4 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

Agreed. Especially when she had long hair. Imagine Rowland and Irene Dailey In scenes together!

OMG! I'm imagining it now. If written well, those actresses could have made the drama just crackle.

1 minute ago, DRW50 said:

Lynn Milgrim was so bug-eyed on ATWT, I wonder how her theater work was.

Do you think she was better in her 1982 stint?

I never liked her at all, anywhere or any time I saw her. What a come-down from Claire Bloom on ATWT.

I would have preferred Jada Rowland over Lynn Milgram as Susan too, although now that @Tisy-Lish has put the idea of JR as Missy Matthews in my head, I have a feeling it's going to be entrenched there.

34 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Lynn Milgrim was so bug-eyed on ATWT, I wonder how her theater work was.

Well, Lynn was playing a psychotic killer on ATWT, plus she was hired as a replacement actor to play out the end of a storyline that had been written for another actor. At that point in the plot, Orlena was essentially breaking-down mentally, so even Claire Bloom might have played it bug-eyed toward the end. Who knows??

No, I don't think this was Lynn's finest moment, but I wouldn't judge her entire television career (limited as it was) by this role. She certainly didn't play AW's Susan Matthews Shearer as bug-eyed. She played Susan as a neurotic woman who had repressed most of her emotions for most of her life, to keep her neurosis under control. But she did not play Susan with much warmth, so Susan lacked warmth which viewers usually expect in a member of the show's core family. This may have been the fault of the writing -- since Lemay loved writing neurotic women (Bernice, Liz, Iris, Louise Goddard, Olive, Rose [to a lesser degree] and Marianne [to a lesser degree]). A more seasoned daytime actor may have been able to warm up the icee material Lemay wrote for Susan.

I never saw Milgrim on the stage. But I've read that she is a magnificent stage actor. I'm not an expert in theater, so I tend to believe what I read about stage actors.

@vetsoapfan How were the previous Susan's that played her before Milgrim? I think another actress played Susan for two or three years in the late 60s/early 70s when she first got together with Dan and the show even briefly bought on his daughter for Susan to play step mom to before Lemay took over and wrote them out.

21 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

@vetsoapfan How were the previous Susan's that played her before Milgrim? I think another actress played Susan for two or three years in the late 60s/early 70s when she first got together with Dan and the show even briefly bought on his daughter for Susan to play step mom to before Lemay took over and wrote them out.

I believe three actresses played Susan Matthews between 1964 and 1971. Then Lemay was hired as head-writer, and quickly married Susan to Dr Dan Shearer, and promptly dispatched them to Boston. And if I am correct about that, Lynn Milligram would have been the fourth actor to play Susan. when Lemay reintroduced Susan and Dan in 1978.

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by Tisy-Lish

5 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

@vetsoapfan How were the previous Susan's that played her before Milgrim? I think another actress played Susan for two or three years in the late 60s/early 70s when she first got together with Dan and the show even briefly bought on his daughter for Susan to play step mom to before Lemay took over and wrote them out.

As @Tisy-Lish acknowledged, there were three other actresses who played Susan before Milgrim.

Fran Sharon (who is best known for playing Cookie Pollack on The Edge of Night) was first. I thought she was okay, but she came and went very quickly.

The second Susan was an actress named Roni Dengel. I don't remember much about her, and she also disappeared in the blink of an eye. IIRC, both Sharon and Dengel stayed on the show for about a month or two each in 1964 before being fired. I think Irna Phillips must not have been thrilled with them.

The character was off the canvas for about five years before being recast again with Lisa Cameron in 1969. This was my favorite Susan. She was in the role for about 2.5 years before leaving Bay City. I found Cameron likeable, and it certainly helped that she stuck around long enough for the audience to get to know and warm up to her.

When I think of Susan, it's Lisa Cameron who comes to mind.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by vetsoapfan

2 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

The second Susan was an actress named Roni Dengel. I don't remember much about her, and she also disappeared in the blink of an eye. IIRC, both Sharon and Dengel stayed on the show for about a month or two each in 1964 before being fired. I think Irna Phillips must not have been thrilled with them.

Knowing this adds weight to Jacqui Courtney's fear that she might be fired early on as well.