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27 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

The book is a wonderful look back at the Golden Age of Another World.  And yes, Lemay is very opinionated and more than a little egotistical.  But I would not go so far as to suggest he lied in the book.  But the book is a memoire -- one man's thoughts, opinions, and experiences of a particular period in his life.  Had the opinions of others been included, we might be reading a very different book.  But aren't all memoirs like this?  

I don't think he outright lied, either. He's not perfect, not by a long shot. And, there is no doubt in my mind that at the time he left & then when he was writing this that he was suffering from a classic case of burnout, so we might want to take that into account. I'm not saying he was out of his mind, but he sure wasn't IN his best version of his mind. 

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33 minutes ago, anthonymolchan said:

Lemay wrote a long speech for Ada berating Ted on his life choices, saying he needed to own up, take responsibility, change his life. 

Connie skipped half a page of dialogue and just said, “CHANGE IT!!!”

After that, he kept track of which phrases he wrote that she would say and which she wouldn’t.  He credited her with teaching him how sometimes less was more.

So, yes, she changed dialogue.  He respected her and allowed it.  He also allowed Vicky “improvisational” liberties.

 

Along with Ford and Wyndham, he also praised Susan Sullivan for her ability to tweak his dialogue and make it her own.  So, if an actor he loved changed his dialogue, that was okay.  Even praise worthy, at times.  But when Virginia Dwyer (whom he openly disliked) did it, Lemay was aghast and deeply offended.  Can you imagine the challenge Dwyer faced doing scene after scene with Hugh Marlowe, who stammered and fumbled his way through nearly every page of dialogue??  Of course she changed the dialogue.  She was probably saying half of Marlowe's lines, because he had forgotten them.  

And I don't think Dwyer hated Lemay.  She was frustrated with him, and just didn't understand what the Hell he was trying to do to Mary.  And the answer to that (we found out later) was he wanted Mary to behave like Aunt Liz.  A meddling unfulfilled sexless busy-body. I really don't think I would have enjoyed seeing Mary turn into that.  On the other hand, I didn't want to see Mary killed off either.   

Edited by Tisy-Lish

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3 hours ago, Tisy-Lish said:

But if she was so badly over-playing the emotional breakdown, where the hell was the director?  And why didn't the director receive any of Lemay's wrath?

IIRC, Rauch told him that Courtney had not gone all out in rehearsal, cunningly concealing how she intended to play the scene until the taping by which time it was too late for the powerless director to correct her. How could anyone possibly blame the poor director or producer under those circumstances? Jacqueline Courtney was simply too clever for them.

ETA: It took Lemay to bring her to heel! From the book --

I telephoned Paul Rauch, outraged by the liberty he had allowed his star to take with her script, and was told that Miss Courtney did not always reveal how she intended to play her scenes until they were being taped, by which time it was too late to direct her properly. The star, unhappy with her material, refused to change her approach and I, unhappy with the star, wrote token scenes for Alice and quickly cured her of her disorder.

 

Edited by Xanthe

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1 hour ago, Xanthe said:

IIRC, Rauch told him that Courtney had not gone all out in rehearsal, cunningly concealing how she intended to play the scene until the taping by which time it was too late for the powerless director to correct her. How could anyone possibly blame the poor director or producer under those circumstances? Jacqueline Courtney was simply too clever for them.

ETA: It took Lemay to bring her to heel! From the book --

 

 

 

Thank you for that information.  Of course ALL of that is strictly from Mr Lemay's point of view.  So that must be taken into account.  

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Hey everyone, I need some information rather quickly to pass on to an author.  Beverly Penberthy's son represented his mother at the AW Reunion last year.  Does anyone know the son's name?  The author is trying to contact him.    Thank you!!

 

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On 7/29/2025 at 11:44 PM, Mona Kane Croft said:

I loved Lemay's work on AW because he wrote the characters like real people. So yes he was really a great soap writer.  When we watched an episode it was like checking in on friends.  Lemay's AW was all about the interior lives of the characters. But most of Lemay's plots were weak to say the least. He was great at writing character driven stuff.  Not so good with identifiable plots.  Lemay's AW was more about characters in situations, rather than identifiable plots.   And I agree his relentless anger toward Jacquie Courtney and Virginia Dwyer was a bit pathological. Frankly he seemed intent on destroying their careers.   As the old song says, "Ya' take the good, ya' take the bad..."   

I agree with this.

When Lemay took over the show and carried on with the structure, themes, and characters established by Irna Phillips and Agnes Nixon, everything was splendid. Plots were not really his forte, but his writing worked because of the absorbing character delineation and interpersonal-relationship vignettes. Daily episodes were like a slice of life; slightly romanticized, but within the realm of reality.

Unfortunately, when he and Rauch started to dismantle the original core of the show, the tone shifted badly, and a lot of ultimately-pointless characters and contrived plots were foisted on the audience, weakening AW's previous effectiveness. Lemay's writing spiraled downwards and the magic was lost.

Still, I will never deny that during his initial heyday (1971 to 1974), Harding Lemay worked miracles in Bay City.

His irrational, venomous commentary on Virginia Dwyer and Jacqueline Courtney was both baffling and (frankly) embarrassing, but to his credit, he did keep them front and center (particularly JC) for half of his tenure as head writer.

