the best friend of Sybil Thorne (who was constantly scheming to try to grab Dr. Cliff Warner). Also, Dr. Jeff Martin returned to the show around 1975. Robert Perault was then playing the role. The show hinted that seeing Betsy (and that she looked so much like Mary) would be hard for Jeff. Also that Jeff would be attracted to Betsy (although, to me, Carla Dragoni and Susan Blanchard - the second Mary- looked nothing alike). And, when Dr. Jeff Martin returned to the show, he had a number of scenes with Erica. They both affirmed that neither of them wished to revive their relaltionship. (By the time that Mr. Perault had been replaced by James O'Sullivan as Dr. Martin, the character was falling in love with Dr. Cristina Karras and Erica wanted an annulment from their marriage. He had begun to hate Erica again.) I wonder if the original idea was that the show would have a Betsy-Jeff-Erica triangle? Betsy later fell in love with Wally McFadden, who had reconciled with Devon. Because she and Mary were both portrayed as being noble, Betsy left town to avoid being "another woman" who was breaking up a married-with-a-child couple. She had tried to date Rick, but she was really in love with Wally. (By this time, Jack Magee had left as Wally - I heard because he wanted an increase in salary. Two more actors were placed in the rolek, and the third Wally was okay, but Wally and Devon later decided to leave Pine Valley with Bonnie.) A number of years later, a fourth Kinnecott sibling (Katie) was brought onto the show as a romance partner for Joey (who, I think, was married to Emily Ann at the time). However, the character soon left town.

I remember seeing this episode when it first aired - which was in August or September of 1980.

Don Scardino sang on Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. Nancy Barrett sang on Dark Shadows. Millette Alexander sang on The Edge of Night. Larry Keith (and later Candice Earley) sang on All My Children.

I may have posted questions about this performer in the past, so, if I have, please forgive my repetition. I am curious about John Fitzpatrick. He was the original Willis Frame on Another World. His role was suddenly recast with Leon Russum as Willis. I am also curious about Gregory Ables. He played Michael Hathaway on Where the Heart Is. (He briefly played the Ryan's son-in-law, Art, on Ryan's Hope). I think that he became a Buddist, but I am curious about what he has been doing in the 21st century. He may also have been an acting teacher.

On A World Apart, the Sims family were an iconic family. I enjoyed the African-American family. I never really figured out how most of the other characters fit into the story. Susan Sarandon's character was not the typical heroine, in my opinion. On Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, the Donnelly family was an iconic couple. Jean Garrison (Jane Manning) was an iconic villainess (in my opinion, the best ever from daytime television). Spencer Garrison (Ed Power) was an iconic leading man. (I think that he was more iconic than David Birney, but Mr. Birney got most of the publicity.) On Where the Heart Is, Allison Hathaway (Louise Shaffer) was an iconic character (another villianess), while her sister Kate (Diana van der Vlis) was an iconic heroine. Mary Hathway (niece-in-law to both Allison and Kate) was an iconic ingenue. (Diana Walker played that role.) And, I think that Michael Hathaway (played by Gregory Ables) was an iconic leading man.

Approximately what year did Papa Bauer come from his original home to the United States? Did he meet Mama Bauer here or did she imigrate with him? Was their religion mentioned?

Somerset was also mentioned on The Edge of Night. Before the Another World spin-off series began airing, Laurie Ann Karr was being kept there (in Somerset) while the syndicate may have been a danger to the Karr family.

Khan, I watched faithfully when Pyramid aired on ABC. I believed (and still believed) that the celebrity guests were all genuine in wanting his or her partner to win as much money as possible. The show, when it aired on ABC, was the first game show that I had ever seen which featured daytime performers. Stephanie Braxton (The Secret Storm, All My Children, The Edge of Night) was the first one that I saw on that show. I have never watched an episode of Press Your Luck, though.

The serialized version on the radio was created by Irna Phillips and produced by Frank and Anne Hummart. The soap opera was broadcast from October 5, 1942 to June 9, 1944 on CBS. Its sponsor was General Mills.

This was posted elsewhere: Newsday (Nassau Edition) Mar 31 1961 Writer of TV Soap Operas Gives Synopsis of His Life By Len Chaimowitz Glen Cove —Television dramatist Leonard Stadd has found after six months of doing it that life can be beautiful writing soap operas. Stadd,35, has been busy at it eight hours daily since he wrote his first script for "From These Roots” an NBC daytime serial (3:30 FM) "I’m more than suite satisfied with writing soap operas” Stadd said yesterday "because I’ve always considered TV a great training ground for a dramatist And writing soap operas gives me a chance to change any dramatic situations that just don’t develop the way they should It’s totally unlike one-shot TV dramas (which he also has done) that don’t give you any opportunity to re-work plot situations” He said that in those dramas such as an "Ellery Queen” episode that he wrote he didn't have a second chance to alter a plot once it was on the air. Before he latched on to his present full-time assignment Stadd was a free-lance TV writer living in Manhattan with his wife Arlene an actress and son Robbie now 5. But last summer he discovered after three years in TV that he had to head for Hollywood and its multitudinous TV series if he wanted to really catch on as a TV writer. "But then this job developed after I called Eugene Burr (an NBC vice president) to tell him I was heading for Hollywood. He said ‘Oh no not you too’ — then he had me write two pilot scripts for new daytime serials. Next thing I found myself writing ‘From these Roots’ when its two writers left”.Stadd said His first script went on the air Sept 26 and today’s marks his 110th. Before he started writing the scripts the show was threatened with extinction.Since then its ratings have improved, Stadd said. Once Stadd learned he would be working fulltime on "From These Roots” he began to look for a house where he could get the work done on time. He found it in Glen Cove and doesn’t commute to Manhattan unless he has a story conference or as happened earlier this week his typewriter breaks down and needs repair. "Usually” Stadd said "if I can finish a script by 5:30 PM I hustle it over to the post office and send it special delivery to the studio Or if my wife is going into town the next day I'll ask her to drop it off at the studio or my agent's or at any one of a number of pre-arranged ‘drops' — drugstores, foodstores and the like Then I’ll call the producer and let him know where he can find the script”

Betsy Brentley, who had auditioned for the role of Kitty, later was Mrs. Norman Mailer.

This was posted on It's about TV: MMatinee Theater was an attempt by NBC to present a quality, five-days a week daytime dramatic anthology series; it was the first hour-long daytime series on television. NBC spared no expense in the effort, spending nearly $75,000 per week on the program, which was broadcast live and in color and was heavily promoted; ultimately, the cost became prohibitive, and NBC would cancel the program in June of this year. Today's production, "The Makropoulos Secret," is an example of the diverse programming the network was trying to establish. Based on the 1922 Czech play by Karel Čapek, it's likely more people today are familiar with it because of the opera by Leoš Janáček, which premiered in 1926. Matinee Theater was a bold experiment even during the Golden Age of Television; imagine trying something like it today. The listings are from the New York State edition, which clearly does not include New York City.