Contessa Donatella

More of the Pete Lemay ... I was the first writer to take a soap to an hour. I was eager to do it because I wanted to write longer scenes. I wanted to write a scene that you build as you do in the theatre with the beginning of the conflict, escalating that conflict, and resolving it more or less if you could within one scene so that you get an emotional play. We did it for the first year. We were very successful. Now they have taken that six minutes between commercials, and chopped it up into two or three scenes, three usually, sometimes four, and what I really wanted was a six minute scene. His line about Anne Heche was odd because she was headed directly to the Parsons' School of Design & just fell over into a show biz career by accident. Of course, there is her talent. When Lemay praised JFP he had not yet found out about Frankie Frame & Maureen Bauer. He didn't like them when it came up in a WLS Interview.

Donna Swajeski's Writing: AW 1989-1992 (as was said), PC 2001-2002, GL 2005-2009 (a major contributor to "Otalia"), and AMC 2010-1011. I believe she is in some kind of children's work now.

Anyone know who wrote "Jammy"? I loved that story. Only the death was terrible. Ellen & Jilly & Swajeski wrote "Otalia" which was very fine storytelling. I figure that Ellen Weston inflicted Sandy & that darned sock puppet on the show. Of course, she did more/bad, too. ::Maryanne Carruthers, Carrie Nye, having the young adults go tunneling & then fall through a hole, Eden getting Ben to act as a male escort, Ben committing suicide, (I never got over missing Ben.) Conboy hired WRESTLER Marty to play Shane. Conboy overspent his budget. Thank God "ConWest" was only there for a single year's tenure. So, clue me in, what did Slezak have to say about JFP?

I did not like Heather in the distant past. And, I did not like Noelle in the recent past. I just liked Martha & I was mad that whole time!

For what it's worth, this is Aggie's IMDB Trivia: She became ABC's overall daytime consultant in October 2000. It was her hand that opened the All My Children (1970) photo album on the opening montage sequence from 1970-1989. When she went into labor and had to go to the hospital to deliver one of her children she brought her Dictaphone along so that she could continue working. During the 1960s she simultaneously wrote both Guiding Light (1952) & Another World (1964). This led to a few minor problems such as in the 445th episode of Another World (1964) she wrote in the script that the scene takes place in the coffee shop of Cedars Hospital.

Amen, isn't that the truth?! Between what she actually does *to* the shows and the FOJs (Friends of Jill) she can ruin so much. Frankie Frame, Never Forget! Mo = Reardon by birth, Bauer by marriage, Roger's only friend, Michelle's mother by circumstance and tentpole/legacy character, ...

A few weeks ago I was in this active, even congested, Facebook Guiding Light folder & the topic of conversation was Jill Farren Phelps. All of a sudden with no warning "Nancy Wiliams Watt" proceeded to tell us how wonderful Jill was, what a good friend, how much she loved Guiding Light & had contributed to it. I slipped off to look her up & saw that she was a retired GL Writer, so I turned on my polite mode with her. Most people there did not bother! Since then I've seen Jill Lorie Hurst take up for JFP and Nic Coster take up for JFP. This amazes me.

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH MALIGNANT MELANOMA Back, way back, ... when I was 28 or 29 and had a large, dark, malignant melanoma on my left forearm and had to have surgery on it, to get close enough to get a full margin, my surgeon was Dr. Henry Holleman, Sr., in Columbus, MS. He had to take off a partial piece of skin from my thigh to put a graft on the spot where the skin was taken off. They let me leave the hospital that night to go to a party. My friend Jill Wood came in and shampooed my hair. That night at the party everyone wanted me to drop my drawers to show them the skin graft! He was one of the original M*A*S*H surgeons. He was the one played by MacLean Stevenson, who loved to fish, and so, always had fishing lures in his office. I collected unusual glass bottles, including many that were dark blue cobalt color. Each of us brought the other one collectibles! He was a great surgeon and took very good care of me. After the original surgery we went in again and removed many moles and freckles and had them all tested. Later, I saw a plastic surgeon to have the size of my scar reduced. A year later they were afraid my cancer had returned and did many tests to be sure it had not - which it hadn't. As it happened he was in my hospital room the night of the M*A*S*H finale and he was sitting on the side of my bed, patting my hand.

