Edge of Night (EON) (No spoilers please)

[j swift]

Ironically, Nadine later died similarly.

People in Monticello should've really thought twice before getting in a car after an argument with Raven.

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[Khan]

"Look, Raven, I really don't want get into an argument with you right now, I have to pick up some milk at the supermarket!"

[robbwolff]

Mark Faulkner’s Edge of Night homepage features a treasure trove of information, including synopses and transcripts. According to the late 1978 synopses, an imprisoned April had been having visions for months about Draper’s car careening over a cliff. That indeed happened and the Karrs were informed that Draper had died. But then Draper showed up at Geraldine’s with the sad news that Kevin had borrowed his car after he had told Kevin that Raven was planning to leave the country and had died in the accident.

[DRW50]

This is another reason I think the show could do well if it's revived today.

[Broderick]

At his peak, Slesar was a master of surprise, even when it came to defining his collection of core characters.

Sometimes an actor & character would really *pop* with the audience, and Slesar would add that particular actor/character to his core mix.  Other times, an actor & character would really *pop* with the audience, and you'd start expecting that character to stick around for years; instead, they'd end up dead on the floor with a knife in the back or a firepoker to the forehead.  You just never knew.  

[Vee]

So did Martha Marceau just fade offscreen in the mid-70s, still in town but unseen like Bill a few years later? What little I've seen of Teri Keane on the show is very impressive.

[Paul Raven]

I recall reading  that at first Martha was said to be spending some time at the Marceau's Summer cottage but then she was just not mentioned anymore and Bill was seen in a professional capacity only.

[Liberty City]

So, I know nothing about this soap, but I've seen scenes of Sharon Gabet's Raven, and what a masterclass her work absolutely was during that time.

[danfling]

The departure of Martha Marceau, as badly as it was handled, was better than the departure of the character of Phil Capice.    Ray McDonell left the show to join the cast of All My Children.  Mary K, Wells as Louise remained.  Phil was always somewhere else when Louise appeared.

I remember one particular time when the show opened with Ann Flood as Nancy yelling from the front door of the Karr home saying,  "Bye, Louise and Phil...."

[Paul Raven]

So Ray left to do AMC . You would think EON would just have Ray accept an out of town job offer and depart with Louise.

Maybe it was very sudden and they were caught unawares?

So while they thought about recasting or dropping Phil altogether, Louise stayed on until Mary K Wells could be dropped per her contract. I assume she too just disappeared.

[danfling]

Yes, Mary K. Wells as Louise did eventually disappear in the same way that Phil had disappeared earlier.

After I had posted above about Ray MacDonnell, I started thinking that his departure probably came at the time his contract with The Edge of Night was expiring.   The show probably thought that he would be renewing, but he suddenly decided to depart.

I can also imagine that the show was not sure how much Phil would be used in future storylines, so the show did not if it should recast the role or to leave it dangling.   Perhaps they thought that All My Children might not be a success (after all, there had been no soap operas airing in that timeslot before then) and that Mr. MacDonnell may again become available to return to his role.

The retention of Louise made more sense probably because Louise was the daughter of Winston and Walter Greaza was still appearing on the show.   Also, sometime during this era, the actress who had played Mattie for so long (the second actress in the role; I cannot think of her name right now) had died.   But, Mattie was recast with Katherine Meskill assuming that role.

Mary K Wells did leave the show, probably when her contract ended.   (Maybe they decided to drop her, or maybe, she decided to leave.)  She became the third actress to play Nola Hollister on The Secret Storm.  After being written off The Secret Storm, she was cast as Hannah Cord on the Hollywood serial Return to Peyton Place and remained on that show during its entire run.

This was the same role that Ruth Warrick had played during the primetime version on ABC.  I wonder if Ms. Wells could have played Phoebe on All My Children (the role filled by Ms. Warrick).  That would have lead to some good soap opera trivia.   Mary K. Wells and Ray MacDonnell playing a married couple on The Edge of Night and then Ms. Wells playing Phoebe and Ray MacDonnell playing Dr. Joe Martin.   (For those who do not remember, there was mention of a romance between Phoebe's step-daughter Ann and Dr. Joe Martin at the beginning of All My Children.   Kate Martin was hoping that they might become romantic, and maybe Dr. Charles Tyler did also.    Phoebe hated Ann's relationship with Nick Davis.)

