The Doctors

[Paul Raven]

Original cast member Jock Gaynor as Dr William Scott.

[Cat]

I saw that video had been posted and was coming on here to alert you, Carl! Finally Kathleeen Turner in all her Veronica Lake-esque glory.

It's funny how observers of the genre said that the decline for The Doctors came in the mid-1970s; this episode is 1979 and pretty good writing, I would say. Meg Mundy is magnificent as the matriarch. The conversation between Carolee and Steve is so tender. And when Nola hangs up on Carolee, lol.

A classic soaps channel. That's what we need!

[DRW50]

The few episodes I've seen from this point in time seem strong. Even the bits and pieces of the last few years don't seem too bad. The cast is first rate and could play anything. It's a shame that most of them did not go on to major soap work elsewhere.

[Paul Raven]

Liz Hubbard,Bethel Leslie and Gerald Gordon

[Paul Raven]

Scott Graham played Johnny McGill and CC Courtney was Jody Lee Bronson

Edited April 13, 2012 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

I hadn't seen most of those before.

[DRW50]

November 1973 Daytime TV

Keith Blanchard joined the show as Eric the end of July.

November 1973 Daytime TV

[DRW50]

March 1972 Daytime TV

Eileen Kearney (Greta Powers) has been replaced by Jennifer Houlton. It's Jennifer's first acting job.

[Paul Raven]

Variety Feb 14th 73

.Geraldine Court, formerly of CBS-TV's "As the World Turns," has joined cost of NBC's "The Doctors" soaper.

[DRW50]

March 1973 Daytime TV

Paul Henry Itkin (Dr. Vito McCray) left the end of December. Curt Williams' role of Jimmy Graham ended the middle of December.

[DRW50]

July 1973 Daytime TV

Edmund Lyndeck rejoined the cast as Dr. Carl Hendryx.

[BFORE02]

I have episodes of The Doctors going back to June 1978 to the last show in 1982. For my complete list of Vintage Soap Opera Episodes email me at [email protected]

[DRW50]

July 1969 TV Radio Show

[DRW50]

They married on May 14, 1966, when Gerald was barely 30. He felt he was old enough to know his heart, and he was finished with the loneliness of the bachelor life.

Then, with Ruth, he moved to New York, took a fancy New York apartment, and two years ago went on The Doctors. He felt he had a wonderful marriage. Ruth stayed in advertising, but took acting and voice lessons, hoping to turn actress some day. They had their candlelight dinners at home because Gerald dislikes brightly lit dining rooms; they enjoy appropriate wines, went to the theatre often, and mixed with old theatre friends like Jerry Orbach, with whom Gerald once appeared in Three Penny Opera in New York.

Until last year, Gerald felt he had the perfect marriage. He told one reporter, "I'll be saying it 100 years from now - Ruth was right for me!"

Why did his marriage fail?

Gerald Gordon's strong jaw line tightens when he says, solemnly, "One of the problems of my marriage was that I didn't really know my wife. After all, we married after only three weeks...and I realize now that it wasn't enough time. Next time, perhaps I'll know better."

He wants to marry again. He doesn't believe that man was made to go through life alone. "I believe in the old axiom of 'Two against the world.' Two is better than one, to survive. A man must marry, but he must marry the right girl! I have seen so many so-called carefree single people, and they are not so happy! They might be carefree, but they are also lonely!"

His marriage breakup stunned him, and he has been going through a painful reevaluation of his life. "What went wrong?" he keeps asking himself.

"I"m studying myself. I'm figuring out what I want to do with my life, what's important and what is not. I'm expanding my interests. I try to be open minded. I listen to my mother's advice and to my friends' advice, and then I make my own decisions. Any way, in the long run, advice can't save you. You always walk alone in this world! And until I learn to walk pretty good by myself. I'm not really ready to cope with this world.

"I'm learning so much about myself, and I'm trying to become more mature. I'm going through such intensive self-examination! And of course I'm so grateful that I'm working on The Doctors. It's good for me to keep busy during this time of anguish. Being busy eases the pain."

At one time he was quite a fan of bullfighting. He'd go down to Tijuana and to Mexico City to see the bullfights. He even bought the film rights to the story of Manoletto, the legendary Spanish bullfighter. But he's given up the fights. "Now I'm more interested in current problems, like the Viet war. My dad used to be very interested in current events, but he never showed off his knowledge. He was modest, and he knew a lot about life. His name was Albert.

Gerald is of Russian-English parentage, and of the Jewish faith. His mother, Rachel, is now living in Miami Beach; his older brother lives in Munster, Ind., and is in the dry cleaning business; his younger sister is married and living in New York. His brother has one daughter, Melinda, 5, and "so pretty!"

"I'm the only one in the family who went into show business," says Gerald. "But when we were children, my mother, a former model, insisted on our taking cultural courses. She brought my sister to singing school, my brother to music school for drum lessons, and me to a drama coach, Lilla Gordoni, who thought I was so good that she turned me into a child actor on Chicago soap operas."

He was a chubby kid and shy, and acting was good for him. "I went out for athletics and began to thin down. I played football in high school and suffered a back injury that kept me out of the Army. I turned to oratory, and won a four-year scholarship by winning a high school oratorical contest on The Constitution of the United States, held by the American Legion."

He went to the University of Illinois for two years, then one year at Northwestern University, but dropped out before the final year. He felt the university's school for the theatre was overrated, and was impatient to start a career in acting.

"Not finishing college worked out for me," he explained, "but if I was in some other field, I would have stayed in college."

Because he was such a fine orator, friends urged him to go into law and politics; but acting was irresistible. "Acting talent is God given," he says, "but of course you have to keep studying, keep growing."

