ATWT Tribute Thread

[Paul Raven]

They came on in 58.

[DRW50]

I think the Coles only came in after a few years, when Ellen was searching out her child's adoptive parents.

SOD released a special edition which is all about saying goodbye to ATWT. They have family trees, trivia, celebrities who appeared on the show, the usual before they were stars feature (although I'm not sure if several of the people they listed are "stars"), a tribute to Helen Wagner, interviews with Martha Byrne (where she says that Marland considered firing her early on as he didn't know if she could handle emotional stories -- he waited until after the story where Craig hit Dusty with his car, and decided to keep her), Hillary B. Smith, Peter Reckell, Shawn Christian, Cris Leblanc, Maura West, Jon and Kelly Hensley, Liz Hubbard, Marie Masters, Eileen Fulton, Kathryn Hays, Don Hastings. There were also some words from Scott DeFeitas, talking about Maura and then talking about ATWT ending.

Both Hastings and Hays speak very highly of Don McLaughlin (Chris). Hays said she'd had a crush on him when she watched the show at home and couldn't believe her dressing room was near his. She said that he had set a tone of being friendly to newcomers that the other actors had continued ever since. Hastings said that Don had been the best man at his last wedding and godfather to one of his daughters. He also talked about going from a fun set (Edge of Night) to a very serious set, ATWT, and how he had tried to add some humor to the set for all these years.

Eileen talked about the young man who came to one of her shows this April weeping because he didn't know what he'd do without his ATWT family. She mentioned about a time years ago when an old woman was dying in the hospital and a priest was summoned. The woman's last words were to ask about how Lisa was. The family knew of no Lisa, but someone finally realized she was talking about Lisa, who was in a coma at the time. Someone told her, "Lisa will be fine," and she was able to die. This woman's daughter told Eileen this and couldn't believe that her mother's last words were about a TV character. Eileen asked this daughter "Do you have a big family?" She said yes. Eileen just said to look at it as Lisa being there to keep her mother company when the daughter had to take care of her own family and couldn't stop by.

She also basically said what we could already guess, that she only has a couple of lines in the last episode, and Lisa doesn't end up with anyone. She said she didn't mind, as she got the 50th anniversary episode, and she liked that the audience could guess what they wanted about Lisa's future. She said she thought the finale was well-written, and she doesn't always say that.

Hillary B Smith said that almost all of her friends in the business are from her ATWT run - Scott Bryce, Anne Sward, Scott Holmes, and "my heart," Ben Hendrickson. She thought of him when Helen Wagner died because he and Scott Holmes used to do imitations of Helen Wagner. She talked about one time when Scott Holmes went with Ben and some friends for deep sea fishing, because Scott had never done that before. He almost immediately got sick and he had to go sleep in the cabin. No one caught any fish. When he got up, he felt better, and they asked him to try. He caught a fish! She said Ben Hendrickson didn't speak to him for weeks after that.

They also had a two page writeup on Doug Marland, his stories, Colleen Zenk talking about him.

The usual "what was your fondest memory" got some of the usual responses, but Eileen told a funny story about how they were rehearsing a scene where Lisa had made cherries jubilee for the Hughes men. They kept getting more ice cream, and more brandy, and got drunk. She couldn't light it so they had to use Sure Flame. It blew up to the ceiling, but they didn't care because they were so drunk. The curtain hanging over the set caught on fire and Walter Cronkite, who was next door, said "Is that smoke?" and they just told him "No, it's just the soap opera next door!"

Marie Masters talked about playing a drunk and how a stagehand showed her one of the metal cabinets and there was a whole bar in there. She said she didn't want a drink. She did douse herself with a few small booze bottles so when other people were in the scene they would react to the smell. She also said that she wanted a memento from the old Stewart house but learned it had all been sold. She finally found a script that used to belong to Kelly Menighan Hensley.

Jon Henlsey talked about his friendship with Michael David Morrison, meeting his wife, and also about how hard it was for him with Martha Byrne not being there at the end. He said he at least hoped she could return as Rose. He said the last scenes with Lily, talking about their past, was tough, because it wasn't Martha, but that Noelle Beck understood and helped him through. KMH was even more vocal about what a mistake it was not bringing Martha back.

They also had a feature where Don Hastings talked about all the Toms. He said that Irna Phillips fired Richard Thomas because she didn't think he looked like Bob. Later, Irna enjoyed The Waltons, and when Don told her that John Boy had been on ATWT and she'd fired him, Irna didn't believe him.

The end has various cast members past and present saying their final words on ATWT. Some sad and moving words and also some funny ones.

Edited August 29, 2010 by CarlD2

[Paul Raven]

Nice reminisces from the cast.

Back to the subject of Alma,some sources list Joanna Roos as first playing the role.

[All My Shadows]

I was thinking about picking up that SOD, but now I know I must have it!

Very disappointing, upsetting, and just wrong that Lisa doesn't have a bigger part at the end. At least Eileen's come to peace with that because I'm sure it was frustrating for her.

[DRW50]

Thanks, Paul Raven. Interesting how a lot of the long-running maternal roles on soaps initially had several actresses (like Kate Martin on AMC being recast twice).

AMS, it's a pretty good buy. There's a lot of other stuff I didn't get into. I wish they'd spoken to a few other former cast members too but they did interview most of those I wanted to hear from, and a few nice surprises, like Lauren Martin. They also had the usual "who got married the most" section. I didn't realize Barbara had been married 9 times! I know she married James and Hal three times each, but still.

Yeah I can imagine Eileen was just putting on a brave face. It sucks.

Edited August 29, 2010 by CarlD2

[Soapsuds]

I need to pick up the new SOD too. How much is it now? $10.00 bucks??

