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"Secret Storm" memories.


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American Home Products,sponsors of Secret Storm announced plans to syndicate the show and continue the Monday after CBS cancellation.They claimed to have lined up 140 stations to carry the show.That was repoerted late 73,early 74.

Obviously,something happened along the way and the plan never went ahead.

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Hi, Brent!

Greetings from Soapluvva in New York City!

http://www.youtube.com/soapluvva

I just joined this messageboard!

Here are two of my posts about "The Secret Storm" which I posted to the messageboard at "The World of Soap Themes" in 2003:

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Check out Gary Sandy's cool Website !!!

I happened to stumble onto it while I was using Google to search for "The Secret Storm."

Gary played Stace Reddin on "The Secret Storm" and was in that infamous "death by pitchfork" scene in which Jessie Reddin (played by Frances Sternhagen) met her untimely demise after she fell on a pitchfork in the barn. This occurred during a fight scene between Mark Reddin (played by David Gale) and his brother, Stace.

Gary was in other soap operas (namely, "Somerset" and "As the World Turns" ), has done quite a bit of stage work, and is probably most well-known for his role of Andy Travis in "WKRP in Cincinnati."

Gary has posted several backstage photos taken at "The Secret Storm" when it was taped at CBS Studio 54 at 221 West 26 Street in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. (Note: "The Guiding Light" was taped at CBS Studio 51 at the same address during the 1970s.) He has also posted a variety of other interesting photos dealing with his career, as well as some family shots.

I visited the set of "The Secret Storm" in January 1974, approximately one month before the show went out of production. Gary was no longer around, having been written out in 1973, but I did get to meet Jada Rowland (playing Amy Kincaid), Keith Charles (playing Dr. Brian Neeves), Stephanie Braxton (playing Laurie Reddin), the actor playing the handyman, Eric Kovac (I've forgotten the actor's name, but his character was bad, having killed Georgina and being currently involved in terrorizing Laurie.), and Madeleine Sherwood (playing Carmen, the owner of the diner that employed Joanna Morrison). In fact, Madeleine Sherwood gave me half a doughnut, but that can be the subject of a later post!

The URL of Gary Sandy's Website is:

http://www.garysandy.com

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I really don't know who wrote "The Secret Storm" in 1970 !!!

Eddie Layton did not save any of the front covers of his scripts (which would have contained that information). He only saved interior pages on which he had written musical notes, and only then, the particular pages where he considered the music to be noteworthy (pun intended)!

The name "Gillian Houghton" definitely sounds very familiar, though, as having been in the credits under "written by" for a number of years!

I believe Charles Weiss was the producer, Robert Myhrum was a director, and Andre St. Laurent was an associate director. I know that Susan Orlikoff was the production assistant for a couple of years, and then she became an associate director when Andre St. Laurent left. Susan's mother, Rose, was one of the sixth grade teachers where I went to elementary school, and, in fact, Susan, herself, attended the school, but I didn't know her, at the time, because she was a few grades ahead of me. On a day when I was visiting my old elementary school, Rose told me that she had played one of the jurors at the Susan Carver murder trial.

The day that I visited "The Secret Storm," back in January 1974, in fact, it was Susan Orlikoff who was showing me around, and introducing me to people.

Susan Orlikoff got married, became Susan Orlikoff Simon, moved to California, and was a director on "Days of Our Lives" for a while. I have no idea what she's doing now, and I can't find any current information about her on the Internet.

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6/27/10 update:

Rose Orlikoff passed away on January 17, 2008.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04EEDC153AF933A15752C0A96E9C8B63

Susan Orlikoff is currently Susan Orlikoff Aronowitz. Her current husband, Joel Aronowitz, used to be a director, and an associate director, on "The Edge of Night." He also worked on "As the World Turns" for a while.

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Thanks for all the interesting posts and links. So good to know that there are people out there for whom "The Secret Storm" still means something. Hopefully, others will "chime in" as "SS" memories continue to be revived.

