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A short recap of what was happening around Oct 1960. This was when the show moved to Hollywood and story and cast changes reflected that.

 

The Brighter Day, Dramatic Series, Begins New Season

As The Brighter Day enters another year on KFDM-TV Channel this fall, its interwoven dramas take new direction that promise continued absorbing viewing in the coming year. With the Reverend Richard Dennis established as Chaplain of Westmore College and settled in Columbus with his daughter Babby and Aunt Emily, his position as spiritual mentor to young people offers great rewards as well as constant challenge. The greatest challenge facing him currently also represents a paradox as daughter Babby remains very much attached to Peter Nino, an unsavory young man whose gambling has already led to more serious transgressions and has involved college students in scandal. In spite of painful scenes between father and daughter and his attempts at guidance, the coming months will see Bobby cleave to Nino although her unhappiness increases. Nino's unregenerate attitude, now strengthened by a desire to avenge Babby's misery, threatens unexpected difficulties for Richard.

A major development this season will be the arrival of Grayling Dennis. Richard's son, and his wife. Sandra, to settle down in Columbus. A childless couple now in their mid-thirties. Grayling and Sandra have adopted a 14-year-old girl and in the midst of their efforts to help her through normal adolescent upheaval, her real mother appears to claim her. The girl's conflict, the mother's machinations, and the court battle for custody that becomes inevitable deeply involve the Reverend Dennis as the multi- facited drama unfolds. Blair Davies and Mona Burns continue as Richard Dennis and Aunt Emily, respectively, with Nancy Malone as Bobby and James Noble as Grayling. The Brighter Day is a CBS Television Network Production with Leonard Blair as Producer.

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THE BRIGHTER DAY

JANUARY 4, 1954-SEPTEMBER 8, 1962       CBS

THREE RIVERS,  NEW HOPE,  COLUMBUS

 

Amy Abbott      Mary Finney     1960      friend, Lois Williams

Tony Alonzo     Sidney Armus     1960    accused of running a gambling ring with Peter Nino

Dr. Arnold     ???    1954

Toby Ballard   ....   Don Penny      1962      hung around with Judith Potter and Ted Billings; accused of killing Ted; offered to take blame

Carol Bannister     ?????    daughter Paul & Jessica    1957

Jessica Dane Bannister     ????   Paul's first wife    1957-58 

Lenore________ Bradley Bannister   ...   Lori March        1956-58   Lydia's younger sister; divorced Tom

Paul Bannister   Robert Carroll   1957-58   writer   married Lenore

Mort Barrows  ...   Ben Rubin        1962   worked at Walter's General Store as assistant

                          ...   Douglas Marland   1962   

Eve Beresford   ...   Erin O'Brien Moore     1959   Christine's traveling companion

Chuck Best    ?????      1960    Paula's old flame

Althea Dennis Bigsby   ....   Brooke Byron    1954-55

                           ...    Jayne Heller       1956

                          ...     Maggie O'Neill    1960

                           ...    Anne Meacham  1960-61

Bruce Bigsby    ...   Never Seen    Althea's former husband

Ted Billings      ????        wild child; dated Judith  accidentally fell off the porch while with Judith;  dated Angie Moore; borrowed money from Eddie Logan

Aunt Cora Blake       Mary Finney    1958    farm family

Ruth __ Blake     Ann Dere   1958-59   mother; Ted

Ted Blake         ....    handyman; fatherless; speed demon; risk taker; killed in car crash

                    Robert Kilgallin 1958   

                             Lionel Kranitz    1959   

Tom Bradley   ....    Robert Webber   1956-57   Lenore's ex-husband      

Alan Butler      Phillip Pine     1955

David ?Canfield?        ??????     Max's nephew   romanced Babby til he found out she wouldn't inherit

Julie Canfield     ???       1959  daughter, Max & Lydia  

Lydia ____  Harrick Canfield      Murial Williams  1955-58   Lenore's sister

Reverend Max Canfield      Herb Nelson    1955-58

Crystal Carpenter   ...   Vivian Dorsett           54-55   Larry Knox's girlfriend 

Professor Alex Carson            Patrick McVey     1962  defended Judith in murder trial

