is quick to point out that she doesn't agree with all of their philosophy. However, Delphi believes that women should seek strong men, men "not shaky about their virility, who share the responsibilities of running a home. I don't believe a woman would want a man with a male ego so fragile that he would shake if he entered the kitchen to help. I believe the basis of a marriage is trying to please each other, to be nice to each other."

A woman so wise and secure is a natural for success. Delphi has had her share of triumphs, having done everything from Shakespeare in repertory, to plays both on and off-Broadway and nightclubs, to television commercials. But, surely, one of the highlights of her active career has been the part of Chris Cameron on Where the Heart Is. This past October, even though she was enjoying a six-week leave of absence because of her baby, Delphi celebrated her second anniversary on the show.

Probably most of you have forgotten, but Delphi was not the original Christine Cameron. When the show began, Delphi was on vacation in Europe, having a ball.

"I owe everything to Jean Reilly, the casting director at CBS," recalls Delphi. "She is a fine actress and when you do a reading with her, she makes you look good. I had three readings for various producers at CBS but didn't get the jobs. So I went to Europe, which you aren't supposed to do if you're super-dedicated. But I had a great time. When I got back, the original girl who got the part was being replaced one month after the show went on the air. I hadn't been able to audition since I was in Europe. But I won as the replacement. And I love doing it. The role is so much a part of me. We have remarkable writers who are able to incorporate a good deal of the actors' own personalities into the parts. Sometimes I find myself in situations I can't believe. I'm saying something exactly as I would say it in the same situation in real life. I like her (Chris Cameron) and I have tried hard to work something extra into the role. I've convinced them to put a little humor into my part."

Delphi herself has a very natural, warm sense of humor and is extremely sensitive, two necessary virtues for any good actress. Over the years she has discovered that an actress can use her curiosity to enhance her creative skill. It is almost as if the world were her laboratory and she were studying everybody therein, storing away the sight, sound and smell of human beings in all sorts of situations for future use as an actress.

But there are times where her ability to study life is put to good use on the home front. Delphi is anxious to raise alert, aware children without seeming to push them in any direction. She would rather learn from her children than teach. And she is showing Norman how this can be done subtly.

One incident especially stands out in her mind. "My husband was playing with Spencer and his toy cars. He was making noise like a car, going 'vroom, vroom.' I listened and suddenly told him; 'Don't make that noise. Let's wait and let Spencer tell us how he hears the sound of a car.' I want to know what children's experiences are. I want Spencer to see the world through his own eyes. The less we interfere, the better."

And this is precisely what Delphi brings to her acting and to Where the Heart Is. Wife, mother, actress, Delphi Harrington manages to balance all three careers so that none suffers.

By Ellen Graham

I could be very wrong, but I want to say that WoST did an interview with Delphi. I know they did one with Jada Rowland, maybe I'm confusing the unusual names...

I posted this in the Secret Storm thread, but it's a 10/71 TV Dawn to Dusk interview with Chuck Weiss, who produced SS and WTHI at this time. He talks a bit about the sequence where Vicki pushed Mary Hathaway down the stairs.

I posted this in the Secret Storm thread, but it's a 10/71 TV Dawn to Dusk interview with Chuck Weiss, who produced SS and WTHI at this time. He talks a bit about the sequence where Vicki pushed Mary Hathaway down the stairs.

Just read the threads about the fall down the steps. Hadn't read these synopsis before now and don't recall these plotlines in detail. Can't recall one woman pushing another--but my recollection is clearly of the blonde going down the steps in the wheelchair...in any case a wheelchair was involved--even if it managed to stay on the upper landing.

Brent

Thanks for sharing your memories. I have a few other articles from around this time, interviews with cast members like Diana Walker. I will share soon when I get my scanner going again.

Just read the threads about the fall down the steps. Hadn't read these synopsis before now and don't recall these plotlines in detail. Can't recall one woman pushing another--but my recollection is clearly of the blonde going down the steps in the wheelchair...in any case a wheelchair was involved--even if it managed to stay on the upper landing.

