New York Post Monday August 20 1962
Soap Opera Star Must Go-A Death in the Afternoon by Bob Williams
There was no joy in Sudsville today. The sad news was out. TV matinee idol Mark Rydell, darling of the housewife for six years as the long-suffering Jeff Baker in the top-rated CBS soap opera, "As the World Turns, was not long for that long. He "dies" in an auto crash. Rydell could not repress sense of "shock," although he conceded that Jeff Baker had already lived a cat's quota of lives in his brief, unhappy span.
The mourning had already started. Jeff Baker's No. 1 fan—Rydell's mother was first to hear the news. "When I told her," said Rydell, "she actually broke into tears." Word of Baker's impending demise leaked out at a CBS party Saturday night for Jackie Gleason. Network sources said producers of the soap opera had been "uneasy" over Rydell's refusal to sign a long-term contract. Rydell confirmed the details. "They've been trying to get me to sign a contract for years," he said. "I've always had a verbal commitment. I've become Increasingly interested in directing, rather than acting. "I've been up to my ears in directing at Actors Studio. I've had to turn down a great deal of stage work and Hollywood offers. Frankly I feel emancipated."
Neither producer Allen Potter nor associate producer Lyle B. Hill could be reached for comment. Rydell said he was given a hint recently that there was an automobile accident in store for Jeff Baker. Then last week he got an advance script with the grim details . . ." The death certificate, as it were." Red-haired Rosemary Prinz, who plays Jeff Baker's wife, Penny, said she was stunned by the prospect of widowhood. "I'm sure I will somehow carry on bravely, however," she added. "I'm also in the accident. The makeup lady told me Friday she'd have some 'scars' ready' for me.*'
The love story of Jeff and Penny, very good for soap sales, has hardly served as a testimonial to matrimony. Their first marriage, a tonnage thing, was annulled. They later remarried with parental approval. Jeff suffered and vanquished the curse of alcoholism, beat a murder charge and later deserted Penny. She almost divorced him once. They were about to adopt a baby when their world took the violent new turn. "We'd been through practically everything possible," said Rydell. Jeff and Penny were actually about to be happy." "Happy families," Miss Prinz observed, "unfortunately do not sell soap."
*So Rydell was never on contract? That's surprising.
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Paul Raven ·
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