Edge of Night (EON) (No spoilers please)

[amybrickwallace]

Or as she herself put it, ruined everything.

Please register in order to view this content

[Nicholas Blair]

What was the story behind Donald May's leaving EON? Thanks for any information.

 

 

[amybrickwallace]

I believe he was fired just shy of his 10th anniversary on the show. That's all I know.

[Joseph]

 

Please register in order to view this content

I saw this by accident the other day maybe it helps

[Broderick]

I'd always assumed he was fired.  But in 1984, he told the Washington Post that he'd quit, because he'd been on the show ten years and felt that "I'd said all I had to say".  

After 10 years as a leading character on one of daytime television's longest-running shows, Donald May quit.

"I thought I'd said all I could say," he said. What next?

"Then I bought a TV set. I looked at nighttime TV. It had changed dramatically. I didn't see a whole hell of a lot that I wanted to do. I came to the conclusion there was more to be said on a soap opera -- nothing profound, simply a running commentary on the human condition."

For 10 years, Donald May made his running commentary in the role of Adam Drake, a crusading attorney in "Edge of Night," a soap opera that traditionally has emphasized corruption and crime-busting even more than romance. Now, after a turn in the short-lived "Texas" soap and a hiatus spent producing and directing stage plays in California, he's back in New York and back in a soap, the equally long- running "As the World Turns."

 

[j swift]

Isn't that a classically ironic actor's statement?  "I quit daytime, because I got bored, in order to do more daytime"

I wouldn't buy that statement with a plugged nickle.

In the 1984 thread on Soap news, there is plenty of suggestion that he was fired in order to bring the younger character of Miles into the leading role, much like the actor playing Bill was fired so they could bring on Derek.

Edited October 1, 2021 by j swift

[Broderick]

I figured he was fired.   Next on the chopping block was Bill Marceau, to bring in a young porn actor as the police chief.  lol.  

[j swift]

To be fair, he was both a porn actor and a disco star

Please register in order to view this content

I would dare any modern soap to be so bold in their casting choices

Please register in order to view this content

Edited October 1, 2021 by j swift

[Broderick]

In that particular video, the line between "porn actor" and "disco star" becomes extremely thin, lol.  

[Nicholas Blair]

Nothing could be more truly 1970s than that video of Dennis Parker. It would be really sexy if I weren't laughing so much.

In his book EIGHT YEARS IN ANOTHER WORLD (1981) Harding Lemay says that after the firing of George Reinholt (1975), other producers were also willing to fire their (these aren't the exact words, but the right idea) "temperamental, high-priced" stars. I always guessed that Donald May was one of these. I don't know who else Lemay had in mind. Don Stewart remained on GL until 1984.

Thanks to everyone for all these great pieces of information.

 

[j swift]

Wait... its not a song about a guy going bird watching at night so he has to wear something reflective? I feel so naive.

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by j swift

[Paul Raven]

The opening of that clip with the darkening skyline...remind you of anything?

[j swift]

There's more than one version of the video to that musical masterpiece, so I wonder if the 2nd version (linked above) was meant to capitalize on his EON role?

Here's the original

Please register in order to view this content

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by j swift

[Paul Raven]

'Always searching...never perching'

That 2nd clip is a great visual record of NY at the time.

Have to wonder how a porn star/singer landed a gig on a P&G soap?

Joel, Dennis and Irving were all part of the cast at that time. Were there any other gay cast members at that time?

Edited October 2, 2021 by Paul Raven

[j swift]

One actor with a past in adult films could easily be explained as a mistake, but two actors cast in two years, that's either a casting director who hung out too much in Times Square, or someone who had zero gay friends or business acquaintances while working in Manhattan, in entertainment, in the early 1980s.  Note that there were no female actresses with a similar past (just sayin...)

Edited October 2, 2021 by j swift