In New York, he studied for five years with the famous Lee Strasberg, two years with Herbert Berghof, and two with Robert Lewis. He made his Broadway debut in the drama, Compulsion, and appeared in the off-Broadway shows, Three Penny Opera, Me Candido, and The Private Life of the Master Race.

He landed a contract with Desilu studios, Hollywood, lasting a year and a half. He did some TV guest shots; he starved some of the time. His parents would send him $25 at Christmas time, but he was too proud to ask for more. Besides, he knew they couldn't finance his acting ambitions. He used to pick up "outside jobs," like selling newspaper subscriptions over the phone, which brought him $20 to $25 a week.

He smiles ruefully when he recalls playing Squire in a small stage production in Hollywood of The Petrified Forest. "I was so thin, so frightened, so green with anxiety - it was really perfect casting for the role!"

He got on a series Ben Jerrod, but it folded after 13 weeks. He got into three movies, Forty Pounds of Trouble, starring Tony Curtis; One Man's Way, starring Don Murray; and Mirage, starring Gregory Peck.

He spent four years in Hollywood. "But Hollywood didn't know what to do with me. When they had me under contract, they must of had something in mind for me, but never used me much.

"I was not a juvenile, and not quite a leading man type, I guess. I was an in-between type, so I thought I might as well leave Hollywood, and mature."

He did meet "a lot of nice people in Hollywood, and so many helped me." But when his mother phoned that his father was very ill, Gerald did not hesitate to quit Hollywood. "And I've never been back."

Now, with the divorce in the works, he is trying to reorganize his life. A joy in his life is his mother. "She's in Miami, and watches The Doctors, and she's so proud of me that her neighbors call her Mrs. Bellini, after the role I play. Some people really think I'm a doctor.

"My mother always wanted me to be a doctor, and she always liked the idea of me being an actor. So now, in my role on The Doctors, I'm both!"

He says his mother was always very practical. "She used to tell me, 'Don't worry about being good to other people. Be good to yourself first.' She always encouraged me to do what made me happy. Of course, if I went to my mother now and asked her about the theatre, she would worry because she knows how fickle the theatre can be. It's a very insecure occupation. But of course I love it, and I would not give it up. You have to be committed to the theatre in order to endure its insecurities."

Gerald is a six-footer, a lean 170 pounds, with dark brown hair, and because of his young face, looks lighter and younger than he is.

He could find all the girls he wants for dating, now that he's getting a divorce. But he's cautious, and he doesn't even socialize with the cast of The Doctors, which includes a few single girls. "It's better to keep the professional separated from the personal life," he comments.

He lives alone in his East Side apartment, since his wife moved out, and tries desperately to keep busy. "In the summer, I play tennis, go swimming, and horseback riding in Central Park. I plan to do summer stock, possibly with Liz Hubbard, who of course is in The Doctors, playing my wife.

"I take singing lessons; they're so relaxing. Some day I'd like to sing in night clubs. I go to the theatre a lot. When I'm depressed, I work out in the gym, then meet some friends for dinner.

"Really, there's no better remedy for depression than work! And if the work is interesting, then so much the better!"

Sometimes he walks alone in the park. "It gives me perspective. Seeing people around helps remind me that I'm not alone in the world. And I thank God that I'm well enough and lucky enough to be working steadily."

He enjoys relaxing on the terrace of his apartment and watching the panorama of the sun setting in the West. And, when the weather is nice, he broils charcoal steak on the terrace.

He is rather tense, impatient, and he admits he can't stand small talk. "I don't like chronic small talk; it's better to be silent when you have nothing to say.

"I'm tired of people who speak in cliches, worrying about the amenities. Small talk is just a cover up for not saying anything, and for not revealing oneself."

He appreciates sincere people. "I want a person to be himself. I like a person who talks to you and not at you. What the world needs is people who can communicate.

"I realize all conversation cannot be profound, but it should be meaningful!"

He enjoys cooking, and he can make a substantial Beef Bourginon and a fine French souffle. He also likes to make Beef Strogonoff and scampi. "I'm wild about meat, lean meat, because I want more proteins. I want energy without fat."

He detests violence, and "I can stand for almost anything but injustice!" He cannot stand baseball, but loves football.

He hates noisy restaurants. "I detest a lot of light; I'm sensitive to too much light. Maybe it's my reaction to being in a brightly-lit TV studio all day."

About girls: "I don't like girls who are too heavily made up; I don't like girls who dress too elaborately, or put on too much jewelry and accessories that obscure the person. A lot of girls wear gowns, and what you see is the gown and not the woman. I'd rather see the woman."

He's especially proud of Marsha Clark, who heads the official Gerald Gordon Fan Club. "She's so bright!" he exults.

He also likes chocolate malts, very dry martinis, cold roast beef sandwiches.

Since he is an actor, he is constantly asked if he cold ever love an actress. "I don't think I could," he says. "Being an actor is egocentric people marrying each other is just too much!

"For a girl, marriage should come first. And since an actress usually puts her career first, I'd hesitate to marry an actress."

He is concentrating on his career. "I do want success," he admits, "but I know there are other things more important. Sophisticated living cannot give you the essentials of happiness. Being in a fancy restaurant does not provide happiness. It might provide comfort, but not happiness!

"Stardom doesn't guarantee happiness. Happiness comes from within."

Does he have any outrageous opinions that shock his friends?

A pause, then he says, "Yes. I tell my friends that people should live together before they marry. When I marry again, I want to live with the girl before we marry. People should know each other before they sign the marriage contract. Look at me. I married after I knew my wife three weeks...It wasn't enough..."

[DRW50]

December 7, 1982 Digest