Jackie Babbin interview 1982

[DRW50]

Yes. I think Agnes said in an interview that she was upset when they killed him off, as that wasn't planned.

[LoyaltoAMC]

Yeah Jesse's death was a major shocker. There were no spoilers back then, so it came as quite a surprise. Yeah, they killed him during the 88 Writers Strike. They brought back Pamela Kingsley to create friction between Travis and Erica. Pamela wanted revenge on Erica for breaking up her parents' marriage all those years ago and she planned to go after Travis. That's how I remember it. They gave some lip service to Pamela's affair with Mark years earlier and they were flirting with having it create some conflict for newly married Mark and Ellen who were in backburnerville. Nothing came of that, since the writers seemed to be bored by Mark and Ellen. The Pamela/Erica/Travis stuff went nowhere.

[DRW50]

Did Darnell Williams want to leave or did they just get rid of the character on a whim? I had always thought it was a big shock but then I'd heard he might have left but not with the exit the interim writers gave him.

Did Mark and Ellen have any other stories before they were written out?

[LoyaltoAMC]

I think it was Darnell Williams' choice to leave. They hadn't done much with Jesse and Angie over the previous couple of years except be supporting players in the Cindy AIDS storyline. Pretty sure it was his decision.

As for Mark and Ellen, after they married they never had a storyline of their own. Their scenes pretty much revolved around Julie and her problems. It was Kathleen Noone's choice to leave. I remember her saying at the time that the vision for the show had changed and that she wasn't an integrel part of that vision. I think Mark LaMura's departure was one of those "mutual agreement" things. This happened just before Felicia Minei Behr took over in 89. She fired several actors whose characters were too peripheral to the main families. I have a feeling Mark and Kathleen, had they remained into the Behr era, would've eventually gotten the axe under her.

[DRW50]

Too bad they killed Jesse off. If he'd left in another way Angie might have had more of a chance without him. As it was the only real stories Angie has had since then, on any of her shows, have usually involved Jesse or a doppleganger.

I wish they could bring Ellen and Mark back in some capacity. The work from Kathleen and Mark holds up very well and I think they could be used to bring new characters onto the show. I know Kathleen said she enjoyed the bitch/crazy/kooky roles more but she really had something as Ellen, a real strength and dignity.

[LoyaltoAMC]

Here's a fun little read of the AMC characters breakdown from the 1978 book "The Soap Opera Book." I think Eric has mentioned this book a few times. Is it the soft cover with a purple cover? I think there was a hazy scene of a Search for Tomorrow set with Val Dufour and maybe Mary Stuart on the cover? Eric, is that the book? I think this is what I found at the Strand Bookstore in NYC about 20 years ago, but I've since lost it. Anyway, the character descriptions are fun. Lots of typos "Line Tyler!". Seems like such a different era, yet it wasn't THAT long ago. I don't remember the Clem Watson character.

http://www.column-of-life.com/allmychildren2.html

[EricMontreal22]

Yep that's the book. (apparently AMazon has used copies for a buck...)

[DRW50]

I remember that book. A lot of libraries still carry it as well.

[LoyaltoAMC]

Thanks Eric. I'm going to try and order the book. That was a great book.

[SFK]

Ah yes, Pamela Kingsley was the one Oprah introduced herself to during her now infamous guest spot.

The last stuff I remember about Mark and Ellen was their solar powered house, then moving to Japan. And yes, Noone said a couple of times in the press that she didn't want to come back to soaps unless she got to play a bitch.

[AMCHistory]

My guesses... I have the pic and can't tell many of them.

Top Row

1 Les Baxter (Tony Fargas)

2

3 Joe Martin (Ray MacDonnell, orig)

4 Brooke Cudahy (Julia Barr)

5

6 Enid Nelson (Natalie Ross)

7 Alfred Vanderpoole (Bill Timoney)

8 Greg Nelson (Larry Lau)

9 Palmer Cortlandt (James Mitchell)

10 Myra Sloan (Elizabeth Lawrence)

11 Tom Cudahy (Dick Shoberg)

12

Middle Row

13 Mrs. Valentine?

14 Ellen Dalton (Kathleen Noone)

15 Lars Bogard (Robert Milli)

16 Kent Bogard (Lee Godart)

17 Ray Gardner (Gil Rodgers)

18 Mark Dalton (Mark LaMure)

19 Carrie (Andrea Moar)- see here (http://pinevalleybulletin.com/Quick%20Guide/BiographiesWeb/SandersCarrie.html)

20 Chuck Tyler (Richard Van Vleet)

21 Al (who is this)

22 Rachel (who is this?)

23 Nina Warner (Taylor Miller)

24 Jasper Sloan (Robert Drake)

25 Daisy Murdoch (Gillian Spencer)

26 Sarah Kingsley (Tudi Wiggins)

Bottom Row

27 Silver/Connie Wilkes (Debbie Goodrich)

28 Erica Kane (Susan Lucci, orig)

29 Mona Tyler (Fra Heflin orig)

30 Ruth Martin (Mary Fickett, orig)

31 Nancy (Lisa Wilkonson, one of PVs most beautiful women)

32 Phoebe Wallingford (Ruth Warrick, orig)

33 Langley Wallingford (Louis Edmonds)

34 Angie Baxter (Debbi Morgan)

35 Pat Baxter (Lee Chamberlaine)

36 Cliff Warner (Peter Bergman, with Bobby (Matt MacNamera))

37 Donna Cortlandt (Candice Earley, miss her still)

38 Benny Sago (Vasili Bogazianos)

39 Sam Brady (who had a crush on Jenny while dating Opal)

40 Opal Gardner (Dorothy Lyman)

Floor

41 Jesse Hubbard (Darnell Williams)

42 Jenny Gardner (Kim Delaney)

43 Amanda Cousins (Amanda Bearse)

44 Liza Colby (Marcy Walker-Smith)

45 Carl Blaire-Grant

46 Joey (Michael Scalera)

47 Pamela Kingsley

[SFK]

Great work, thanks! Rachel Gurney was played by Portia Nelson as Khan pointed out. I didn't even recognize Silver, the image fixed in my head is her mousy/glasses look that Erica later emulated when on the lam.

[R Sinclair]

Fra Heflin?

[Khan]

Frances Heflin, aka Mona "Oh, Erica!" Kane Tyler.

[R Sinclair]

Thank you.

I mean what is "Fra" all about? Is that what they called her instead of Frances?