Brent

Vicky definitely pushed Mary down the stairs. Vicky and Mary were both played by fragile blondes, Robyn Millan and Diana Walker. Vicky was in the wheelchair. She had accidentally on purpose gotten pregnant by Michael Hathaway to trap him into marriage. Michael's mother had died in childbirth, causing his father Julian to be cold, distant, and resentful. Michael could not do that to his own child and agreed to marry Vicky. Michael had been in love with Mary, his college classmate who married his father. Vicky overheard Michael declare his love for Mary. Vicky ran out, drove off wildly in her car and crashed. The accident apparently left her paralyzed, but in time it was revealed that she was faking it to hold on to a guilty Michael. Claire Labine recycled this story on Ryan's Hope with Delia and Pat, and interestingly enough, Robyn Millan played Delia temporarily during the period when Ilene Kristen left and before Randall Edwards took over.

Mary also felt guilty and waited on Vicky hand and foot. Vicky had a little dinner bell which she rang constantly, causing Mary to run up and down the stairs to adjust Vicky's pillows, bring her food and drink, and whatever else Vicky could think of to annoy her. One day Mary caught Vicky standing. As I remember it, Vicky had wheeled out of her room on the second floor and stood up. Mary saw her and threatened to reveal Vicky's schemes to Michael and Julian. The two argued with the wheelchair between them. Somehow, Vicky managed to steer the chair around so that Mary was standing with her back to the stairs. Vicky shoved the chair into Mary, sending her tumbling down the staircase. I don't recall the wheelchair falling, but as Brent wrote, the sequence was very well done. It was certainly superior to the laughable stunt on Dark Shadows when Janet Findley fell down the great staircase at Collinwood.

That sounds great. It's a shame that all that is known of Diana Walker's soap work is her one day stint on Dark Shadows. From her interviews she seems very interesting.

From the June 1972 Afternoon TV. (Roband Publications Inc)

Edited December 3, 201014 yr by CarlD2

get married. I don't think marriage ruins a relationship but, on the other hand, if I never got married again I won't feel I've missed anything. I don't intend to have children. I really enjoy being alone at the moment, so I don't think much about marriage.

"One reason why my relationships with men were never successful was i always looked to a man to solve my problems," she goes on thoughtfully. "I didn't realize you have to solve your own problems; then you can have fun falling in love. I'm into my third year of some pretty heavy therapy now. The most beneficial thing has been group therapy. I've started to let go, which is good because I've been a pretty uptight person most of my life. I think my work is better, and I know I enjoy life a lot more."

Diana especially enjoys life when she can indulge in her favorite pastimes such as art, travel and gardening on her plant filled terrace. "I call my terrace the 'North 40'" she laughs. "I really do a gardening number. I plant all kinds of bulbs in the spring. When I'm hassled, I go out there, and there's something so relaxing about getting your hands in the dirt."

"The thing I really want to do with my life, besides get better acting parts, is see the world. I don't want a house in the country, I don't want a lawn I have to mow. I rent my apartment, and, if I decided to see the world, I can go. I want to go to Versailles and walk in the gardens. I want to go to the Parthenon. I'm very comforted by knowing I want that. I can be 85, and it won't bother me because there will always be something I haven't seen. I love to meet new people, I love to taste things I haven't tasted before, touch things I haven't touched before."

Diana's friends are mostly people in the arts - painters, actors, writers, etc. "I entertain a lot. The first party I gave in my present apartment was a big affair with about fifty guests. It was great. I had fortune tellers, the whole bit. Another time, I gave a party and my friends supplied the food. Somebody brought a quiche, somebody brought a salad, somebody brought something else. And I liked it because I didn't have to cook. I'm a super shopper, but cooking bores me to tears. It takes so long, and it's messy. I did an awful lot of cooking when I was married, and I've gotten it out of my system. I do cook a steak occasionally, or scramble an egg. I also eat tuna fish a lot."