Viv Carter        Susan Cabot   ???  friend, Sandra

Alice ___ Clark   Never Seen Elliott's wife  died ten years prior to the Clark's arrival in the story

Bud Clark        ...   Charles Taylor   1959-61   youngest child; dated Ellen    

Diane Clark    ...    Lin Pierson      1959-60      resented Paula      

Dean Eliott Clark      Dean of Men at Westmore University  hired Richard; father  Bud and Diane; Widower of Alice; Married Paula   

                          ....   Lawrence Weber    1959      

                              ...   Ernest Graves        1960-61 

Paula Reynolds Clark     Women's Sporting Goods store buyer; 15 years younger than Eliot

                             Pat Jenkins    1959

                                     Marion Brash   1960

                                        Constance Simons   1959

Pablo Cruz   ?????     troublemaker, pursued Maria, Yvonne's student

Kenny  Delmar           James Hickman      friend (Babby)     1954

Ellen Williams Dennis   taken in by Sandra and Grayling; daughter Lois

                         ....   Patty Duke     1958-59   

                      Judy Sanford           1959

                        ...   Lanna Saunders     1960-61    

Grayling Dennis         ... Hal Holbrook     1954-59

                                ....    James Noble    1959-60        

                                ...   Forrest Compton   1961-62   

Liz Dennis     ....   Grace Matthews      1955   

Reverend Richard Dennis     William Smith      1954

             Paul Langton (temp. 54-55 per TV Guide)                                

                  ...    Blair Davies     1954-62

Sandra Talbot Dennis      ...   Ann Hillary

                                  ...  Diane Gentner         1956                                          

                            ... Gloria Hoye          1957-59           

                         .... Mary K. Wells    1960-61     

                                  ...     Nancy Rennick      1961-62
Uncle Walter Dennis     Paul Langton       1962      Richard's younger brother, opened General Store 

Helen Devereaux      ?????    1954       Lucius' wife

Lucius Devereaux      Tom Shirley      1954      hired architect for Youth Center

Nurse Marion Dorsey         ??????   1962 Sandra's attending nurse; affair with Grayling

Mitchell Dru    ...       Geoffrey Lumb         1962    attorney defended Jim Norris    

Mrs. Dunbar       ....     Lilia Skala             1955 

Marty Duveen   ????   1957-58   shady brother, Rick  ally, Bart Harrick , knew Bert Ralston

Rick Duveen  ????     1957-58;   shady brother, Marty, ally Bart Harrick,  killed Bart; knew Bert Ralston

Sally    Eldridge           ??????? 

Judge Faulkner   ...   Raymond Edward Johnson 

Dr. Fletcher   ???????     1954

Nicholas  Forbes   William Post, Jr.  sophisticated man, in the Eve Beresford story   1959 Christine's business advisor   

Elliott Frazer      .... John Heath   1956    Althea witnessed him murder someone on a cruise

Linda Frazier    ????   1962    was in cahoots with Ted Billings and Ernie Logan (may eventually have been injured if show continued

Dr. Charles Fuller    ...   Dean Harens     1960-61     hired Patsy as his lab assistant

Charlie Garrett      ....    William Post, Jr. 1955 alcoholic loser

Rose ____ Garrett    Abby Lewis    1955   Skip's mother

Skip Garrett       Judson Rees      1955    emulated Larry Knox

Sam Geiger      Henry Lascoe     1960     attorney   Lois Williams

Christine Gowan    ...   Sarah Burton  1959   twin sister of the late Margaret Dennis wealthy; manipulated Richard and the Dennis kids               

Reverend Victor Graham      Rex Ingram        1962  ordained minister; worked with Walter at the store

Dr. Blake Hamilton  Never Seen      1954  psychiatrist

Chris (Randolph Christopher) Hamilton            ...   Mike Barton         1960-61

Patsy Dennis Hamilton      alcoholic, married Randy; lab assistant, Charles

                             Lois Nettleton    1954-57                  ...                             