ABOUT JACKIE COURTNEY, FROM HER DAUGHTER: My mother was first diagnosed with malignant melanoma on her right cheek in the fall of 2004. Luckily, the cancer had not spread, and no further treatment was necessary after her surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. About to undergo a gall bladder operation in March ’10, a shadow was discovered in my mother’s lungs during routine pre-surgery tests. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the melanoma rearing its ugly head again. As before, it was removed (along with her right upper lobe) at MSKCC and had thankfully not spread. We hoped it would be at least another 5 years before anything resurfaced. However, in August ’10, she began to lose control of her left hand and arm, and the worst news hit: the melanoma had metastasized to the right parietal lobe of her brain, forming five tumors. Three were removed through surgery, and radiation was recommended to follow. September and October were extremely stressful and frightening for my mother. Having brain tumors really played havoc with her life and even had her questioning her sanity at time. My mother planned to celebrate the end of her radiation treatment by visiting me and my partner in Michigan for 12 days. In addition to the cancer, she had been taking care of my grandmother with dementia 24-7 for the past 4 years…she knew she needed a break and looked forward to a vacation. Regrettably, her doctors had not revealed her true prognosis, that it was unlikely for her to live more than a few months (which is clearly stated on the AIM site…I just didn’t know about it at the time). Right before she flew out, one of her doctors did tell me over the phone and urged me to convince her to spend whatever time she had left with me in Michigan as we had always been EXTREMELY close. My mother was a bit in denial when I broke the news (NOT a position I ever thought I’d be in!), but she agreed. Unfortunately, she took a turn for the worse only a week into her visit, and Hospice was immediately called in. Two months to the day of flying out to Michigan, my mother departed this life, joining in Heaven so many of her beloved relatives and friends who had predeceased her. My mother truly touched everyone she met. She was known for her beautiful smile, which genuinely lit up a room. She was also routinely recognized for her hearty laugh…though she was quite the giggler, as well! Jacquie had no problem being goofy and vulnerable. So many casually uttered statements immediately sparked a remembered tune, prompting her to burst into song (typically accompanied by me and even my grandmother–it’s a family “trait”). Likewise, my mother’s catalogue of “inside jokes” with friends and family was vast. She lived to make others happy and more comfortable. She was continually seeking that “special something” to brighten a loved one’s day. Even as her own income dwindled, she continued to donate money to various charities. In her last months, donating to melanoma research and education was something she urged everyone to do. No matter her own situation, she always felt there was someone less fortunate. Indeed, Jacquie was generally self-effacing, never believing she was very special…yet to those of us who loved her, she was extraordinary. I, for one, feel beyond blessed to have had her for a mother for 40 wonderful years. Jennifer Desiderio, daughter

Just heard about this new movie, A Case of Blue. And who would have a lead role, but Stephen Schnetzer (Cass)! The showrunner for the film sent along a link to the trailer, as well as movie and FB links. SS has a beard, and it looks like an interesting flick for him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AlG6QTTQdc https://www.acaseofblue.com https://www.facebook.com/ACOBfeaturefilm/ She died at the age of 64 of metastatic melanoma; born Sept. 24, 1946- -died Dec. 20, 2010.

I was wondering what in the heck happened on this Feb. 14th, 1992 in or around Springfield?

I thought it was so sad that she died as young as she did of skin cancer. Oh, I'm so sorry, I got discombobulated. It should be under GL. There was some discussion earlier about killing off characters on GL. I messed up & ended up on the wrong thread.

"Some people don't like killing any character on a soap, but I believe that the death can be as important as the life if it shakes up the town and spins great story for the characters left behind. This was one of those cases." - Jill Lorie Hurst, GL, Otalia, Gus's death (I knew I'd find these quotes I was looking for! Although I still think "End Days GL" had a high body count: the infant Max, Gus (even though it propelled Otalia story & EW thought long & hard about it after learning that Ricky was leaving, Tammy which was heart-breaking in the extreme, and then Coop, OY VEY) <Pause.> How many *is* that? That's 4 -- and they all 4 stung like the dickens!

WLS: What, in your mind, is your finest moment? Jane Elliot: No question about it. "Guiding Light." The story [head writer] Doug Marland created for me was just so good and so rare. Thanks to Doug, I learned who I was as an actor. He stretched me. He pulled me. And I rose to the occasion. He made me look good and I made him look good. ... But, to play Carrie Todd, I had to go very, very deep. And it wasn’t just because of her madness. She was a fully fleshed out, fully realized character living a really rich life. It was a very complete role. And I loved playing opposite Jerry verDorn [Ross], the most generous actor I’ve ever worked with. It was a once in a lifetime thing and I knew it at the time. No 20/20 hindsight necessary."