All Best,

Brent.

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Brent, you might have already seen this, but there were some soap magazines from the late 60s/early 70s put up in the main soap thread. Here's one from early 1971, which has some brief mentions of Storm, Best of Everything, and Marjorie Gateson.

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Here are the last few months of "The Secret Storm" as they were chronicled by Bryna Laub in her newsletter. Surprisingly, she did not mention Stace and Mark's mother's death.

When racing car drivers Robert Landers arrived in Woodbridge, nobody suspected he was there on a personal mission of vengeance against Dan Kincaid, former political titan whose empire and political future collapsed when underworld connections were established and he was sent to jail. Robert was Dan’s illegitimate son, a fact only Robert knew, and he decided to take his vengeance upon Dan by having an affair with Dan’s beautitul but heartless wife Bell. It mattered not at all to Robert that Dan had no idea of his existence and was therefore not responsible for his growing up without a father. Robert’s mother was Naomi, the nurse Dan hired for his young son Kevin when his wife died. Naomi became pregnant but left town and raised her child alone. Dan was indeed crushed to discover Belle had been unfaithful.

Complicating the situation was the fact that Robert was now living with Joanna Morrison, a young girl, who had heroworshipped Dan and was devastated to discover her idol had feet of clay. Joanna fully understood Robert’s assessment of their relationship meant no strings and when she found herself pregnant, she feared she’d lose him.

Robert had been taking money from Bell for the race car he was building and took satisfaction from the knowledge that she thought their association was as important to him as it was to her. She was later shattered when Robert made it clear to her that he loved Joanna and wasn’t at all interested in a long term commitment to Belle. Dan tried to but Robert out of town in order to get him away from Joanna and was favorably impressed when this young man, whom he felt was totally without human feelings, refused the money which he badly needed having cut Belle off, claiming Joanna came first.

When Belle and Dan finally brought her relationship with Robert out in the open, Belle managed to convince Dan that her infidelity wasn’t a result of her not loving him but rather her desperate need to have excitement and fun in her life. Dan then admitted to himself that despite everything he still loved her and they reconcilied. Robert aided in this by facing his responsibility and admitting to Dan that the affair was his fault. Robert couldn’t, however, to his own surprise, tell Dan as he’d intended about his being his son. In fact, Robert came away from the meeting realizing he may have been wrong about Dan’s guilt in the whole matter.

Robert was upset to learn of Joanna’s pregnancy and immediately suggested abortion. When Joanna refused, Robert found himself emotionally torn between the upcoming Grand Prix race and Joanna. Realizing that Robert would stay if she wanted him to proved to Joanna that she should trust in his love and she insisted that he go as planned. Dan, however, furious that Robert wasn’t marrying Joanna first, accused him of being unfit to be a father, tempting Robert to fling the truth back at Dan.

Belle with her shaky marriage secure once more, was delighted to discover that her stepson Kevin’s marriage to Amy was in bad trouble. Amy and Belle were in the past both married to Paul Britton and there was still no love lost between them. Having learned that their new daughter, Danielle, was in fact not his own child, Kevin had separated from Amy and made it clear reconciliation was impossible. Actually, Kevin understood the compassionate reason behind Danielle’s conception and was only using this as an excuse to free Amy for a marriage with a whole man (Kevin had been badly injured in a fight and was paralyzed from the waist down). The only thing that gave him the will to live during the precarious weeks after the accident was the belief that Amy was pregnant. She discovered soon after the accident that it had been a false alarm and, in her need to sustain Kevin, persuade Dr. Brian Neeves to artificially inseminate her so Kevin could have the child he so desperately wanted and needed.

Realizing her welfare might be Kevin’s real reason for the separation, Amy tried to break through his defenses even though she and Danielle were now living at he stepmother, Valerie Ames Northcote’s home. To prevent his, Kevin hired Stace Reddin as a companion, providing another barrier to Amy’s attempts to reach him.