Along with gardening, art collecting, group therapy and traveling, Diana continues to study her acting craft in case an important opportunity in movies or theater come along. But, if it doesn't come along, she'll be contented to stay with the soaps. "In some was, soap operas are a liberated medium," she declares, "because you aren't told how to act. Also, when you're in soaps, lots and lots of people know you because you get a tremendous amount of exposure. I like the fan mail and I like being recognized. I don't feel I'm just a cake of soap. You have to be believable, you have to connect with the audience in order for them to accept you, and I think I do that."

We think so, too.

I posted this in the Secret Storm thread, but it's a 10/71 TV Dawn to Dusk interview with Chuck Weiss, who produced SS and WTHI at this time. He talks a bit about the sequence where Vicki pushed Mary Hathaway down the stairs.

Chuck Weiss is a producer that I'm eagerly wanting to learn more about. Not only did he produce WTHI and SS, but if I'm correct he also was EP of How to Survive a Marriage for some time, another soap that pushed the envelope in the 70s. Not only did he produce that soap, he would later be transplanted over at The Doctors, where the soap engaged in some unique storytelling around that time as well. Seems as if it was a signature of Weiss's to display storylines, that were often seen as taboo in the 70s, on the front burner. Unfortunately for him, such storylines didn't really garner much ratings at the time, nor did it help him retain his the position of EP for very long.

Edited December 6, 201014 yr by MichaelGL

I hope the article I typed up helped you some then. I'd like to know more about him too. I would say he seems ahead of his time, but considering most of the producers in daytime haven't been great, perhaps not. I do wonder how he might have been on, say, SFT in the early 80s, if he could have turned them around. All of his shows seem to have a very unique character.

What unique stories did he do at The Doctors?

From the June 1971 Daytime TV (Sterling House Inc).

"Everything about being single is new to me. I thought that once I was single again, I'd be a real swinger; but you know something? I'm not at all. I like nice quiet evenings. I also discovered that it wasn't hard to pickup a social life after having been married. I find, though, that it's hard for me to judge a social life. By that I mean, I have to start all over again and learn the ropes. I'm terribly innocent in dating. At least that's what my friends tell me.

"Seems like I can't tell the 'nice guys' from the 'not-so-nice-guys.'"

What do you like to do on dates?

"One thing that really bugs me is being asked to dinner on a date. I just happen to be a good cook. Perhaps that's due to my half-Italian, half-German-English background. When I go out on a date, I like to be taken to the theatre or opera or ballet. Guess that's part of my background, too."

How do you feel about marriage now? Do you want to get married soon again?

"I'm being very honest when I say that I don't know about marriage as an institution. I know that right now I'm not even thinking of marrying again. I don't want to be involved or committed to anything but my career. Maybe that sounds selfish, but there are things I want for me right now.

"Acting is an emotionally unsettling kind of life in that you are in a show with people, you get to know them real well and like them - then suddenly it's all over and you have to pull out and go on to something else. Nothing is permanent - that is, if you want to get ahead.

"I'll tell you something funny. I have to watch my weight because I can really put it on if I let myself go. I am a compulsive eater and, if an audition went badly, well, then I'd say to myself, 'Let's go on a binge.'

"As a young girl I purposely let myself get fat and stay that way because I didn't want to be distracted from pursuing an acting career. I was committed to this career and didn't want anything interfering with it or me. What I'm really getting at here is that I don't give remarrying any thought right now. Everything in my life at the moment centers around my career.

"I don't know if you're interested or not, but I belong to a Women's Liberation group. Oh, I don't mean the 'burn-the-bra, march-and-protest type of group.' No, our group is small and we meet weekly in someone's home and just discuss things. I guess it is a form of analysis even though I am in analysis outside the group.

