Another World

[vetsoapfan]

That Daily TV Serials piece on Courtney is probably my favorite interview ever given by the actress. Thank you so much for posting it for everyone to enjoy. I hope you have the next, concluding chapter!

[DRW50]

I'm not sure I do but if I find it I'll be happy to post it.

[vetsoapfan]

Thank you. In the next chapter, she discusses the situation on AW, and tries to be very...politically correct. It's interesting, considering all the behind-the-scenes drama that would soon explode.

[Paul Raven]

Was recently watching a 1981 episode posted on We Love Soaps that featured Tina Sloan as Olivia and Vana Tribbey as Alice.Tina brought way more presence and vitality to her scenes which made me wonder if she should have been cast as Alice at that time.

Maybe the character would have had more of a chance than with Vana and Linda B in the role.

[watson71]

Anyone here in contact in Linda Dano?  Her website and Facebook page have not been updated since October.  Her Twitter page was last updated in November.   It is not like her to be out of touch with her fans.  I hope that she is doing well and just taking a break from social media.

[Paul Raven]

A  June 82 newpaper item stated  a location shoot in Finland for Victoria Wyndham was planned and then cancelled due to budget issues and 'cast resentment of those who wanted to travel but were left behind'.

[DRW50]

Would that have been for the dogs story with the Russian guy, or whatever that was?

[vetsoapfan]

They made so many grave mistakes in the recasting of Alice, but then again, even when Jacqueline Courtney returned, the show clearly did not know what to do with the character, and did not appear particularly interested in showcasing her. What a waste. Anyone who accepted Harding Lemay's assessment that Courtney was a weak actress only had to compare her to all those dreadful replacements, to understand how effective she had really been in the role.

[DRW50]

It makes me wonder even more why SFT barely bothered with Tina as Patti.

[vetsoapfan]

Mary Stuart said that once they saw her on-screen, TPTB thought Sloan looked "too mature" (meaning old, I guess) for the role. I did think Sloan was a strange choice for Patti, but they certainly did go through a ba-zillion actresses to play Jo's daughter. The only one I really liked, of course, was Loring. All those who followed her were "fake Pattis" to me, LOL.

[Paul Raven]

In this interview looking back at her career Jackee Harry briefly mentions AW

http://www.avclub.com/article/jackee-harry-227-ladybugs-and-why-she-wants-be-nex-232860

JH: I was thrilled to get the job because it was a steady gig. They’d pick us up at 5:35 in the morning, schlep all the way to Brooklyn from Manhattan, and I’d get there and you’d get 30 pages in the morning, and you get another 30 pages in the afternoon. You had to have your storyline.

I always had this feeling when I got off at the end of the day of being so lucky and fabulous. I really did. At least, until I realized that if I wanted to grow, I’d have to leave eventually. If you want to do other things, you have to leave soap operas, otherwise you’ll be there forever, which is not bad, you know. Some people have made a great living off of being on soap operas. But if you want to branch out you have to leave early, otherwise you’ll never get the shot.

AVC: Some actors have been on soap operas forever.

JH: They’ve done very well, but you better be a character they want to see all the time. But it’s a different style of acting.

[DRW50]

September 1994 Update

 

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[SoapDope]

Her summary of Espy being a rolling stone and feeling cooped up is a good description. He never stayed too long on Y&R and AW.  She seemed to be nice and give credit to Jacqueline Courtney and George Reinholt I heard she didn't get along with them. What's the real story ?

[DRW50]

I wonder if at the time it was an ego clash thing, more than personal dislike, especially since, for a relative newcomer, Wyndham soon took over the show. 

[vetsoapfan]

Courtney has said in interviews that she liked Wyndham a lot, and that Victoria was very much into her character. Wyndham has also been quoted as saying she liked Courtney and Reinholt, although back in 1975 she wondered if it was a good idea for Reinholt to join OLTL after leaving AW, because he seemed unhappy working within the soap opera medium. Considering how much Reinholt later badmouthed OLTL, claiming its writers were even worse than AW's (!!!), and how Reinholt ranted his way out the door of the ABC soap, Wyndham was probably right. Using a huge knife to stab into a cake at the OLTL anniversary party one year, producer Joseph Stuart joked about the cake being George Reinholt's heart, LOL.

 

I have a letter to the editor of Afternoon TV Stars from Reinholt, published soon after he was fired by AW's Paul Pauch, in which he says that both he and Courtney had originally felt Wyndham was miscast as the third part of the Alice/Steven/Rachel triangle. Courtney made a comment once about the cast being miffed about all the new, aggressive actresses coming aboard AW and getting attention for their work that perhaps others, like Robin Strasser, deserved more. This was before Wyndham arrived, however, and it sounded like she was referring to Susan Sullivan.

 

I tend to believe Courtney and Wyndham got along fairly well. It was just Reinholt who could be prickly, based on so many other actors' comments. At this point, however, 40+ years later, we'll never really know. Heck, even Paul Rauch, who was so critical of Reinholt and Courtney back in the 1970s, praised Courtney when she passed away a few years ago, calling her a "great gal" who always gave first-rate performances. 

Edited March 13, 2016 by vetsoapfan