AMC: Catching up with Mary Fickett

[LeClerc]

I was really taken aback by the pictures of her. I don't know why I expected her to still look like she did when she was last on in 2000. I didn't even think the pictures went with the article at first.

I thought this was especially sad: Fickett's last appearance on "All My Children" was in 2000. The show's Web site does not mention her.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/07...dex_html?page=1

[AMCHistory]

She is still and will always be Ruth Martin, the real Ruth Martin. I wish the show did not disrespect her by recasting her role. Lee will never be Ruth to me. I think letting Ruth go will be a wonderful, dramatic story point giving some veterans (Susan Lucci, Ray MacD, MEK) the chance to shine. I'd rather this character have closure, than see her relegated to the window dressing status she has now.

Man, I would kill to interview her.

[LeClerc]

I absolutely agree with everything you wrote. All the controversy over the word "real" this year....here's a case where it truely applies.

I'm curious, does anyone rememeber how did the re-cast initially go over at the time back in '96?

[quartermainefan]

I am really sorry I clicked ths topic. Heartbreaking. It's funny, you turn on OLTL and see Agnes Nixon and she is about the same age and looks great. Bill Hayes is older and looks faboulous. And then some people get dealt the bad hand and you have Mary. And it is sad she is now bedridden and totally removed from her old life.

[LeClerc]

I was going to put a warning that it might be upsetting; I admit I was tearing up reading it. But it does sound like she's still in good spirits, which just just proves Ray MacDonnell's claim: she wasn't acting on AMC; she is Ruth Martin.

[AMCHistory]

Here is what TC Warner told me about the transition from Mary to Lee:

LINK

[LeClerc]

Thanks AMCHistory. I was actually just going to re-read your interview with TC to see what she'd said about it.

I'm guessing the decision to re-cast was made by someone above Francesca James. I can't see James doing it, but I could be wrong.

[detroitpiston]

[SFK]

As you can imagine, a lot of people thought that the show should have retired the character (with cameos on big holidays, et cetera) out of respect for Ms. Fickett. Then there were fans who thought that for the sake of Joe and Tad, we needed Ruth regardless of who was playing her. I remember a lot of jokes about Joe getting a hot young new thing, I mean after all she was one of the Catwomen. A lot of fans thought that Ms. Meriwether should have been hired as a different character, a new love interest for Joe (under the circumstances that Ruth had been out of town a la Langley for an extended period of time). I think this would have been the better option because it would have given Joe his last memorable storyline and Mr. McDonnell would have had the chance to be "bad" which he's wanted since the show began. I remember thinking about Lee's casting when Paul Rauch hired Joan Collins for Alexandra. In both cases, excellent additions to the show, but perhaps for the wrong role (yes, I know many people think Joan was a great Alexndra, but Faye Dunaway would have been better if we're stunt casting here).

Not too long ago, I found an old tape we have of Lee's first episode ("The role of Ruth Martin will now be played by Lee Meriwether") and an interview she did with Regis & Kathie-Lee at the time. Her first scene was with Kelsey in the Martin home, a set that I guess we haven't seen in a long time. I actually was drawn into her characterization of Ruth in those early scenes, she had a darker "take no sh*t" undercurrent going on.

As for that article, I guess I wasn't expecting her health to have declined so. It makes me rather sad. These actors retire and sort of fade away, in our minds they're crystalized as the way they were on their last episodes. I hope she is happy surrounded by her family. I was surprised to read that MF was such a glamour puss, kinda like the first time I saw Hilary B. Smith in her whiskey mink. Of course I "know better" but it's only natural to associate the character to the actor in such a long running role.

[Kubla Khan]

I too remember Lee's first scenes as Ruth. They were right after Kelsey took Sam from Maria and Edmund. Ruth was really spunky. "If you want to be Sam's mother, you're going to have to be there for him! Don't think for a second your grandfather and I are going to be your built-in babysitters!"

I loved Mary Fickett, but I love Lee Meriwether too.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I agree, she is the only Ruth.

I miss seeing her from time to time, she's one of those faces that when you see it, it makes AMC feel like "home."

[All My Shadows]

I totally agree. There are many ex-daytimers out there that I'd like to see current pictures of (especially "Dark Shadows" cast members), but I have to wonder what they really look like now. One that never ceases to amaze me with how gorgeous she still is is my lovely Kathryn Leigh Scott, who played Maggie (and Josette and Rachel and others) on DS.

[AMCHistory]

Anyone who has known me for a while on either this board or the PVB can testify that I take this issue to heart... Mary Fickett is Ruth and recasting, recasting was a terrible idea.

In fear of dominating this issue, I just wanted to share my favorite photo of Mary as Ruth, taken near the end of her run in 1994:

Oh Mary.

[All My Shadows]

As far as the Mary/Lee thing is concerned, as a devout AMC fan and researcher, Mary Fickett is the only real Ruth. I started watching long after Lee Meriwether took over, and I see her as Ruth as well, but sort of a different Ruth. She's Ruth, but not the Ruth, you know? She's more of the character's role in the Martin family than she's the actual character.

[SFK]

Yeah, you know it was always the pic of Joe and Ruth (and sometimes Joey) you saw every day at the mid-show bumper during the falling pics period. I really think her leaving the show put a huge crack in AMC's relationship to the legacy characters (minus Erica of course). When it was Joe and Ruth and Phoebe and Mona and Erica, it all felt so balanced and then when Frances Heflin died and Joe lost his true Rith, it all felt so uneven. God bless Eileen Herlie and James Mitchell for hanging in there too.