Tonawanda NEWS Friday, August 31,1973
Soaps still actor's way to make living By JACK OBRIAN
Talk to anyone who's been sick for a while, and chances are pretty good that person is hooked on the "soaps " Yes soap operas are alive and well on daytime TV, and they offer an excellent way for a young actor to make a living.
Don Stewart stars on The Guiding Light." TV's longest running detergent drama. Don said If he wrote us a letter, it would go like this '
'Dear Jack, In the five years since I last wrote you, I married and divorced a girl who turned out to be a really bad one. In fact, she is trying to break up someone else's marriage now. Brother Ed as you know is an alcoholic, and he started drinking again long enough to get married to a very restless and impulsive child. I'd expect more from a great surgeon. Then, the other day, I finally married Ed's ex-wife, which of course makes me both father and uncle to his son. I guess that means I could be called "Uncle-Daddy." I recuperated well after being shot in the heart. It turned out to be only a flesh wound. My law practice has been extremely successful since I saved at least three people from the gas chamber or prison. My daughter ran away from home, but I found her in a blinding snow storm. Don
"WOULD YOU BELIEVE that all these incidents related above happened to me " Don asked. "It's true. They did - that is, they happened to me on the television screen. They're all incidents which have occurred in the last five years to Michael Bauer, attorney-at-law, in The Guiding Light ' How can they get away with such stories? The fact is they appear just as often in the news. In the words of Mary Stuart, a friend of mine who stars on 'Search for Tomorrow,' a redeeming factor about daytime TV is that the villain always pays for what he has done —and pays, and pays, and pays.
"SOME MEN put down soap operas and they put down their wives for watching them. But after all, what's the difference between watching soap operas all day or watching football games all day? "I don't want you to feel that I'm trying to justify my existence as an actor on a daytime drama (as it is more respectfully referred to). It is a tremendous job for an actor, very highly sought after and coveted. It's steady, it offers an opportunity to work continuously in one's craft, and allows time to pursue other activities. More than half the actors on our show are doing or have recently finished Broadway jobs. Also, daytime drama is a fact of life and affords an outlet for people who find it difficult to communicate, people in hospitals, older people, as well as housewives who are home with small children.
"ONE DAY I was entertaining on a program that featured great actress Joan Crawford. I was supposed to introduce her on the show. I went over to her table to meet her, but before I could introduce myself she said, I know you. You're a very fine lawyer!'
"On another occasion I had the opportunity to go up to the late Irene Ryan to compliment her on her role in Pippin.' But again, before I could get a word out, she said: Hi! I know you. I watch you everyday.'
By
Paul Raven ·
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