"Julie Pinson auditioned for the part of Lily when Chris Goutman had it in his head to burn Martha Byrne." - Donna L. Bridges Oh, thank you for the clarification.

After McKinsey left the role of Iris in November 1981, NBC's Texas eventually lost one million viewers in the Nielsen ratings and was canceled in 1982. MARY STUART...If America's three contributions to world culture are musical comedy, jazz, and soap opera, … ROY WINSOR ...lf Irna Phillips is to be called the mother of soap opera, then Roy Winsor must be called father of the television soap opera [Fanlore has it that they were working her long days, 4 days per week. Fanlore also has it that Chris Goutman wanted Bev on "Another World" at the very end of the show, briefly, and that P&G wouldn't have any of it because they were bent out of shape at her departure from "Guiding Light" years before.] Oh, thank you for the clarification. By the way, did Lucky write "Lorelei"?

GL Head writer Nancy Curlee Demorest had this to say when asked if she had any story regrets over the years: "Although Maureen's death was a lynchpin in a carefully conceived and well-executed story, Ellen Parker was so fine, and so well loved, that her absence left a hole in the show that was later hard to fill." ... 'Mo', Reardon by birth, Bauer by marriage, Michelle's 'mother' by circumstance, tentpole legacy character, Roger's only real friend, lost to the ages ... On one page there is a clip of the Roger/Holly/Marital Rape scene & after the clip, each actor speaks. Zaslow: When people ask me what scene, what story I was the most proud of, it's this, it's the rape. For that we used hand-held cameras for the first time, to give people the sense, the feeling of Holly being menaced by Roger. And, well, it's like this, we did it in one day. Garrett: No soap had previously done this, dealt with marital rape and it was just beginning to come out in the real public view, as well. To this day I get letters from women who are victims of danger in their own homes, telling me what the show meant to them, and means to them, still. Holly took Roger to court and they twisted it all around and tried to make it seem that she had done something to cause it, something wrong. Well, that part of the story went on for days and I would walk home, and Holly was afraid and I was afraid. And, I would say over and over and over again, "It's not my life. It's Holly's life. It's not my life. It's Holly's life. It's not my life. It's Holly's life." Elana Levine is a professor with the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee who will publish a book in © Mar. 2020 HER STORIES: Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History." https://www.dukeupress.edu/her-stories "At NBC programmers admitted that they went to a 90-minute show 'because they couldn't come up with a better idea.'" From a Wiki column with Vicky Wyndham, recently: "Oh my God. And also Harding Lemay, Pete Lemay, writing wonderfully for seven years; they just wrote so wonderfully for all of us that he created the myth that then I was able to dine out on, for the rest of my life on that show. Together we created this character that had enough substance and a track record for the show. Even after he left and it went to ninety minutes for two years. It gave the show a certain track record and my character became the anchor person. You have to have a certain amount of range and do different kinds of acting. You know you’ve got to … if you can get any comedy in anywhere, you’ve got to try for it. Many actors aren’t that flexible. I can be real nasty, really quick. That was good. So it didn’t matter that she became a good character. She still had all those edges. She could be sarcastic. She could be bitchy. She could be manipulating in good ways and bad. And she could be awfully funny. She also had this artistic side. Then I had these wonderful fans who loved the show and it’s really amazing, really quite a phenomena, because those fans outwardly they looked like pretty simple folk, typical ladies, but they are amazingly bright. And so appreciative when they know you’re giving them everything you’ve got. Audiences are like that. Hollywood, whoever Hollywood is, keeps forgetting audiences aren’t stupid!" - Victoria Wyndham about Pete Lemay

OH! I am so glad you've done this list in this fashion. Of course we don't agree about everyone. However, I adored Nancy Curlee Demorest, Pam K. Long, Millee Taggart, Bridget & Jerome, felt totally sorry for Claire because she had only a year there, pitched a great same sex story for Holly & Olivia & got shot down & then fought pretty much non-stop with Rauch & they even fired her & her son but then rehired them-crazy; I could not stand B&E at GL even though I liked them at other shows; detested the Nursery Rhyme story & know that Maureen hated doing it/also detested clone, walking through painting & time travel. GL is not Reilly's ball of wax. I don't like McTavish anywhere; I was okay with Lucky & Kreizman; I adore Jilly! Last and not least, I could not stand anything at all about "ConWest" - both the EP & the HW, did not belong at GL, especially not near the end. Weston was a nightmare in an interview, for just one example. And, he spent too much. I don't have the quote I'm thinking of right at hand but Jill Lorie, when speaking of Gus's motorcycle death, says that what's important about death on a soap opera is what you make out of it. It is similar to Nancy Curlee's quote about Mo's death, which I have somewhere around here.

