Another Life

[DRW50]

Thanks. Glad to see Another Life had such heavy supporters in the industry.

[YTG]

I've just now learned that the actor who played Miriam Carpenter's husband on the show, Paul Mason, actor Robert Bendall, passed away at 73 in early 2022. We only got to see him in 30 episodes but he was actually an original cast member so he was there for 100 episodes together with their son Frederick who only appeared maybe twice during that 30 episode block

He had a modelling career in NYC prior to joining AL and after moving to the West Coast following his dismissal from AL he had supporting roles on shows like Night Court and Falcon Crest to name a few, but he left acting in the Nineties for teaching in the LA public school system.

https://share.google/3p2gOBUh81RQNcHLy

https://share.google/EHtJFpIqeK55ljMPO

 

[DRW50]

@YTG I had no idea either. Thank you for letting us know.

[YTG]

https://share.google/IYYWIWFxeajIXhAb6

You may be familiar with this Pinterest account. It has a few random photos of Another Life cast members in individual and group settings probably released by CBN for promotional purposes. Scroll down and you'll find those photos after a set of photos from The Doctors and later on between other soaps.

Other photos are taken from The Secret Storm, Love is a Many Splendored thing, The Doctors and more. 

The actress Lori March who starred on The Secret Storm would later guest star on Another Life in 1984 as one of Dr. Vanessa Fazan's high society patients. Roy Winsor created The Secret Storm and Another Life so this was a tribute to his leading soap actress on The Secret Storm.

***UNRELATED: If you followed or are still following 'The Doctors' on RetroTV, You can watch all available episodes from 1967 till the most updated ones at the moment from late 1980 on the following link. Episodes will most likely be added until the show's conclusion in late 1982.

http://watch.itsrealgoodtv.com

Scroll down the page and look for

THE DOCTORS

Edited September 20 by YTG

[DRW50]

Thanks @YTG

[YTG]

I came across this blog written by Eddie Hailey ('Gene Redlon'). He was a praise and worship leader in a Santa Monica community church between 2013 to 2020 or so but that church is close now. 

He very candidly writes in length about his childhood, his upbringing, how he became born again, his move to LA from the Mojave desert where he grew up, his acting career and more. He never mentions Another Life as far as I can recall but I may have missed something because I skipped over parts that were more evangelizing in nature. I have to say that he's a very good writer and that these entries could and should be the basis for his biography if he ever releases one.

I didn't find anything about his whereabouts since then on social media, but I believe he should be 77-78 y/o by now.

His final entry is the first one. The first entry is the one at the bottom of the page.

https://share.google/vvPj7Q6aRntFirhLI

https://share.google/deq119lHFZm5ovsmm

(Most recent photo of him from a decade ago. Second photo from the top)

Edited September 27 by YTG

[DRW50]

Thank you for finding that @YTG

[YTG]

Elain Graham ('Carla Redlon') has been on many great TV shows up till 2018, from Another World between 1996-1999 and later on critically acclaimed prime time shows such as 'Oz', 'Law and Order' and 'Smash' to name just a few. She has been a prominent figure in the NYC theatre scene for decades and in 2022 made an appearance in a documentary produced by actor Glynn Thurman entitled "Women of Theatre New York, a Love Supreme" together with 7 other actresses, mostly African-American, about their career. 

You can watch the entire film here. She makes several appearances throughout the documentary. She is 73 here.

https://fawesome.tv/movies/10567817/women-of-theatre-new-york?utm_source=social_share&utm_medium=website_fawesometv_navigator_api&utm_content=video_screen

 

Edited October 4 by YTG

[DRW50]

Thanks @YTG I think I first saw Elain on AW.

[YTG]

Yeah, her tv and movie credits prior to Another World were much more sporadic and usually in a supporting role capacity. She was mostly invested in the theatre. I watched scenes from complete episodes of AW in sequence on YouTube from 1999 where she plays Etta Mae, but it's not like I cared much about the storyline.

Edited October 4 by YTG

[YTG]

https://spi-collective.com/who-we-are/

It turns out that the founder of this media production company based in Virginia Beach is directly connected to Another Life.

The guy at the top who founded the company actually played a 'villain' for a couple of months. His name is Chris Calcagno and he played the part of 'Dave Cohen' who was Becky's big shot record agent/producer from the Big Apple. While he was clearly depicted as a manipulative, shady, unscrupulous and stereotypically Jewish (Even though he's Italian),  there have been many Italian/Jewish cross-ethnic castings, most notably Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur from 'The Golden Girls' or John Turturro and Robert De Niro playing Jewish characters in various films. He's 71.

Edited October 10 by YTG

[DRW50]

@YTG Thanks for finding all this info. 

[YTG]

I had to correct the previous post. The second person I mentioned as one of the show's executive producers was inaccurate. Their names were the same (Dave Hummel and David Hummel), but it wasn't the right David Hummel who actually passed away in 2016.

