The Doctors

[amybrickwallace]

 

She last aired in May 1968. Her absence was originally 8 weeks so she could play Sean Connery's wife in the film The Molly Maguires. Lydia Bruce was hired to temp until Bethel returned. She decided to stay in Hollywood, and Lydia became the permanent Maggie. What started as 8 weeks as a fill-in became a 14 1/2 year run, as Lydia would stay until the series finale in December 1982.

Edited December 17, 2017 by amybrickwallace

[SoapDope]

This appears to be Pamela Toll in this ad:

 

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[Soaplovers]

 

She was kind of icy ad Maggie, but she also was maternal and warm when it warranted.  Her and Matt had more a witty banter.  When Lydia first came on, she tried to mimic that and came across more bitchy then icy/sarcastic...so the character was softened.  I like both actresses take on Maggie.

 

I think realistically Carolee couldn't be the same person she was back when Lakin created her.  The Pollacks did retain carolees sarcasm and quirkiness..but also reflected a more serious ajdnsomber undertone since she had a crazy husband, her baby got kidnapped, and had to deal with Mona and now Karen.  And during less stressful times, the character did have some fun scenes.

 

I think the Pollacks were better at long term story and less strong on character moments...but man they took a Lakin story of karen/Steve from 1968...and are still playing the effects ofnthat in 1975...plus even are playing the maggie/matt/karen stuff as well.  That's the secret of good writing....and it appears that Depriest and Marland will undo all that when they take over.  I think Marland became the writer he became after his he messed up on the Doctors turning it a family soap instead of maintaining the doctor/medical aspect.

[amybrickwallace]

 

That’s definitely her.

[SFK]

 

Reminds me of Beverlee McKinsey giving her 8 week notice, but I wonder what the folks at TD thought about Bethel Leslie jumping ship and letting her out of her contract.  Lydia Bruce certainly struck gold there.

 

While reading up on LB, I saw that her son died young back in 1980.  Does anyone recall what happened to him?  This is when the show was still on the air, I can hardly imagine what she went through.  Her son had children of his own.

[amybrickwallace]

Yes. Actually, technically Leon Jr. was her stepson. He was Leon Stevens' son from his first marriage. Here's the story, in a lawsuit filed by Leon Jr.'s ex-wife against Cessna:

 

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/634/137/1885566/

 

The next year, David O'Brien's nephew (his sister's son) died in an accident. I read that in one of the soap magazines of the day. If I can find the article, I'll try to get it up here.

 

Here's Lydia's obit:

 

http://m.legacy.com/obituaries/tucson/obituary.aspx?n=lydia-bruce-stevens&pid=113609822&referrer=0&preview=false

 

Here's the final resting place for the Stevens family, in New Hampshire:

 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150731096

 

Lydia's husband Leon Sr. was also an actor, and played the recurring role of Judge Clark Bowman. He was the chairman of the hospital board.

 

 

[jam6242]

Based on an interview with Bethel Leslie from when she was writing for The Secret Storm, I got the impression that Bethel Leslie was let go after she took time off to do the movie.  She said she was told that Maggie was going to be killed off.

[Paul Raven]

Reading that court case on Lydias stepson, it reported that he was 29 and had been married 4 times and had 5 children!

 

Talk about soap opera lives...

[amybrickwallace]

To me, the Maggie recast was so seamless and Lydia Bruce fit in so well with the show's dynamic, it felt like she had always been there. TD struck gold when they found her.

[SFK]

 

I wasn't sure if I should just hold my peace, by yes Lord, those details were not lost on me either!  What a tragedy.

 

Thanks for sharing, Amy.  I had read their obits and seen the picture of their final resting place which made me curious about Leon III.

[amybrickwallace]

No problem. Lydia and Leon Sr. owned a country home in NH for many years (per many of the articles of the day), thus I guess why they were laid to rest there.

[SFK]

Seems like many of the soap stars who'd been around for a while had homes in the country in addition to their apartments in the city.  When I think about it, it just boggles the mind that the soap community of long-running, well-paid actors in New York is no more.  Think about the sheer number of soap actors and crew members were making nice steady livings in the seventies.  All gone now, a damn shame.

[amybrickwallace]

Definitely a bygone era. 😢

[SFK]

Poor Greta.

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Camptastic wedding episode.

[amybrickwallace]

I can't wait to see this. Jennifer Houlton is one of my favorites on TD. It's been fun watching her Greta grow from adorable little girl in ponytails into a confused teen.