OLTL/AW: Robin Strasser as Rachel

[DaytimeFan]

I always forget Robin's role on AMC, I think that's the way she likes it. As Christina she just sort of withered and died, it was pretty bad and I recall her saying that she hated playing kind of character, while some consider Christina gray, I consider her a different colour: beige. She was bland and without enough bite.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

DaytimeFan, I noticed one of the Iris clips you posted contained the ABSOLUTELY SPLENDED Anna Stuart as Donna Love. I've always thought Stuart and Strasser were similar type actresses, but Stuart was a bit more polished and theatrical and better at the more emotional stuff. I absolutely adore Stuart.

[SFK]

That's funny, I remember a poster on another board calling Stuart a poor man's/knockoff Strasser. I totally disagree, I think she's great and as Mary Smythe, she held her own against Dorian in a memorable scene at Adam Chandler's house. Her Mary had a less frenetic, quietly conniving vibe that reminded me a lot of women I've met in real life (friends' moms, co-workers you just couldn't quite trust...). There was something very real and familiar about the way she played that role and I'm bummed that Greenlee will be gone before you know it and we will have never seen Mary again. Mary and Adam's maid Carmen could have some GREAT scenes together!

Just watched some of those clips DaytimeFan linkied. I've said this before, but AW sure was a diva-heavy show for a time... Rachel, Felicia, Donna, AND Iris... wow.

[DaytimeFan]

I think Anna Stuart is one of the most underrated actresses in daytime television. For me, there are divas and then there is Anna Stuart's Donna Love. What always impressed me about Stuart is that her characters, however OTT they may have been, were still very real. Never once did she veer off into caricature. Like you said, Stuart is a more polished actress and more successful at the emotional stuff than Robin Strasser.

I absolutely hate that some consider Stuart to be a poor man's Strasser. Paul Rauch hired Stuart and had the writers create the role of Donna after she auditioned for the role of Felicia Gallant (played by the superb Linda Dano). Rauch has exacting standards and he felt that Stuart filled every one of them.

And SFK you're so right, for a time AW was very diva heavy and it was just terrific, although some hated late 80s and early 90s AW I happen to think it's some of the best daytime television ever. It had so much humor and melodrama injected into it. It was never dull.

I remember an episode from the 80s when there was this big party at someone's house and Felicia arrived in a waitresses outfit because her original dress had been ruined. Anna Stuart's Donna and Linda Dano's Felicia had the greatest 'frenemy' chemistry.

Finally, I know what you mean about Anna Stuart's Mary on AMC. She was scarily real. I KNOW several Mary Smythes, one of them is my great aunt. They do exist, they're real and Stuart played her so naturally.

She's just the greatest! I would KILL to have her on B&B or Y&R where the writing for vets is better. Failing that, a return to ATWT as Donna would be great. And damn Brian Frons for eternity for never giving her a contract at AMC, she absolutely was a viable rival for Erica and would have been a superb Mrs Adam Chandler.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

A friend was just telling me how Stuart's Mary Smythe sold everything that was written for her. He recalled one line where Mary told Carlos something to the effect that, "If you think that you're going to fullfill some sick fantasy where you get to have a rich white girl, you better think again!" He said Mary said everything the audience was thinking, and Anna Stuart sold that material so very well.

[SFK]

HILARIOUS!

I've seen that waitress outfit ep, very Felicia! Felicia's taste was abstract and eccentric, the woman who can wear anything. Why? Because she says so. Donna and Iris weren't self made like Felicia, and they always played the good breeding/taste card. I love that story of how Anna auditioned for Felicia and they created Donna for her. Interesting seeing as how she and Linda became such good friends... Anna filled in for Linda as Rae on OLTL when Linda was sick, and they played Mame and Vera together at Bucks County Playhouse.

Yes, I really wished they utilized Mary. Years ago I remember trying to think of who could ever replace Susan Lucci if she ever needed an emergency replacement? Sally Field (ha!), Goldie Hawn in a brunette wig (haha!), Anna Stuart (hmmm...). She and Susan bounced off ofone another very well. And kudos to the costume designer responsible for Mary's look, I thought it was perfect and unique.

[SteveFrame]

I loved 80's and early 90's AW too. There were some areas that were rough to get through but overall it was not bad at that point.

My biggest problem came in when the writers who had virtually ignored any "childhood" friendships with Donna and Rachel for years suddenly made Donna, Rachel and then Michael old high school classmates together.

That was trying to build a history that had never been there. You only build make believe history like that when characters first come on not after one of them had been on the show for several years.

I didn't really like Donna when she first came on to AW even though it was great to see Anna Stuart back. I grew up in love with her on The Doctors and GH where she played the Ingenue and the very innocent ingenue at that. And she was damn good at it.

But it seemed like they didn't know what to do with Donna when she first came on. I was really getting into Guiding Light again at the time and it was as if AW was trying to make Donna Love a carbon copy of Vanessa Chamberlain on GL. And Donna just didn't have any definition. It was a few years later when I found out that the character was made for Anna when she tested for Felicia and didn't get it. I understood. I think they wanted Anna before someone got her and just created a character who they had no story for. And it played that way on screen too.

[DaytimeFan]

Yes, Linda and Anna are really close friends. When Linda went through her battle with depression Anna was there as one of her 'support partners' (which is an emotional support program for depression that Linda gives lectures about now). They're both truly great people.

I'm so glad you said that the costume designer at AMC deserves kudos for Mary's look! I so agree, it was unique, classic, trendy and fabulous. I have a few patients who dress just like that and it's a great look for anyone over 45, it goes the distance. Just gorgeous! I really would love to see Mary back. She was a very 'Agnes Nixon' style character.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Didn't Anna temporarily fill in for Maeve Kinkead on GL in the early 80's? It must've given someone at P&G an idea.

[EricMontreal22]

I've seen three eps with her as Christina--so can't faily judge, but I have to say I thought she was pretty good. It seemed like they were never quite sure what to do with the hcaracter, and I suppose that ocul dbe partly her fault, but...

[AMCHistory]

In re Strasser as Chris Martin on AMC, it wasn't that Robin was bad in the role, it was that the role was just so boring. Chris was a island in terms of storyline. She interacted with much of the canvas, as doctors on soaps do, but she was never a major part of anyone else's storyline.

It did not help that she was paired with the recently returned and recast Jeff. It did not help that she was paired with Paul Gleason's David, Paul was hated on set and David was a fairly unliked character. The inner turmoils and depression that made up Chris' story would have been interesting had she been tied in closer with the canvas.

Strasser did deliver with her material though. I saw some of her later episodes where she rebelled against the Martin group think, and she was amazing.