Edited October 10 by YTG

[dc11786]

I watched 401 - 407 (Christmas 1982). 

It is nice to revisit my friends in Kingsley. I forgot how good the show is, and the Christmas 1982 episode is a real highlight. 

Leading up to Christmas, we have some very well done moments. Jason Vinley continues to deliver a strong set of stories, characters, and interactions. Among the most noteable in the set was Blue Nobles visit to the clinic where Dave Phillips is treating the scar received months ago when he was attacked by Lori when he was attempting to rape her. Dave inquires about the nickname Blue and Blue goes into a maudlin tale about growing up in foster care and no one knowing his name. There were multiple kids in the home and they were all designated a color. Blue was his. It is a tragic backstory for a piece of work character that suggests that things are less about sin and more about circumstances. Blue was created, not born that way. Chandler Hill Harben does a spectacular job. 

Debbie McLeod is impressing more as Lori in this set. She has the heavy task of dealing with Lori's return to Kingsley. I think some of her realizations about things range from mildly poignant (her realization she doesn't have Christmas presents to give) to borderline devastating (getting upset with Terry because she wants to be able to comfort her mother on the verge of the anniversary of her father's death). I just wish some time was spent revisiting Lori and Russ because a broken Lori might find some sympathy from an equally complicated Russ. Maybe in later episodes. 

The kidnapping story is incredibly story with various threads tying together. You have Charles reading the letter from his grandson Eric, who has commented on how much his mother has changed and wants to reconnect with her. The letter is poignant and breaks the usually very stoic Charles, who has already had a beautiful and deep conversation about faith when Charles retreats on his interest in God after recovering. There is Blue agreeing to photograph Miriam for the ransom after Lance discovers Blue's shrine to his "girlfriend" Lori. By the time that Charles receives the phone call, everyone has said repeatedly it can't be a kidnapping because they have waited too long. I appreciate that beat being played. Then, you have Vince visiting Ron Washington to inquire about what Ron knows about Miriam's kidnapping and Ron playing the fool. I'm not completely aware of the trajectory of Ron's story, but I think that he is setting himself up with the double dealing. It's very intriguing. 

On the lesser intriguing, I'm not big on the Peter / Vicki angle. It's functional given the role Prescott Development plays on the show, but it's not as compelling as I think it could be. I did appreciate a very subtle nod to the Vicki / Peter story when Lori returns home and Peter apologizes not directly saying he failed to pick her up because he was out with Vicki . That was a crucial beat that would be lost on today's soaps. I'm glad we are shifting Gil towards Amber Phillips, who owns the modeling agency. 

There is some fun lighter domestic moments with Carla and Ione preparing for Chirstmas and Terry preparing dinner while Marianne Prescott stops by for the millionth time to complain about her relationship with Russ. The dinner prep is peppered with a bit of family backstory involving a family recipe that the late Scott Davidson wasn't very fond of. It all is much richer than the material from the first half of the year. 

Though, the best material of all has got to be Christmas, which opens with some beautiful exterior and outdoor shots set in Hollister Mall while Harold Webster walks through the shopping center while a familiar mall Santa collects for the less fortunate. As we hear Santa speak more and more, it is clear that Santa is the on-the-run Babs Farley. Babs' drag king Santa act is delightful culminating in the reunion of Babs and Harold in a very queer moment where Babs and Harold share their first kiss while Babs is still in her Santa garb. To make the beautiful reunion a truly "Another Life" moment Gil Prescott comes across Webster and Santa kissing completely bemused by the entire scenario.

Harold and Babs' reunion is a true joy for the most unusual of couples. Harold telling Babs to leave again to stay safe is devastating. Harold going to the Redlons to share the news of Babs' visit was also poignant. I cannot wait for these two to be together again permanently.

Also, another only on "Another Life" moment occurs when Dave Phillips joins the Davidson family for Christmas and tells Ben about a young woman seeking an abortion at the clinic. In what could have been a heavy handed moment, in turn it becomes a bit more embedded in Dave's personal history how his past involvement in government funded clinics required him to provide abortion services. The conversation ends with Ben and Dave discussing the need to maintain private donorship so that they aren't required to provide this service. While I completely disagree with the politics, I thought it was well done for the charactesr involved. Also, given the story of the young mother Mary at Christmas, I felt this was a well done moment. 

As a contrast, we also get the revelation of Carla's big secret: she's pregnant, which seems very much in the spriit of Christmas. In addition, it secures the end of marital hostilities between Gene and Carla as this is proof that they have resumed marital relations. 

"Another Life" continues to be a surprise. I'm not sure if it is just good TV or good because there is so much time away from it and the lack of connection to what was available in 1982. Either way, I'd recommend Christmas 1982.

[DRW50]

Always enjoy your reviews @dc11786 I need to try to watch a bit of this now that we're heading into Christmas.