Well, I had always heard that Edge of Night, or EON, was different from other soaps, what with the focus on mysteries and its popularity with males. So I've been checking it out, and I am truly hooked. I usually watch two or three an evening, as they only run for twenty minutes. Right now, Draper Scott/Kirk Michaels has amnesia and is recovering in the bed of Emily Gault while back in town, Raven Swift is trying desperately to get her child back. From what I understand, what I'm watching first aired in the spring of 1980. Although there is a little too much repetition for my liking (which I probably wouldn't mind if I weren't watching back-to-back, but day-to-day), I have thoroughly enjoyed the Mansion of the Damned and the train wreck. Looking forward to what I think will be something about a carousel, as Crazy-Dream April (as I've come to know her) has been tossing and turning in her sleep again.

I'm sorry that almost all of her EON work is gone. I wish I could see it as anything I have seen of her work as Martha is very strong.

She (Martha) was placed on trial for murder on two different occasions:  for the death of Rick Oliver and for the death of Taffy Sims.

There is another death from The Edge of Night to report:   actress Elizabeth Parrish has passed away.

She played two roles on the show.   The more memorable one was that of Buffy Revere.   She shared many scenes with both I. M. Hopson and Criag Augustine on the show.

 

This post was shared on Facebook by actor Thom Christopher (Noel Douglas #1 on The Edge of Night):

 

"Saddened to report that Broadway's Elizabeth 'Betsy' Parrish passed away last week at the age of 97. Most theatergoers will remember her for her long run as Jacqueline in the original "La Cage Aux Folles". Her other Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include "Pickwick", "Riverwind", "Deathtrap" (playing over 1000 performances opposite Marian Seldes) and the original "Little Mary Sunshine" opposite Eileen Brennan. She was also a fixture on the NY cabaret circuit.

Perhaps her greatest and most memorable role will be as Master Acting Teacher at the Stella Adler Studio and Yale School of Drama, where she taught several generations of actors their craft (including Meryl Streep and Donna Murphy). And Betsy was still actively teaching up until this year! Truly amazing.

Be sure to check out Betsy belting out Jerry Herman's "The Best Of Times" opposite George Hearn on the OBC...video footage of the recording session can be found in the comments below!"

 

 

 

 

Mr. Christopher added the following message:

"

In the mid 1950’s as a Drama Dept student at Performing Arts High School ~. This very lovely woman taught an acting class with the same dedication and kindness that inspires and gets the best of yourself to come alive when starting a journey that at 15 was to be the “journey for a life time”!

She loved what she was doing as an actor~ every time she stepped on stage the joy was felt! Thank you Elizabeth “Betsy” Parrish for starting the “journey”!"

Edited December 28, 20222 yr by danfling

She was a hoot as Buffy. Here's a bit of Buffy with her hunky boy-toy Johnny Gentry. Buffy and Johnny's scene starts at 13:40. #RIP. 

 

Edited December 28, 20222 yr by victoria foxton

On this date in 1984 was the last broadcast of EON.   38 years ago 

I've still seen very little of her work on the show after poring over a ton of EON episodes over the years (and bingeing my way through the Mansion of the Damned story most recently, now moving forward into 1980), but Sharon Gabet deserves a medal for retrieving some of these ancient eps from the mid-'70s with Maeve McGuire, Dixie Carter, Donald May, etc. I'd seen some of the Serena Faraday story of course, but the other eps dealing with the large Claude Revenant story and so on are just great.

I can only hope other soap stars or personnel will keep gracing us with this rare material in future. I know some kept kinescopes or affiliate-held eps and other things from the '60s and '70s, and we've gotten more in recent years from '70s OLTL and GH than I thought possible.

Edited January 11, 20232 yr by Vee

If you are an EON fan and you are not following this group on Facebook, it is really a must.  The thing that I admire about Mark Arnold sharing his memories, is that it is totally without ego.  I am certain that many actors have stored memorabilia of their careers over the years, but his willingness to show his collection is an implicit admission that he (or his family) cared about the publicity that he received enough to hold onto it for more than 40 years, and I like that kind of honesty.

A EON promo from Lifestyle channel in the UK. Starts at the 1:46 mark. Featuring Kelly and Molly.

Edited March 10, 20232 yr by victoria foxton

 

 

I just watched the 6/22/81 episode, which according to the poster was the first episode to be rerun on USA.

It marks the transition from Draper and April to Sky and Raven.  Draper returns from his adventure at The Bryson's clinic with the knowledge that Sharkey is the father of Emily's baby.  He confronts Emily in a scene that was well written.  She tries to continue her fraud by saying that Sharkey can't be trusted and that they would never have had time to be "alone" while in the clinic.  In response, Draper pulls out the "do not disturb" sign that Sharkey left as proof of their affair and Emily is devastated.  However, Tony Craig lacks the charisma to elevate the writing of that scene.  There is barely any reflection of either Draper's anger toward Emily or the satisfaction that he has uncovered her scheme.