[DRW50]

It's $10, yeah, for about 96 color pages. It's a regular magazine size, unlike the usual SOD.

I'm actually surprised they even did this, as I don't remember them doing it for GL. Perhaps ATWT always sold more for them, I don't know.

Edited August 29, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

Photo of Ariane Munker from 9/77 SOD, around the time she was cast as Melinda.

[DRW50]

From the June 8, 1982 SOD, an interview catching up with John Colenback (ex-Dan Stewart).

[DRW50]

Also from this issue, a feature on Barbara's past life flashbacks.

[edgeofnight]

Here is the article I wrote for my local online newspaper about my evening at the Paley Center....I don't know if I am allowed to mention the name of my local online newspaper, but I can give you a big hint...what was Stephen Nichols' famous trademark (a five letter word) on DOOL?

The world may not stop turning as a result, but for one prominent Fairfield County resident and Wilton activist, the end of a certain soap opera means her own life may start spinning on a different axis.

Colleen Zenk Pinter and her fellow cast members gathered at the Paley Center for Media in midtown Manhattan earlier this month to celebrate the impending wrap of the iconic soap opera As the World Turns. The show is scheduled to go off the air on September 17, after a 54 year run on CBS.

Several cast members, including Zenk Pinter, commemorated the occasion by holding a panel discussion of their reel lives in the fictional midwestern town of Oakdale, Illinois. Zenk Pinter is a 32-year veteran of the soap where she has portrayed fashion designer Barbara Ryan. She is also a Redding resident and an active member of the Wilton community,

During her tenure, she has been nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2001 and 2002, and is a Soap Opera Digest nominee for Best Villainess. In recent years, Zenk Pinter's real life struggle with oral cancer was played out in a storyline when her character Barbara Ryan contracted the disease.

Speaking to the sold-out audience at the Paley Center on Aug. 18, Zenk Pinter expressed how grateful she was to "have had this magnificent job for 32 years."

She also voiced her appreciation to the various leading men she has played opposite over the years. Trent Dawson, her character's current beau, has played Henry Coleman since 1999 and was on the panel along with Zenk Pinter. Dawson, 39, is 18 years Zenk Pinter's junior, making for an interesting on-screen relationship.

During the evening, Zenk Pinter let the cat out of the bag and told the audience that her and Dawson's characters will tie the knot before the show takes its final bow next month.

As the World Turns has not been shy in portraying unconventional love stories. In August of 1988, the show broke heretofore unchartered territory by having one of its characters, Hank Elliott, come out as being gay.

Since December of 2005, a member of one of the core families, Luke Snyder, has told the story of a young gay man coming out and suffering through the same trials and tribulations as his heterosexual counterparts. Luke's portrayer, Van Hansis, was also in attendance, much to the delight of the adoring fans. Hansis, during his time on the show, received three consecutive Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Younger Actor.

Also on the panel were Don Hastings, who has played Dr. Bob Hughes since October of 1960, Eileen Fulton and Terri Columbino. Executive Producer Chris Goutman and head writer Jean Passanante sat on the panel and answered questions from the moderator and audience.

During the evening, the audience was treated to a short retrospective of the show's rich history. ATWT was created by the legendary soap writer Irna Phillips, and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. Making its debut on April 2, 1956, ATWT was the first half-hour soap opera (in those days, most shows aired in 15 minute episodes). For the first 19 years of the show's run, it was broadcast live and was one of the last two daytime dramas to revert to videotape. In December of 1975, the show expanded to a one hour format.

It was during one of the show's live broadcasts that Walter Cronkite broke the stunning news of the JFK assassination in November of 1963. The show enjoyed enormous popularity during its early years, ranking first in the all-important Neilsen ratings for 21 years, from 1958-1979. Sadly, in recent years, the show fell victim to low ratings and is the third soap opera to wrap in the last three years, following NBC's Passions and CBS's Guding Light.

Despite its cancellation, which was announced last December, the show garnered three of the top acting awards during the Daytime Emmy telecast on June 27. Taking home trophies were two-time Best Actress Emmy winner Maura West, her leading man, Michael Park, who was named Best Actor and Julie Pinson, who played Jack's ex-wife and who was voted Best Supporting Actress.

Many prominent modern day movie and television stars started their careers toiling on the soap. The list includes Oscar winner Marisa Tomei, Julianne Moore, Meg Ryan, Parker Posey, Dana Delaney and Ming-Na Wen, to name just a few. The Oscar winning director Mark Rydell (for 'On Golden Pond') was part of daytime's first super-couple. Much to fans' dismay, Rydell chose to spread his wings and left the show when his character, Jeff Baker, was tragically killed in a car crash in 1962.

Sadly, the last original cast member, who spoke the very first words on the show's premiere episode in April of 1956, Helen Wagner, died in May at the age of 91. The producers and writers had planned to have Wagner close out the show with the last line before her death.

On Friday, September 17, ATWT will broadcast its 13,858th and final episode. A multi-generational show, it will be missed by its legions of fans, some of whom have literally grown up with the program

Edited August 30, 2010 by edgeofnight

[DRW50]

That was great! You really got all the details and basic points out for fans and for those who may not know about the show.

[P.J.]

I think they were surprised at the strength of the "So Long Springfield" fanapaloozas. I'm sure they would have churned out a GL tribute mag, if they'd realized they could make a buck. They probably thought all the grannies would just simply shrug their shoulders and turn on TPIR or LMAD. I'm also sure if those fan events had gone bust, there wouldn't be an ATWT tribute mag.

[DRW50]

That makes sense. Well I won't be watching TPIR or LMAD very often (they aren't any good anyway), but I did pay the $10

[DRW50]

March 78 SOD. Go antique shopping with Dennis Cooney (Jay Stallings).