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12 hours ago, Tisy-Lish said:

I've never really understood Lemay's statements about this in the book.  Apparently he felt Courtney over-played her scenes during these episodes.  But if she was so badly over-playing the emotional breakdown, where the hell was the director?  And why didn't the director receive any of Lemay's wrath?  I was watching every day during this period, and the only thing I found over-done about Alice's breakdown was Courtney's physical appearance, which was a bit shocking.  But Alice's appearance would not have been Courtney's decision.  Wouldn't that have been a collaboration between the director and the hair/make-up department.   So again, no idea why Lemay gave Courtney all the blame...

It came across (to me) that Courtney was just the target Lemay rushed to condemn, whether it was justified (and rational) or not. IMHO, JC was top-notch, and her breakdown scenes were quite effective.

After she died, even Paul Rauch (!!!) was quoted in the press saying that Jacquie was great and always gave good performances.

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12 hours ago, Tisy-Lish said:

 So, if an actor he loved changed his dialogue, that was okay.  Even praise worthy, at times.  But when Virginia Dwyer (whom he openly disliked) did it, Lemay was aghast and deeply offended.  Can you imagine the challenge Dwyer faced doing scene after scene with Hugh Marlowe, who stammered and fumbled his way through nearly every page of dialogue??  Of course she changed the dialogue.  She was probably saying half of Marlowe's lines, because he had forgotten them.

THANK YOU!

It was painful to watch Marlowe hesitate, stumble over his words, and so clearly struggle to remember his lines. Poor Dwyer was the one who worked with him most often, and she must have borne the brunt of getting them through their scenes.

In his book, Lemay blamed Dwyer for supposedly tripping Marlowe up, but that was just not a reasonable assessment, considering that HM had the same issues when he worked with anyone, and even got worse after Dwyer was fired.

12 hours ago, Tisy-Lish said:

And I don't think Dwyer hated Lemay.  She was frustrated with him, and just didn't understand what the Hell he was trying to do to Mary.  And the answer to that (we found out later) was he wanted Mary to behave like Aunt Liz.  A meddling unfulfilled sexless busy-body. I really don't think I would have enjoyed seeing Mary turn into that.  On the other hand, I didn't want to see Mary killed off either.   

The writer didn't realize that we already had Aunt Liz to be Liz. We didn't need Mary to be Liz Lite too.

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11 hours ago, Tisy-Lish said:

Hey everyone, I need some information rather quickly to pass on to an author.  Beverly Penberthy's son represented his mother at the AW Reunion last year.  Does anyone know the son's name?  The author is trying to contact him.    Thank you!!

 

According to the invitation he is Mark Penberthy.

https://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/30343-another-world-discussion-thread/page/684/#findComment-1890356

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3 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

The writer didn't realize that we already had Aunt Liz to be Liz. We didn't need Mary to be Liz Lite too.

Did he also change Liz?

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22 minutes ago, Xanthe said:

Did he also change Liz?

Yes, he softened Liz a bit when Irene Daily assumed the role.  Earlier when played by Audra Lindley, Liz was practically a villain.  But Dailey's Liz was still pretty tough and unhappy.  Later writers softened Dailey's Liz even more -- to the point that, at times, she was little more than comic relief.  

BTW, I never heard, or read, or thought that Dwyer hated Lemay. Maybe it's been said & I missed it. 

Anyway, this is my very most favorite Mary Matthews/Virginia Dwyer anecdote. I've posted this before, so  sorry if it is repetitive to you but we have some new folk, so, ... 

The Wonderful World of TV Soap Operas by Robert LaGuardia. Ballantine Books: New York. ©1974 by Random House, Inc.

“Another World’s” Virginia Dwyer tells an incredible but true story: “I had been playing Mary Matthews for a couple of years. One afternoon I returned home from the studio and began poking around in my clothes closet. Suddenly I reeled from the shock. Every article of clothing in that closet was Mary’s, not mine. Every dress and every coat was exactly her — ultraconservative. I panicked! I scooped all the clothes up in my arms and threw them out! I had forgotten who I was. I had become Mary Matthews.”

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35 minutes ago, Xanthe said:

Did he also change Liz?

As Tishy-Lish indicated, he did soften Aunt Liz. She had once been a domineering, hyper-critical shrew...it was both unnerving and fun to watch. I have audio material from the 1960s, where she (as played by Audra Lindley) just screams and screams at people.

Flash forward to Harding Lemay's version of the character in 1974. Rachel storms into Alice's house and tries to evict her, prompting Alice to go berserk. Aunt Liz sits passively on the side of the bed with tears in her eyes, and murmurs weakly, "Rachel, you'd better go."

HA! Audra Lindley's Aunt Liz would have torn Rachel a new one and dragged her by the hair down the stairs and right out of that house.

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Thanks for all the comments about Harding Lemay. I read his book, but it's hard to know what to believe and not to believe because I didn't see his work firsthand. With Zimmer, I knew when she got things wrong about the show because I kept up with the show or watched it. With the Rauch/Lemay version of AW, I know some of the history, but it's confusing.  The hostility Lemay shows for Jacqueline Courtney is just out of proportion for anything she allegedly did. MY assumption has always been that something untoward happened between JC and Rauch, but that's just an assumption. 

I've read some of Lemay's comments about his return to AW in 1988 and his remarks make me question his ability to tell a good plot. He wanted to tell a story about migrants where the main migrant child was really a white child in disguise?!!? He based this on a real life kidnapping that had nothing to do with migrants (which was later solved as a murder). I'm glad he was not allowed to tell that offensive story.  I don't think that storyline would ever work well on a soap especially not on AW

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