Dr. Neeves, now a family friend, tried to hide his pleasure at the split between Amy and Kevin. No one knew he was the artificial insemination donor but the result had been an inevitable growing love for Amy who was unknowingly carrying his child.

Realizing Brian was in love with Amy, Kevin told him he approved and started divorce proceedings. Amy was furious at this but Kevin continuer to push her at Brian and they gradually began seeing each other frequently. Amy had originally agreed to these dates to make Kevin jealous but soon had to admit to herself that she found Brian very attractive. Kevin meanwhile, having succeeded at his plan, found his jealousy unbearable and decided to take a very risky chance. A doctor in England had developed an experimental surgical procedure for cases similar to Kevin’s and he made secret arrangements to fly there and undergo the surgery that would either cure him or kill him. He now knew he’d rather be dead that see Amy with another man. Brian meanwhile had declared his love for Amy and had given her a ring.

Ironically, Kevin and Stace’s flight to England was the same flight Robert booked in his way to the Grand Prix. Stumbling upon Kevin’s ex-rays Robert figured out the real reason for Kevin’s trip and decided to help Kevin, his half-brother, through this ordeal. To give him support for the ordeal ahead Robert told Kevin the story of his parentage. In order to be there for Kevin, Robert forfeits his first heat in the Grand Prix race.

Having guessed what Kevin’s up to, Brian stepped up his campaign to rush Amy into a quickie divorce and remarriage. But Neile Neeves, Brian’s sister, who was as jealous of Amy as she was of Brian’s first wife, foiled his plans by suggesting to Amy the possibility of Kevin’s being in Europe for corrective surgery. Amy immediately tried to reach Kevin but he had covered his tracks too well. To regain ground, Brian then played his trump card – he told Amy he was the artificial insemination donor – the natural father of her daughter. Now torn by the news and Brian’s threat to leave town if she turned him down, Amy agreed to marry him.

Belle, meanwhile, had pressured Dan into investing in a film company which is shooting a movie in Woodbridge. They discovered that Naomi Russell is on the film company board of directors – the same Naomi who worked for Dan 25 years ago.

Mark Reddin had been drinking excessively since his decision to leave the priesthood and marry Lori. He avoided learning whether his leicization (return to status as a lay person) had been approved from Rome and found it impossible to follow the advice of another ex-priest to cut himself off completely from the church to avoid being torn apart by divided loyalties. Then, when the leicization finally came through, Mark informed Msgr. Quinn he had decided against remarrying Lori within the church.

Mrs. Post, the secretary at the church, was very upset to discover Lori and Mark were planning to but the Old Orchard Road house which had been on the market for the past five years. She seemed obviously afraid of the house and refused to come there to babysit for Lori’s son Clay. In fact, she asked Msgr. Quinn to exhorcise the house but refused to explain why.

Young Doreen Post, having learned Mark was a priest, confided to him her unhappiness at being deposited by her father into Mrs. Post’s care. She felt Mrs. Post pried too much and was even reading her mail. Doreen didn’t realize that Mrs. Post was using any method she could to find out about Doreen’s father, Malcolm, who was her missing husband. Stace, Mark’s younger brother, had been dating Doreen and was angry at the preoccupation Doreen had developed over Mark. Possibly she was seeing him as a father replacement but Stace resented it very much. When Doreen offered to move in with the Reddins as a live-in babysitter, Stace became openly jealouse. And seeing that Stace’s jealousy was so apparent, Doreen used it to her best advantage – she would push Stace with her attention to Mark, then appeal to Mark for advice and help with her problem with Stace.

Mrs. Post grew increasingly afraid that somehow Lori was in danger of being possessed by the spirit of Georgina, the previous occupant of the house. Mark, now a parole officer and still drinking heavily, made an attempt to find out about Georgina but no one could or would fill him in.