                            June Dayton        1961-62   

Dr. Randy Hamilton   ...    Larry Ward          1954-57   deceased; Patsy's husband

Bart Harrick          ...    Walter Brooke    1956-57     (aka Frank Evans)

Donald Harrick            Walter Brooke      1954-57 

Mother ___  ___  Harrick    ???   1957   Bart and Donald's mother

Paul Jorvet      ???    1961    interested in Yvonne

Frances "Franny" Kennedy  ...   Mary Michael   1954 -??  Dennis family maid

Larry Knox      Del Hughes    1954-55    killed Bert Ralston

Barney Lake      Frank Maxwell    1957    offered Lenore some free advice in the "battle of the sexes"

District Attorney William Langley prosecuted Judith Potter

Eddie Logan    ????    1962    sold gambling cards; loaned money to Ted Billings 

Steven Markley   ...   Peter Donat     1958      Richard's assistant pastor; courted Babby    

Adolphe McClure  Frank Thomas, Sr. 1959-60    wrote in to Emily's column, brief romance

Anne ___ Meadows     Barbara Joyce    1959-61    adopted Dan Stewart of ATWT

Dr. Joe Meadows     John Boruff     1959-61        adopted Dan Stewart of ATWT  

Dr. Raymond Miller     Chet Leaning   1959   young psychologist

Angie Moore    ?????       1962     Ted Billings'  girlfriend

District Attorney  Alex Morgan      Michael Kane    1959   friend, Paula

Babby Dennis Nino      Mary Linn Beller      1954-59 

                                    ....   Nancy Malone      1959-60 

Peter Nino     ...     Joe Sirola       1959-60     suspected of gambling ring; married Patsy

Jim  Norris          William Bassett    1960   med student accused of murdering Hal Wilson; illegally treated Peter Nino

Lt. George Patterson        Robert Rockwell     1962  investigated Ted Billings' death      

Cass Potter    ...    Walter Brooke     1962 ; affair with Terry; brother of Emily's husband

Aunt Emily Potter    .   Richard's widowed sister; dated Adolphe

                           Kathleen Comegys    1954

                               Mona Bruns  1955-62  

Judith Potter        Bennye Gatteys ...1962      Emily's niece, befriended Toby and Ted Billings,; was with Ted when he fell to his death          

Maggie Quincy   ....    Patsy Garrett       1961

Robert "Bert" Ralston    Mark O'Daniels        1954-58

Jane Reynolds    Flora Campbell    1959-60   Paula's older sister; designs on Eliot  

Jim Rogers                  Bob Hastings      1961    drinking friends, Patsy

Trixie     __ Rogers       Joyce Van Patten  1961     drinking friends, Patsy

   ____   Sharkey     Ken Lynch   1954-55

Ben Shepard   ?????    college student; friend of   Patsy

Terry Simpson     Susan Brown      1962    Cass Potter's gal

Yvonne Sorell     ....   Eva Soreny   1961    French Professor; liked Richard

Eric Stern      John McGovern 1960   local gambling king;  got his :just desserts

Rex Stern       ...    Nicholas Pryor      1960     dated Ellen

Tony Street       ?????    1961     Yvonne's student

Dr. Taylor         King Calder   1961    performed surgery on Walter

Mrs. Thompson   ????    1955   the grocer's wife

Edna Trimble       ?????   1954

Ginger Wade          Barbara Wilkins       1960

Dr. Robert Wayland     ?????    1962    Sandra's psychiatrist

Dr. David Wells     Whitfield Connor   1960          Dennis  family doctor,  took care of Emily's exhaustion

Dean Wilbur          Perry Ivins

Bernice Wilkins   Kim Townsend   

Nurse Lois Williams         Marian Winters         1960-61   Ellen's "real" mother 

Dr. __ Wilson    Bart Thomson   1960     father, Hal

Hal Wilson    ...     Lawrence Spector   1960   med student; killed self and framed Jim

Mrs.  __  __    Wilson      Alice Yourman    1960     mother, Hal

 

Maria    ?????       1961     student of Yvonne's; pursued by Pablo

Spunky   ...    Raymond Duke    1956      Crystal Carpenter's "protege"

 

Cuban Attorney ....    Bernie Kopell

 

Organist     ....    Rosa Roo

 

Lloyd Nolan   (scenes about mental health with Althea) Lloyd Nolan

 

Also.....?????????