And, I understand that All My Children did try to initially hire Kay Campbell (Rose Pollock #3 on The Edge of Night) for the role of Kate (which had been created for her).   She had already retired and did not want to return to work.   Two other actresses were cast as Kate before Ms. Campbell decided to return to acting.

All My Children later considered replacing Ruth Warrick in the role of Ruth.   The new actress would have been Hailia Stoddard (from The Secret Storm).

And, considering that Ruth Warrick was initially told that she was too young to play the wife of Dr. Tyler.   So, it was decided that she was to be the second wife of Dr. Tyler, mother to Charles, Jr. but step-mother to Ann and Lincoln.

 

 

 

[danfling]

Lisa Howard was the first actress to play Louise Grimsley Capice on The Edge of Night.   This was posted yesterday on It's about TV:

 

I" It was in the January 25, 1964 issue of TV Guide that I first became acquainted with Lisa Howard. That was the issue that looked back at TV's coverage of the JFK assassinations; I've written before about how I grew up with that issue, reading it over and over until I was familiar with the most obscure programs (several of which have since wound up in my video collection), knowing that this was a gateway to a time that I was a part of but only vaguely remembered. In that issue was an article by Alan Gill about the "ever-persistent" Lisa Howard, a reporter for ABC, accompanied by a picture of a redhead wearing a vivid shade of red on her lips. It was a very effective photograph, not the kind of thing you're likely to forget. The article discussed her transition from soap opera actress to political activist to reporter, particularly her headline-making interview with Fidel Castro. Since I'd committed the contents of that issue to memory, I filed the name Lisa Howard there as well.
 

There haven't been many opportunities over the years to use that information. Howard appears in ABC's JFK assassination coverage, but aside from her daily show she doesn't show up as much as you'd think she should, given her credentials. Indeed, her story takes a tragic turn; after being fired from ABC and suffering a miscarriage, she fell into a deep depression and committed suicide in 1965 at the age of 39—less than 18 months after the TV Guide article appeared.

All this is background to a fascinating article by Peter Kornbluh in Politico, "'My Dearest Fidel': An ABC Journalist's Secret Liaison With Fidel Castro." Without even seeing the story, bells were going off in my head, and I had an idea who that journalist would be; clicking on it merely confirmed my suspicion.

It's a brilliant piece of long journalism, the kind that we don't see often enough anymore, documenting the details of how Howard became an intermediary between Havana and the White House, a story of politics and intrigue worthy of any spy novelist. And, befitting a spy novel, there's a romance between Howard and Castro, which makes the story even more intriguing. In some ways Howard reminds me of Dorothy Kilgallen, another famous female reporter of the time, one who covered the big stories (and, in the case of Dr. Sam Sheppard, was part of it), saw herself as part of history, and died under tragic circumstances from an overdose of pills.

You'll want to set aside some time and read this; whether or not you've ever heard of Lisa Howard, and no matter what you think of Fidel Castro, you'll be pulled into the narrative, and hard-pressed to stop before you get to the end. And as an added bonus—think of it as the companion to the article—here are a pair of YouTube videos. The first is the Howard-Castro interview as presented on ABC, while the second offers an interview with Peter Kornbluh, author of that Politico story.
 

   

Would I have even noticed this article had I not read that long-ago TV Guide profile? Kornbluh writes that while at one time she was one of the "most famous TV journalists in the United States," today "almost no one remembers Lisa Howard." I remember Lisa Howard, though, thanks to that issue from over 50 years ago. Like so many things I've run across over the years, it's part of the permanent record. TV  

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Edited January 18, 2024 by danfling

[DRW50]

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[vetsoapfan]

Martha's final on-screen appearance was with Geraldine Whitney, when the two women were discussing Kevin Jamison's and Phoebe Smith's relationship. Then she simply stopped appearing and went unmentioned for several months. Finally, while he was testifying on the witness stand in court, Bill was asked about his relationship with Mike Karr. Bill replied that he, Mike and their wives had been close friends for many years, but that they saw each other much less now, "...since my wife and I moved to the country."

Louise did not simply disappear. She had an official "write out," with the character visiting the Karrs' home and telling Nancy that she was leaving town to be with Phil who had left Monticello for business.

 

 

[FrenchFan]

Thanks ! I wish i could find more about the late 60s-early 70s of the show