Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[amybrickwallace]

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[kalbir]

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Was this Suzy Cote's last episode? She would've been the first long time (as in 3 or more years) cast member to depart under JFP's watch if I'm not mistaken.

 

I remember Samantha Marler was gone after the Daniel St. John storyline ended. I'm thinking the character might have gotten a mention of leaving town to attend law school but not a full exit storyline.

[Mitch]

Why next to Loreli's Diary I am sure!!!

 

[Khan]

Lord, don't remind us of Lorelai or her ridiculous diary, lol.  I truly wonder what Lloyd Gold was thinking by giving Beth an alter ego.

[Soaplovers]

 

Given everything that Beth had gone through...her with an alter made sense..problem was that the show didn't execute it correctly. 

 

I will say at least the character of Beth finally got therapy even if off screen...and in the final year or so..b3came more like the Beth of old.  With that said, I laughed at the show when Beth said L izzie (as played by marcy r) reminded her of her...when L izzie was the spitting image in looks, mannerisms, and personality to Krista T's Mindy.  See 1983 Mindy and compare her to Lizzie in the late 2000s.  Both could pass as mother and daughter....more so then Beth and Lizzie.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

Did Melinda Sue have children?

[amybrickwallace]

I think she got pregnant by Roger but lost the baby (when Kimberley Simms was in the role). Beyond that, I don't know.

[zanereed]

She also miscarried Phillip's baby back in 1984, but no - Mindy never had any children.

[DRW50]

 

I think she just vanished, and there was a mention. I remember being annoyed as I liked Sam. That was one of my first moments seeing what JFP would do to the show.

[Mitch]

I too think the split would explain Beth's out of character behavior (would have loved to see Loreli fleecing some dirty old man they named "Raul Paunch") But Loreli was a fun loving gal..not the ice cold bitch that Beth was when she came to town again...I would have loved to have seen that and Chamberlin would have played the hell out of it.

 

I like Marcy but not as Lizzie...Lizzie should have been much darker and edgier a character....but Wheeler was just into casting cute young sweet girls like her and annoying Mandy Bruno and the Chrissy girl.

[kalbir]

 

The episode I linked to earlier wasn't Samantha's last appearance. She's in this episode but it looks like her story is winding down.

 

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[DeliaIrisFan]

I'm way behind on these 1991-92 episodes, but I have really liked what I've seen of Samantha so far — I barely remember her from what I saw in the '90s — and it occurs to me that Sam could have easily stuck around and played Julie's role in the "youth" story.  And it would have been much richer:

 

Ross's history with Roger went back much further than Mallet's, and it would have been way more interesting to see him grapple with his ward dating Roger's son than Mallet raging. Of course, Sam was established as an adult by this time and I couldn't see Ross "forbidding" her to see Hart even if he could legally stop her, but there were other, subtler ways that Ross's objections could have caused friction. Really, the whole dynamic with Hart would have been different for Sam vs. Julie, but I dare say I wouldn't have missed the whole naive ingenue angle. This also would have directly linked the  younger crowd to the Jean Wetherill mystery, etc. And, Sam had a history with Dylan that would have added some more texture a bit further down the road.

[Mitch]

Yea I liked Mallet and thought Derwin was hot at the time, but Mallet vs. Rog...uh, no.

I always thought that Ed should have found out that he had a daughter with Rita and it was she who got involved with Hart...so you have both Ed and Rita against it, etc. I would have made Jean...a throwaway character, Rita instead, so there would be oomph there for all the characters.

[soapfan770]

 

Aww, watching those Maureen and Vanessa fun talk scenes made me so sad. 

[soapfan770]

This is such a strange article that was recently pointed out to me regarding William Bell Sullivan, who played Blake's nefarious lover Gary Swanson from 1989-1990. I believe Sullivan quit acting no later than 1992: 

 

William Bell Sullivan fondly recalls villain role

MAKING GOOD OF BEING BAD

June 03, 1991|By Henry Scarupa

Sometimes bad guys have more fun.