However, Terry Davis is the underappreciated powerhouse of the episode.  Under most other actresses April would have been an insufferable victim.  Plagued with a heart condition, unlucky in love, and saddled with raising other people's kids,  she was the type of female character that I never liked because she was always lacking agency.

But, at the end of the episode April gets her chance to confront Emily and it is so satisfying!

First, Emily comes up in April's private elevator and April remarks that she needs to remind the building staff that Emily is not welcome in her home.  Then, she rips away Emily's innocent veneer and lets her know that she has no future left and had better leave town.  And finally, she gets to one-up Emily by letting her know that she is actually pregnant and now April will have everything she ever wanted.  

I loved watching April's contentment at being the final piece of the puzzle that ends Emily's reign.

Of course, this being EON, the episode ends with Sky and Raven bantering in the back of his limo, rather than the April/Emily scene.  But, it is a perfect episode to choose as the first re-run because it really made me hungry to see what would happen next...

Edited March 23, 20232 yr by j swift

Lake Charles American-Press Lake Charles, Louisiana 07 Oct 1960

Drama Serial Entering 5th Season on TV The Edge of Night, KFDM-TV Channel 6's absorbing Monday- through-Friday dramatic serial (3:30-4:00 p.m.) is entering its fifth year of exciting drama entertainment for the daytime viewer. Combining suspenseful adventure with sensitive personal drama. The Edge of Night encompasses the full sweep of emotions as they work in the lives of Mike and Sara Karr, played by John Larkin and Teal Ames.

Mike is a crusading young lawyer, employed by Grimsley Enterprises as corporation counsel. His outside interests center around the Citizen's Crime Commission, a group of citizens interested in good government. These interests involve Mike in a variety of assignments which expose him to the more unscrupulous elements of the town of Monticello and their hatred because of his crusade to make the city a decent place in which to live. Sara realizes that Mike is right in what he is doing and that his dedication is to be admired, nevertheless, she cannot lose the fear and anxiety that comes from not knowing whether or not he will end up the victim of some hoodlum's attack. Mike's awareness of the suffering which Sara is undergoing and his devotion to duty provides a: underlying conflict to the story, a conflict further intensified by the presence of Laurie Ann Karr, their year-and-a half old baby daughter whose welfare is uppermost in both parents' hearts.

In coming months the story will focus on Mike's work to uncover a numbers racket, operated, not by common hoodlums, but by members of Monticello's social set; Theresa Vetter, a lovely but heartless woman, Victor Carlsen, handsome, rich, and charming, who dreams of becoming a crime "tycoon" in control of all racketeering in the city, Jenning Carlsen, Victor's younger brother, neurotic, almost psychotic, and completely under Victor's control. Subordinate to the major theme is the story of Judy Marceau, daughter of Acting Chief of Police Bill Marceau and Mike Karr's good friend. Judy is a case-worker for the Juvenile Authority and her modern ideas about young criminals put her in constant conflict with her father, with the Police Department, and notably, with young Police Lieutenant Ed Gibson.

The Edge of Night is produced by Charles Fisher and directed by Richard Sandwick and Allen Bristoe. Writers are Irving Vendig and Carl Bixby.

In the article above, the name of Allen Fristoe was mistakenly published as "Allen Bristoe."

Don Sebesky, a musician who was nominated for his work on the music of The Edge of Night, has passed away.

 

Sebesky's work for television has garnered three Emmy nominations, for Allegra's Window on Nickelodeon, The Edge of Night on ABC, and Guiding Light on CBS. He also composed film scores that include The People Next Door (1970), F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles' (1974), and The Rosary Murders (1987).

I've been deep in a '79-'80 binge of EON along with other soaps since COVID began. It's very interesting how much they played with stuff with the longer-running characters (so many Edge characters were transitory). Miles and Nicole are now cemented as a tentpole couple or seem to be after the brutal slaughter of Donald May's Adam (and preceding Nicole's own harsh demise in a few years), but they definitely play a new angle when Derek Mallory comes on. Dennis Parker plays Mallory as an absolute militaristic shitheel and chauvinist for much of the early months, but his clear infatuation with Jayne Bentzen's Nicole humanizes him and allows for some layering. Meanwhile they seem to be teasing something with April and Logan while she's cemented with Draper.

More and more I think EON nailed what Dark Shadows could've done had it adjusted to the '70s - it also had an often transitory, sometimes rotating repertory cast of people who would come in, interact with the foundational cast and then leave from genre story to genre story. The Madison clan including Margaret Colin has fulfilled several story purposes and is almost entirely gone, leaving only Nola to wreak havoc; Eliot Dorn is still around following his cult story a couple years ago making mischief. This sort of modular formula is one EON perfected.

Edited May 9, 20232 yr by Vee