Blacks and 80s GL

[DRW50]

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about whether there were any behind the scenes reasons as to why GL had almost no black people -- aside from the brief cameo from Victoria Spaulding and the supporting role of IQ/Jaison, the friend of Lujack's -- until the tail end of the 80s, 1988, 1989. I can't just say it's P&G because AW had black characters for most of that decade, even if they were sometimes in very supporting roles, and ATWT began writing in black characters in 1984 and 1985, like the Franklin family, Heather Dalton, her boyfriend who was partners with Steve in his construction business.

[Paul Raven]

I guess the writers at that time had no interest in developing black characters.I know Allen Potter(EP) was very conservative and traditional in his attitudes.

When Holly went to jail,her cellmate Clara was played by Anna Marie Horsford who later went on to primetime-a regular on Amen and many guest spots.That was under Marland.

When Pat Falken Smith took over from Marland,she introduced mother and son Helen and Clay Tynan,played by Micki Grant(who as Peggy on Another World became the first long running black character on a soap) and Giancarlo Esposito as Clay.

Her stint was so short that I think the Tynan's simply disappeared after a few weeks.

Maybe posters who watched throughout the 80's will recall more.

[DRW50]

I'd forgotten about Holly's cellmate, I guess that was 79-80.

Never heard of the Tynan family. That's a shame they didn't stay around. I used to see Giancarlo listed as someone who had been on GL but never knew what part he played. Thanks. I guess it's a lot like Ruth and her son who vanished without a trace in 2001. GL was one of the first soaps to have any black characters, and it's weird to think that their big years in the 80s didn't go along with that diversity.

What was Peggy's exit from AW? Did she have one? Didn't her sister take over for her and then also vanish?

[Paul Raven]

Micki was on AW from 65-72,which means she left after Lemay started.The character left town,but I don't know if she chose to leave or was written out.

Vera Moore played her half sister Linda Metcalf.she came on midway in 72 and stayed till 81,which means there was crossover between the two.

[DRW50]

Thanks. So I guess it was her sister Linda who disappeared after a wedding.

If Agnes Nixon was one of the reasons Micki had something of a role at AW I wonder if she hired Micki for anything at ABC.

[Paul Raven]

Micki is listed as starting in mid 65 and Agnes didn't begin at AW till at least late 65 so Peggy was a James Lipton character.

Maybe under Agnes she became a contract player?

[LoyaltoAMC]

Even P&G's Edge of Night, with its tiny cast, made room for black characters in the late 70s through the end of its run: Calvin Stoner, Star Stoner, DiDi Bannister. There might've been some others. Did Search ever have one black actor on contract throughout its run? I can't recall any.

[Paul Raven]

Travis had a sidekick Bobby,played by Tucker Smallwood(unfortunate surname)but he was written out once the Corringtons left.Don't know if he was contract.

[soapfan770]

That's interesting, especially there in the late 80s when ATWT already had Jessica and the Franklins and AW had Quinn, Zack and Julie Ann, the Madisons and the Lawrences. GL didn't get Gilly til what, '89 and then Hamp in '90 I believe. Gilly was probably GL's most successful AA character in the show's history aside from Mel and possibly David, managing to last seven years straight with storyline until that horrifyingly horrible exit story. Poor Amelia Marshall later played the one-note hag Liz on Passions and her acting was as atrocious as her character's personality.

Interesting though AW, which had many AA characters throughout the 80s, barely had any in the 90s save for Toni and the Kramers.

[DRW50]

AW also had Chris Madison, I really got a kick out of Chris (he and Jake were hilarious as friends, especially when Jake was constantly trying to kiss him), but they could have done more with him. But yeah, from somewhere around 91-96, there was little black presence, aside from the brief attempt with Marshall Kramer. The last few years had Toni/Chris, albeit in a reduced capacity, and Tyrone, in the relationship with Marley which had huge potential.

I loved Gilly. She was one of the people who got me into GL, she had such dignity even in the most thankless scenes. I still don't like to think about her exit. I'm sorry to hear that she wasn't good on Passions. I just could not watch that show most of the time. I guess Mel was a longer running character but it seemed like for most of Mel's run she barely had a storyline.

It's strange because I think of GL as being a more daring show than ATWT, less conservative, yet during many of the show's most well remembered years, you'd be lucky to find a black person as an extra in a crowd scene, while ATWT had some black families and were slowly building up the hugely popular Jessica character, and also had some Latinos and Asian characters, and a gay character. I suppose ATWT was just good at fitting these characters into their more restrained worldview -- everyone is family, everyone is a friend, as long as they are on their best behavior.

I think it would have been explosive drama for GL to have had some of those wild and crazy Shayne and Lewis women shock everyone by dating a black man, or learning that Reva had had a child with a black man. Maybe Hamp! Like the story they had with Opal on AMC.

[soapfan770]

Well I don't know if any actress in Marshall's role on Passions could have made it work. Liz should have been a complex villianess or just a complicated character given her backstory but instead came off as extremely whiny and 1-D. For a character who could have gotten sympathy, she got none as Marshall seemed give the character arrogance and attempted to play a bitch but it backfired. When that did, Marshall began sleep walking in the role as JER started writing less and less for the character and then just wrote her out.

Reva having a black son=

[DRW50]

Billy's reaction to Reva having a son with Hamp would have been off the charts drama. And then the son goes in and blasts the Lewises for their assumptions and tells Hamp that he has been used by them as some sort of pet, and Hamp argues against this. Drama drama.