"You see, in our group some of the women are single and some are married. We choose a topic to discuss and we promise that we'll be absolutely honest in our opinions. It has worked out well in that, instead of screaming and yelling about what pigs men are, we spend our time trying to find out where we are as women. We have come to the conclusion that when real Women's Lib happens, people will marry later in life. No one will feel that she missed out on anything in life.

"I believe that it's important for every woman to work some time in her life. There are many who never do, you know. They just graduate from school and get married. I know that if and when I ever marry again, I don't want my husband to worry about whether I survive. I want us to know we enrich each others' lives. None of this 'Without you, I'll be desolate' bit."

Well, if you think Louise was honest about her marriage, her age and weight, listen to what she says about her upbringing and how she feels about her present job on Where the Heart Is.

"I would describe my upbringing as European bent - some of it was impressive, some of it a little inhibiting. Nevertheless, I wouldn't hesitate to say that it gave me a sense of good taste about a lot of things. I have a sister, Lucy, 20; Marie, 18; and a brother Bradley, 16. I was born and brought up in Connecticut and Bradley still goes to school in Woodbridge. My mother and father took me to the opera when I was 12 and to Europe when I was 10.

"They were the type of parents who believed that children could recognize and understand the beautiful things in life. They were artistic people in that sense. My dad is dead now, but so many things stand out in my mind. When I broke the news that I intended to become an actress, of course my parents were scared. After all, they did want me to have a job with security, but as frightened as they were, Mom drove me all over for rehearsals and Dad accompanied me on auditions. So, in a sense, they were helping me toward my goal.

"I think their fright stemmed from the fact that they didn't want me or any of their children to suffer. I have only one regret. My parents paid my way through school and for two years I attended the Connecticut College for Women and because it was a Liberal Arts course, and I felt it was a waste of two years of my life and career. From there I went on to the Yale Drama School.

"As for Where the Heart Is, I love it. I'm genuinely happy doing the show, but of course I'd be lying if I said that this is where I went it all to end. I want to go on from here to other things like a Broadway play or musical. I do sing and dance, too. One thing i must say is you learn a lot from being on daytime serials and working steadily; you get to know yourself as an actress.

"I suppose the term for me is 'ambitious' but then again I couldn't say I was committed to my career if I wasn't ambitious, could I?"

On parting, she mentioned that she was on her way home to her West Side apartment to spend some time with her 6 pound bundle of joy - a gray-haired poodle, Agnes, that is (to quote Louise) "a feisty soul, gutsy, protective and incredibly jealous, but I adore her."

I hope the article I typed up helped you some then. I'd like to know more about him too. I would say he seems ahead of his time, but considering most of the producers in daytime haven't been great, perhaps not. I do wonder how he might have been on, say, SFT in the early 80s, if he could have turned them around. All of his shows seem to have a very unique character.

What unique stories did he do at The Doctors?

From the synopsis’s I’ve read and still have from his time at TD from 78-79, The Doctors seemingly tackled more social issues, or at least more sexual oriented stories, under Weiss than under anybody else in the show’s history. It was under him that the show had teenagers Billy and Greta deal with their sexual desires, and experience the repercussions of it, such as her becoming pregnant. Elsewhere you had good girl Sara Dancy torn between town baddie Dr. Colin Wakefield and the noble Mike Powers. The story would conclude after a rage filled Mike took to Sara to bed, and funneled his frustrations into their love making. Sara, having never seen such a side of Mike before, would express to her sister Nola that Mike’s anger had improved their love making and she now valued her marriage to him more than before.

There were more stories like this, such as the plot where Billy and Greta attended a swinging party and felt out of place, Carolee dealing with her rape and the emotional and physical affects it had on her marriage with Steve, hints that a character named Kim had a “Sex addiction”, and finally the Luke/Missy romance where Missy was hesitant to have sex with reformed womanizer Luke Dancy, after a traumatic experience.

Perhaps unique isn’t quite the word for it, for a better word the stories were more racy, being that they pushed the envelope for its time period and gave an entirely new layer to the canvas of characters.

Edited December 6, 201014 yr by MichaelGL