Virginia Dwyer lived until 2012. Had she not been fired in 75 would she probably have been axed sometime in the next decade. later when AW was undergoing one of it's regular revampings.
Or perhaps having Mary still around would have kept the Matthews more prominent in the story. That might have meant Liz going earlier, as 2 older Matthews ladies would have been deemed too many.
Birmingham Press NY Sat June 14 1969
Virginia Dwyer Orbits Another World by Harvey Peck
The most successful daytime drama on NBC, Another World, has just passed the five year mark and gives every indication of being around as long as-network television. Virginia Dwyer, a veteran of daytime serials, who started back in the radio days, has been orbiting on Another World as Mary Matthews since the series started and the fact that she has chosen to renew her contract at every option time surprises even Miss Dwyer. "I've had running roles on other shows (The Secret Storm, Guiding Light and Young Dr. Malone) but there was always a desire to move on to something else. Here, every day is a new challenge and I think that's why we're so successful."
VIRGINIA, a very attractive woman, has been at it so long she has seen herself suffering dramatically first as an ingenue and, in recent years, as a "mature" woman. She has also seen daytime dramas mature during that period. "I think the half-hour format motivated the change. It gave the writers more time to develop sub-plots and the actors and directors also responded to the expansion of ideas." Since the daytime serial is the last outpost of live drama on TV, it has the advantage of drawing its casts from the best actors trodding the. Broadway rounds. Another World is no exception. "I was doing very well as a radio actress when the ten inch tube arrived on the scene,"she recalled. "But I went over to New York's Channel 5, then known as WABD Dumont, and volunteered to work in live drama for little more than the experience. The lights were so hot my makeup melted on my leading man's clothes. But I was a television actress, and I've been at it ever since. " I was lucky. Today's youngsters are so talented it's frightening. I watch them on our show bringing their experience with the' 'method' or improvisational theater into play and inspiring all of us with their vitality. "But eventually they must leave and prove themselves in theater or motion pictures and it's a very rough road."
Virginia points out that today's contracts for daytime actors are quite liberal about time off for other theatrical ventures. Her husband on Another World is played by Broadway veteran ShepherdStnidwicke who is currently appearing in London as one of the stars of Arthur Miller's "The Prize." "The writers simply eased him out and can bring him back as soon as he winds up in the. play," explained Miss Dwyer.. "He's a tax accountant in our story and, according to the script, he's off on a world tour for business and you can imagine how long that can take."
"ONE OF THE principal factors, in what Virginia considers the turnaround in daytime serials from old-fashioned soap operas to top dramatic entertainment is respect for the audience. "There was a time when they laughed at the housewives at production meetings and practically tossed the scripts together. Now we think our daytime viewers are extremely intelligent and not just people seeking vicarious emotional thrills. Naturalism s the trend in daytime drama and the audiences appreciate the quality."
When she's on call Virginia works from 7:45 a. m. until 5 p.m. at a studio somewhere in Brooklyn. "I couldn't find it on my own but they pick us all up with a- cab," she smiled. On radio she was often a mean, conniving young girl but on TV her face and demeanor have typed her as a nice lady. "I think I'll 'stick with it," she concluded. "Because after all these years in front of a camera I'm finally learning how to relax when that red light is on."
By
Paul Raven ·
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