At least that's what Baltimore-born actor William Bell Sullivan learned after playing the villainous Gary Swanson in the CBS daytime serial, "The Guiding Light."

"The role is a blast, a lot of fun," says Mr. Sullivan, who was in town this weekend to take part in a benefit for his alma mater, Grace and St. Peter's School. "Gary Swanson is one of those characters whose popularity I've never really understood because he's so bad. But I think I've added such a strong element of humanity and love to his villainy that people understand his character. They like him that way and they support him -- 'Yeh, go get 'em, Gary.'

"I've gotten an incredible amount of fan mail, and I'm still getting letters."

Fans still dote on the character even though Mr. Sullivan left the show six months ago, when the story line had the conniving Swanson thrown into the slammer for his misdeeds. In reality, the change was made to give the writing staff time to feel their way into the story, perhaps to change direction.

For Mr. Sullivan, who had been on the show for 18 months, this afforded a breather from a demanding five-days-a-week schedule, often stretching out to 15 hours a day, and a chance to evaluate other career possibilities.

"It was done amicably," he says of the separation, "and the door was left open for me to come back if the fans support that."

Mr. Sullivan is relaxing in the living room of the Riderwood home of his grandmother, Evelyn Stevens, as he discusses the ins and outs of show business. He routinely makes the trip from his home in New York to Baltimore to visit friends and relatives, and returned here Friday and Saturday to be the featured guest at a fund-raiser for Grace and St. Peter's, the church-affiliated Episcopal day school he had attended through the sixth grade before he and his family moved to Michigan.

He declines to give his age for professional reasons, saying the mystery enables him to play the roles of men between 25 and 35 years of age. On this day, he is wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt over a 6-foot-1 athletic frame, kept trim by jogging and working out.

His good looks partly explain the thousand or more fan letters Mr. Sullivan receives each month, often accompanied by mementos from admirers, from snapshots to uplifting books to panties. Women occasionally propose marriage, and at least two young mothers have named their sons after the soap opera star.

He conscientiously answers each of the many letters with a brief note. The task eventually became so daunting that his mother, who lives in West Bloomfield, Mich., volunteered to organize the William Bell Sullivan Fan Club and serves as president. Dues are $19 a year, of which $5 goes to a charity designated by the fan.

Members receive a newsletter four times a year, along with a signed autograph and a personal birthday card from Mr. Sullivan. Members are also eligible for a monthly drawing for a phone call from the bachelor actor.

While all this requires a lot of time and effort, Mr. Sullivan feels it's little enough to give back for his success.

"I believe in my fans," he declares. "Without them, I'd be absolutely nothing as an actor."

Since Mr. Sullivan first stood on stage at Grace and St. Peter's as a preteen, portraying a cherry tree in a school musical, he's played a variety of parts. Over the years he's been everything from romantic lead to loony to manipulative liar. This versatility has earned him roles in such movies as "The Hunt for Red October," along with appearances on leading TV shows, such as "Designing Women" and "Another World." He last appeared on stage off-Broadway in New York in "The Runner Stumbles."

From his earliest days, Mr. Sullivan wanted to be an actor. While studying theater and psychology at Northern Michigan University, he won $10,000 in the lottery, dropped out of school and headed for Los Angeles to pursue his destiny.

"It was my calling, my purpose, my vehicle to do what I needed to do," he says of acting. "I never questioned it, never planned it, never calculated. Of course, it didn't happen by itself. I had to work at it, and I still do, fine-tuning it."

He feels the years he spent as a pupil at Grace and St. Peter's helped to provide him with the values and determination needed to realize his dream.

"When I think who I am and what I've become, I have to credit not only my family but Grace and St. Peter's," he says. "The school set a firm foundation for me on a social, religious and academic level."

That moral sensibility prompted even a TV bad guy to recoil from causing harm. Once on "Guiding Light," the script called for Gary Swanson to beat up a woman. Mr. Sullivan felt the violence was gratuitous and unwarranted by the story. He vigorously protested the part and the script was changed.

"I didn't want to act as an advocate of abuse," he says. "That's a social disservice I would never promote."