Soap Stars You Feel Have Been Disloyal to Their Shows

[DeeeDee]

*cough*JuliaBarr*cough*

[dragonflies]

Where's the loyalty to these people who gave these shows, their blood, sweat and tears for YEARS, only to get repaid by being put on recurring or fired all together.

LOL I might buy this if RB hadn't turned down offers to return about 3 times, then suddenly decides to come back because of the writer's strike.

[Dan]

Actually, many think it was Bradley Cole's return that next year that caused Liz Keifer, Maureen Garrett, and Yvonna Wright to be taken off contract. After all, the first of the firings (Garrett in late February) was done a few months after Collins left in December and it was announced fairly early in the year that Cole would be returning. Keifer, Chamberlin and Wright were then taken off contract (I believe) after Cole returned.

Part of Garrett's firing has to do with Paul Rauch IMO. During his tenure, Rauch said that Keifer, Garrett, and VerDorn would always be on contract. They may have had horrible stories, but he kept his promise on this point at least. When he was gone and Conboy came on, Garrett was the first vet to go.

[Cheap21]

BE is disloyal for having a brain? Guiding Light is a sinking ship. No offense to those who love it, but thats a sad fact. It has the lowest budget and werent some actors asked to take a paycut? BE made the best business decision for herself. In these hard econonimc times, why stay somewhere thats on shaky ground? I think she's better off on AMC

[DaytimeFan]

Bradley Cole's return didn't help. The thing with Joan's contract though is that she had the option to leave in December...but get paid for the additional three months, which is exactly what happened. So it was probably a combination of paying JC's enormous salary on top of Bradley Cole who I don't think came back super cheap.

[AMCHistory]

I think with the GL situation, Keefer and Chamberlain were offered contract guarantees of 1 episode a year if they wanted to retain their status, but both declined realizing they would probably work more if they did outside project anyways.

I think disloyalty for a show has to do more when an actor leaves an badmouths where they come from. This is not limited to stars who go to Hollywood, but those who remain in the daytime mix. As much as I love Cady McClain, and we all know I am the biggest Tad/Dixie and specifically Dixie fan, she was very disloyal to AMC with her letter to fans about the move to ATWT. She also openly talked about how much she hated the character of Dixie in interviews. Sometimes, if you have nothing good to say, you shouldn't say anything at all.

My biggest pet peeve is when former daytime actors refer to their time as, "on the soap," instead of saying it by name during interviews. They as daytime actors must know how important that endorsement and advertisement is to the survival of Daytime. Daytime is not where an actor just pays their dues. Many would never have been discovered if not for their Daytime stints. Josh Duhamel is a key example of this. I lost a lot of respect for Josh after seeing how "Hollywood" he has become.

I don't like the Rebecca Budig argument because I feel like it is hard for people to separate their disdain for the character of Greenlee and Rebecca. Rebecca entered a business deal, has talked openly about how much she loves being back, and decided at the end of the deal to walk away. That is fine in my opinion. It is taking no one by surprise. It is not leaving things open ended. If the rumblings are true that she had already made the decision, the show has two moths to decide, and write an exit. She has been graceful, and fulfilled her commitment to a "T." The great Beverly McKinsey did not give such a courtesy, but her loyalty to GL has never been challenged.

Some I would consider disloyal are Marcus Patrick from AMC as Jamal (read the interview he did on my site, he hated the show and openly talks about it), Joan Collins as Alex on GL (DIVA), or Thaoo's 2004 Days departure.

[DaytimeFan]

I'm surprised you listed Joan Collins on GL because she only had glowing things to say about the show and the actors. The only negatives she had was that it was a lot of work (the hardest work she'd ever done and that she had the utmost respect for soap opera actors) and that MADD made her pay for her limo service which was supposed to have been in her contract (Joan confronted MADD about it, they settled on her getting a town car!). Paul Rauch also had only positives to say about her, especially after she did a number on Carolyn Hinsey!

[Heyou]

Let's not forget how Adrianne Leon was treated by Y&R either, being let go allegedly because she had gained weight when in actuality Ms. Leon was asked to keep on her weight for a weight related storyline that never surfaced. And now it seems we are stuck with Ausilleen until 2010. Adrianne spoke out once about her firing but she did so with grace and humility.

How very true!! The truth is, we do not know the conditions these stars work under. In fact, it's often been reported that the backstage shenanigans are juicier than the storylines written. There have been many times that these stars are so often overworked and stressed that they do not even have time to take care of themselves and in many cases have become quite ill because of it.

If we didn't have these actors, we'd be stuck with a lot of mediocre actors. Now that I think about it, we are starting to see more and more mediocrity in the genre.

I can't blame them one iota for speaking out against their shows, if no one were to speak up, things would only get worse for them.

[quartermainefan]

Why should any actor feel loyalty to a show that has stopped showing loyalty to them? I don't get it. If EF was right that her show was refusing to write for her because of her age, then why should she even show the slightest bit of loyalty? It isn't her talent or availability that was their issue, it was her age.

Same thing for JVD. They tell him "thanks, but we'll call you when we need you and if we don't need you we won't call you" but he is supposed to stay tight lipped about the execs who basically fired him?

[rangethatrover]

I LOVE that story you told about Joan and Hinsey. Joan is a class act. Even I tuned in to GL when she joined. She seems like a classy, professional woman. And I loved how she praised the soap genre and the actors she worked with.

[Faulkner]

I don't see how this makes her disloyal or vicious. I'm sure she had her reasons for turning them down the first three times. Clearly, Frons and AMC really wanted her back or they wouldn't have asked her a fourth time. The offer was on the table, she was unemployed, and she wanted to work. So what if she only wanted to work for a year? Frons knew this going into it and should have planned for it, given the fact that, well, HE was the one who offered her the deal.

The vitriol aimed at RB just boggles my mind.

[Jess]

I think what those actors did by and large was loyalty. Anytime a new writer comes into a soap they can actors or back burner them or treat them badly just because they want to do so. The fact that these people speak out is perfectly fine. These are people who have been loyal to their shows and then are treated with disrespect. Many of them are treated poorly because of ageism -- a form of discrimination that is too easily tolerated -- or because the new head writer has a new pet toy he/she wants to parade.

I also do not think Rebeca Buding did anything wrong. She did not fire anyone. She should not be condemned any more than Susan Haskell, who returned and also caused the termination of another actor.

Dan G. was fired from OLTL for speaking out and that stinks. Erika Slezak was not, and that is good. Neither one was more or less loyal than the other. The shows do not deserve loyalty. In loyalty is the topic, I think viewers deserve far more respect and loyalty from the shows than they receive.

[Gray Bunny]

Did Ellen Wheeler start this thread topic? lol

[tanyia2]

I have to disagree with this statement completely.

The show focusing on Harley and Reva most of the time is/was part of the problem with the show. We had long time characters that would disappear for months or years in order to give these two women storylines.

Another thing Harley was not the most important character on GL's canvas. The Bauers and the Spauldings are the most important characters on the show.

[AMCHistory]

What did Gauthier say that got him fired? I always wondered because Gauthier was definitely a rising talent.