GL: Thursday's "Special" Episode...

[jfung79]

That was a great episode. I never knew about Irna Phillips having a friend Rose writing down all the dialogue for her as she acted out the scenes. What ever happened to Rose?

[KLN]

She gave her a dirty look one day and Irna ate her.

LoL! I really don't know.

[Actor87]

I don't think she was probably around very long... I also think GL hammed it up a bit, saying they were friends. She was probably just someone who sat there and wrote down every word Irna told her to.

[ClassicsSoapFan]

Here are some good sources for information on Irna Phillips:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irna_Phillips

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/P/htmlP/...phillipsirn.htm

http://www.chicagotribute.org/Markers/Philips.htm

http://www.factbites.com/topics/Irna-Phillips

[Actor87]

Here's a snippet of what Wikipedia has for Irna Phillips regarding her personality and such....

EDIT NOTE: Sorry...just saw what you posted James.

[All My Shadows]

Something I noticed was that as the hour ended, I found myself wanting MORE! I wanted to see Irna creating ATWT and helping it get up off the ground. I wanted to see Agnes coming in as GL's headwriter. I just wanted MORE!!

Screw a feature-length movie. I'd love a daytime telenovela based on Irna's life. It could span a year and basically tell how she created each of her shows. SOAPnet, I'm talking to you!

The wikipedia page is a GOLDMINE for hilarious/psychotic/brilliant Irna anecdotes!

[Actor87]

Also, I found on Wikipedia that she didn't want anyone to know that she had died. She ordered her family not write an obituary. Instead, a family friend (obviously tricking the system...lol) wrote it. Agnes Dixon found out when she called to wish her Happy Holidays. (BTW, I wonder how she died.)

Very, very strange woman. But she was brilliant!!

[jfung79]

If anyone else is interested, I at least found out the full name of Irna Phillips's secretary Rose from the wikipedia entry for Bill Bell.

It is Rose Cooperman. That is the only information I found out about her -- her name.

[Dan]

Actually, Harding Lemay (then-Headwriter of "Another World) wrote the obituary and paid for it to be published.

[jfung79]

Yeah, I agree, Irna Phillips's life sounds fascinating. Actually, they could do this telenovela for several of the founder soap writers, and keep the story going as Irna fades into the background and Agnes Nixon and Bill Bell become more prominent as you say. It wouldn't just need to be based on Irna's life.

By the way, I feel like P&G should have been more self-congratulatory today about how important they were to soaps, and how all the soaps on air today owe them. I was surprised I never once heard the words Procter and Gamble today.

[Dan]

Here's my favorite Irna Phillips story as described by Maureen Russel's Days of Our Lives: A Complete History of the Long-running Soap Opera

"On one of her first visits to California, Irna attended a story meeting with Ted Corday, Bill Bell, Joe Behar, and a few others. Both Bell and Behar remember the room as small, with nearly bare concrete walls. Halfway thought the meeting, a painting the only object on the walls, suddenly fell from its hook and hit Irna squarely in the head! Nurses were summoned, and Irna was quickly taken to nearby St. Joseph's Hospital as her stunned companions could only sit and wonder at the seeming impossibility of the accident. Irna was fine, but as Bell attested 'Boy, was she in a bad mood.'"

[Josh]

Is this on youtube yet?? Rapid Share angers me.

[Actor87]

Josh, I checked and there's nothing on Youtube except for a quick 30-second "Last-Minute News" feature that Entertainment Tonight did like a month ago when they were filming it.

[Scotty]

It's Agnes Nixon, not Dixon.

[Scotty]

Man, Irna Phillips was one brilliant, but odd woman: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irna_Phillips