Miss Ford spoke the concluding line in the scene. She delivered it straight to the camera for my benefit in the control room, paused for a split second, and added with grim explicitness, "Whatever the [&#33;@#&#036;%^&amp;*] that means." She grinned at me later as we passed in the corridor, but she had made the point for herself and the rest of the cast. The dialogue I wrote was far less literary after that visit to the studio. -- Harding Lemay, EIGHT YEARS IN ANOTHER WORLD, 1981. Whoa! Remarkable censor!! He goes on to describe the game he plays with her where he scores against himself (but not against her) when she "adjusts" her lines to cut verbiage out of what he has written for her. Connie was special to him from the very first day. When Vicky Wyndham came over to take on the part of Rachel, from Robin Strasser, VW & Connie did not immediately hit it off. But, very soon, they did & were fast friends & righteous colleagues forever after. Connie was special to me, too! I estimate that I am one of many people who had crushes on Connie.

Speaking of Connie, as someone was a little while ago, was this famous ad, which I think was for a red lipstick, always rendered in B&W or is there a color version? I was always grateful that Lemay latched onto Connie so quickly. Didn't he call her his first collaborator, whether she knew she was or not? We call the YouTube videos of her "The Lovely Ada" and practically *count* the number of times she uses a tea towel over her shoulder!

She blamed Bill Clinton for the loss of life and equipment (helicopters) in Mogadishu; she blamed him for the World Trade Center Attack Sept. 11, 2001; she was fixated on the people who had jumped out of the WTC to their deaths. Besides trying to be a writer, she was trying to run a working farm and was overcome.

I "met" Barbara Morgenroth online at RATSm back in the day, and, boy, oh, boy, she was a wild one! They had written odd ball soap stuff. She was very political. But, she was also a devout Jew.

Blog 242 Ed Fry wrote, “My friend and colleague, Sally Spencer, passed away yesterday. She had been ill with leukemia, treated, home and by all accounts doing well.” “She and I were "almost TV man and wife", but we were instant and long term friends. I'm heartsick at this news. She is one of those vivid, generous, loving, wise, smiling souls that the world can never have enough of,” he added. According to Fry, Spencer put all of her “deep empathy and intelligence” to become an educator and was working as a Professor of Special Education at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) prior to her death. She was the one who had helped pioneer SIMPACT, technology developed to provide a highly realistic virtual platform for studying various practical subjects like social work, teaching, nursing, counseling and more. Her efforts to further the campus’ reputation locally, nationally and internationally made her one of the vital members of the university. Fry concluded his statement as: “May the Angels sing to you in seven octaves of welcome, Sally, to that place of beauty and rest you so richly deserve. See you further along, my friend.” Tributes started pouring in for the deceased star in the comments from the fans. **The other MJ McKinnon was Kathleen Layman who died Oct. 26, 2014, MJ McKinnon, AW

I was wonder who can explain one thing for me -- and that is :What the heck happened on What the heck happened on this one Feb. 14th?!!! February 14, 92 ? *Holly Norris and Daniel St. John elope.* February 14, 92 ? *Holly Norris and Daniel St. John are taken hostage.* February 14, 92 ? *Harley Cooper is kidnapped.* February 14, 92 ? *Daniel St. John dies.* (WTH happened on Feb. 14?) Quote "For me, the Guiding Light was always a porch light, just outside the Bauer’s kitchen. Outside, a bad moon may be rising, forces gathering to do you harm, foes behind bushes...Outside, friends may be treacherous, lovers untrue... But if you ran like hell, and made it to the porch, and banged through that screen door, inside there would be warmth and light and the smell of good things cooking. The Guiding Light was about love and home truths and compassion prevailing. For me, anyway, that’s what it was all about." -Nancy Curlee Former GL Headwriter April 2009

I really hate that both of the MJ MCKinnons are now dead. My mother & I both cried over Zane for 3 days! There's a script where Aggie put the Coffee Shop of Cedars Hospital at AW. That cracks me up. I adored Felicia with Zane!