 

Mason Adams         

Jay Barney            1958

Charles Baxter     

Harvey Evans              

Sam Gray    

Maureen Hurley            

Kevin Kelly

Jack Lemmon     

Judy Lewis            

Harriet MacGibbon      

Anna Minot            

Rita Morley   1957

Santos Ortega    

Lenka Peterson       

Doris Roberts 

William Windom       

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I was shocked tonight to see this in the above post from Slick Jones:

Anne ___ Meadows     Barbara Joyce    1959-61    adopted Dan Stewart of ATWT

Dr. Joe Meadows     John Boruff     1959-61        adopted Dan Stewart of ATWT 

 

I had known for many, many years that The Brighter Day and As the World Turns had shared the character of Mitchell Dru.   I had never known, however, that there was this connection to As the World Turns.   I was watching As the World Turns during the Ellen Stewart extended storyline, but I do not remember this at all ever being mentioned or shown.

 

Could someone please give me more details about the connection of this two shows and anything about Dr. Joe Meadows and Anne Meadows?

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I don't believe that the Meadows adopted Ellen's child -rather just cared for him while Ellen decided what to do.

From a 1958/59 synopsis

But a new man soon comes into Ellen's life: Dr. Tim Cole, a research colleague of Dr. Doug Cassen. The two have a passionate affair, but Tim is keeping something from Ellen: he is already married to someone else. Ellen soon finds herself pregnant. Since she doesn't want anyone in Oakdale to know she's going to have a baby out of wedlock, Ellen leaves for Columbus, where she stays with Dr. Joe Meadows and his wife. It is there that Ellen gives birth to a baby boy she names James, after her late father.

Ellen, who has just given birth to Jimmy, feels betrayed that Tim didn't tell her about his wife, Louise. Therefore, Ellen leaves Jimmy in the care of Dr. Meadows, and she starts dating Burt Stanton, a friend of Jeff's. Ellen and Burt soon become engaged, but Burt breaks the engagement after learning of her affair and baby with Tim. With seemingly nowhere else to turn, Ellen gives up Jimmy for adoption.

As for the Meadows appearing on The Brighter Day.I'll have to some more checking.

As for the Meadows appearing on The Brighter Day

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August 19 1962

Rex Ingram. Negro actor, has been assigned to a continuing role on The Brighter Day a daytime serial on CBS.-TV* seen here. The story line of the serial revolves around the home life of a chaplain in a small Midwestern college town. Leonard Blair, producer of The Brighter Day,said Mr. In- gram would portray an ordained minister who is forced to take an outside job because his church cannot pay him a living wage. In the job he helps to manage a hardware store. Mr. Ingram will join the cast on Sept. 17

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Mr. Ingram did not appear on the show for very long since the show aired its last episode on September 28.   The network, which had purchased the show from Procter and Gamble, announced that The Brighter Day would leave the air less than two weeks before its final broadcast.

Was this show live after the production moved from New York to California?   Was Sam Hall writing it at the time of the introduction of Mr. Ingram?

I know that two of the characters that Agnes Nixon introduced on Another World (Ada Davis and Rachel Davis) had been intended for The Brighter Day.   CBS had hired Ms. Nixon as the show's new writer, but none of her work was ever seen since there was such a short time between the announcement that the show was being cancelled and its last episode's air date.

 

It has been said that the character of Rachel Davis had been based on Erica Kane (of All My Children).   Ms. Nixon had attempted to sell All My Children to air on CBS but had been unsuccessful.  So, she based Rachel after Erica.  Was the hiring of Ms. Nixon perhaps a consolation to her for having rejected All My Children?

 

This was before Ms. Nixon began writing The Guiding Light (on CBS) and, later, Another World (on NBC).

Edited by danfling
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June 7 1961

 All but three current cast members of CBS -TV's Brighter Day daytime serial will be written out of the story between now and June 26 when the program moves from New York to Hollywood. Remaining  are Blair Davies, Mona Bruns and Eva Soreny.

That seems odd that Eva Soreny was one of the three- I guess she was happy to relocate.

So who was left behind and who was recast?

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