Now obsessed with being close to Mark, Doreen brought matters to a head by deliberately provoking fights with Mrs. Post, thus virtually forcing the Reddins to let her come and live with them. Lori, lonely as Mark’s time was spent drinking, allowed herself to be convinced that Doreen’s presence would be a diversion. Mark realized that Doreen knew how bad his drinking problem had become but allowed Doreen to move in as he, as well as Val Northcote and her husband Ian, were increasingly concerned about the way Lori’s life lately seemed increasingly dominated by hallucinations and fantasies about Georgina. As this preocuppation with Georgina continued to become Lori’s escape from her problems, she tried harder to find out about Georgina but still no one would volunteer information. When she found the phone number of Eric, Georgina’s handyman, in a cabinet, Lori called him. He was visibly shaken to arrive and find the house was Georgina’s but reconvered and returned out of curiosity. He tend pretended he didn’t even know who Georgina was when Lori began to question him.

However, Mrs. Post, upon learning that Eric was at Lori’s, frantically tired to warn them of great danger. Georgina was her sister and she and ther children were murdered by Eric. But Eric intercepted her on her way to the Reddin house and frightened her into silence.

Mark, meanwhile, finally had to face the truth about his drinking when his latest bender ended in a barroom brawl. Realizing he was unable to help himself he made an appointment with psychiatrist Ian Northcote. Ian explained both Mark and Lori were escaping to avoid facing their problems – Mark was drinking and Lori was retreating into a fantasy world about Georgina.

Facing his conflict head on Mark finally visited Msgr. Quinn to admit he didn’t know which way to turn. When Msgr. Quinn visited Lori to discuss Mark, Lori had to admit to him and to herself that deep inside she already knew that he husband hadn’t given up the church and his vocation deep in his heart.

Suddenly, however, Lori’s fantasy world erupted into terrifying and brutal reality when Eric, revealing his insanity, accused Lori of being like Georgina, an unfaithful wife, and he attempted to kill her too. Mark arrived in time to save her and it was Eric, who died, falling through a glass mirror. Jolted back into reality, Mark and Lori faced their situation, squarely and both agreed that Mark had to go back to the priesthood. They parted with love and respect for each other.

Kevin, meanwhile, having undergone successful restorative surgery, was now starting to walk. He called his father with good news and Dan advised him to return immediately unless he wanted to find Amy married to Brian.

Robert, despite his late start, managed to make a good showing in the Grand Prix unaware that Joanna, back in Woodbridge, had found a lump on her leg and was nervously awaiting biopsy results knowing that if the lump turned out to be malignant, the cobalt treatments she would have to undergo would destroy her unborn child.

But her prayers were answered and by the time Robert returned ready to build a future with her, the tests proved the lump benign. Robert then explained the facts of his birth to Dan who replied he and his son ave a great deal to talk about.

Despite Amy’s promise to marry him, Brian also decided to face facts and admitted to himself that Amy really didn’t love him the way she should love the man she was going to marry. He therefore realeased her from her promise and when Kevin returned and greeted her on his feet with open arms, they joyfully and tearfully reunited.

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Madeleine Sherwood was also on "Guiding Light" and "One Life to Live."

She offered me the half-doughnut that day, on the set of "The Secret Storm," because, during a break in rehearsals, she noticed that I was staring at the doughnuts on display, on the tray, under the clear plastic cover, on the countertop at Carmen's Diner. So, she commented, "You look hungry!", uncovered the doughnuts, broke one in half, and offered it to me! Good thing that "The Secret Storm" was using real doughnuts, and not just some fake props -- LOL!

Regards!

Soapluvva

http://www.youtube.com/soapluvva

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I was one of the subscribers to Bryna Laub's "Daytime Serial Newsletter" in the 1970s.

I have every single issue around, somewhere, in one of my storage cartons.

What months were you reprinting?

As I recall, Bryna first began to publish the newsletter toward the end of 1972.

TV Guide had done an article on Bryna, but I can't remember any of the details.

Regards!

Soapluvva

http://www.youtube.com/soapluvva

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