Ellen Holly 1971 interview, photos

[DRW50]

Sometimes I wonder why OLTL even made the small effort they did with the male Halls but they never seemed fully committed.

I doubt anyone at ABC even cares now but perhaps since Agnes now only has one New York based soap she could convince Ellen to return briefly, as OLTL is likely in its last few years. After what has been done to potentially fascinating characters like Rachel and Layla, viewers could use a reminder of the show once having a groundbreaking history of black female characters.

[SFK]

Nice post Vee, I agree with everything you said, and that's an interesting observation about Ellen/Erika.

I really wish they'd invested more in Carla and given her more children with Ed or whomever. I wish Rauch saw her importance. Basically, I wish she was still around, gaggle of Halls mixing it up with Lord-Buchanans and Cramers.

[Vee]

Well, when they brought Jared Hall on in 2000 it didn't make much sense. He was like 25 and at that time I just didn't know how Joshua could've had a son that old. Unless little Larry Fishburne was getting freaky before Ed and Carla adopted him. Who knows. Plus, the actor was awful. They tried to pair him up with Ellen Bethea that summer - Rachel was staying in town because Nora was "dead" - but he flopped and she hadn't signed a contract so off they both went.

I'd be in favor of basically forgetting that guy existed and just bringing on a Kevin or Marty-aged Joshua (split the difference in the SORASing, and Josh wasn't that much older when last seen) with kids. And you could have crazy old Carla lurking in the wings. Maybe she and Ed had a biological kid too. Who knows. It wouldn't be all that different in concept from what they seem to be planning for Kim Zimmer in a far more obscure role - though of course Zimmer is a soap superstar and could be viable for romance with Clint and such.

[DRW50]

It's just sad that even when OLTL did become socially conscious again for a year or two, the plan to bring Ellen Holly back still didn't work out (as she didn't think she would have enough of a role). OLTL has such a rich history which can still very easily be tapped into. Obviously the show is looking for any type of ideas if they drag all these Fords in. I guess they could even connect her to that story, perhaps the Ford father is related to her or something.

[SFK]

Ellen Holly and Al Freeman Jr. need to return at least once before the show is cancelled. Linda Gottlieb invited Miss Holly back for the 25th anniversary but she declined, she even declined Agnes Nixon's invite to her induction into the Television Hall of Fame years earlier (though she did participate in Miss Nixon's Lifetime Intimate Portrait). They wouldn't bring on Carla to do anything romantic/split her up with Ed, she's concerned/meddlesme mother and grandmother territory now, and that's much easier to pull off when your character has been sustained on the show for years. But for every black insta-family they introduce, they could always go back and tinker with the Halls first. Even if EH takes a little prodding, it looks like AFJ doesn't mind popping in and out to keep his fam in check.

[bellcurve]

Not to mention none of the soaps would ever do a story like this today.

[Vee]

I figure "scheming grandmother with a big fun show-retcon secret" works.

If you base it off EH's own perceived persona, you can say she and Ed tried to make it work again and again but failed because of Carla's mercurial self - something that has plagued her since her affair with Jack Scott, as well as passing for white and abandoning Llanview and Sadie prior to the show's premiere. She's the meddling black Dorian her family puts up with, only a little older and shrewder. The blogs would certainly make hay of watching Holly needle Slezak and Strasser onscreen - though Slezak probably doesn't bear a grudge over Holly's (IMO) ill-advised comments, and Strasser and Holly are still friendly.

When the story concludes, you can leave the younger Halls entrenched in the show, but allow Ed and Carla to reunite despite Ed's head-shaking and "oh Carlas." Then they can either assume a "Edward and Lila"-esque role on the show, or leave together if the actors so chose. Al Freeman stays busy but these two are elderly and I doubt either actor is up for much more than John Ingle airtime at this point. I haven't a clue of Holly's condition at this point - eight years ago, on Showtime, she played Brock Peters' wife in a Mario Van Peebles movie about the civil rights train strikes, and she basically looked like an older version of herself from the '80s, with a shock of white hair.

Sad little fantasies.

[SFK]

Though I share them with you.

10000 Black Men Named George. I've seen bits and pieces though only a long shot of her up in the balcony of the church/courthouse, again with that Methody body language.

[DRW50]

That would be great, and the type of generational stories which OLTL needs. It would also be something productive, which is also needed, since now the only time you hear about blacks on soaps it's a lot of "why should they bother" and a lot of flame wars and anger, like nothing will ever move forward.

OLTL is lucky that they still have some of these names and while they might not be huge ratings grabbers I think they would help keep the show stable and potentially bring in those who aren't watching soaps right now.

[SFK]

Well, I am all for a Dorian-esque Carla, meddling and deep-pocketed, Ed and Carla would have done well for themselves. Maybe they're neighbors of the Williamses down in Silver Spring.

[Vee]

Holly has maybe six lines in that Showtime film. Brock Peters is a traitor to the cause and she ditches him in public. That's her only real scene that I can recall.

At one point when I was still a punk college kid I had an idea for Carla's big secret, but at this point I just don't know. I figure it would have to do with Llanview prior to the show and probably the Lords. If I had my druthers I'd pull in the Woleks. The peril of the obvious idea, though - making the Halls Lords - is playing into the ancient racist trope that would likely result if you were to retcon Sadie Gray into having slept with Victor Lord back in the '40s or something. Worse, it bars any Halls and Lords from being paired in the future. Maybe Victor or his father stole Sadie's family's fortune. It would all turn out to be awfully meta, assuming you have her showing up and scheming against Viki and all the current Llanview well-to-dos.

In any event, if Susan Flannery, Constance Towers or Julianna McCarthy can do major stories on their shows, they can still wheel Ellen Holly in for a couple months. Julianna McCarthy is like 108. Come to think of it, Connie Towers is only two years younger than Holly and looks hot as [!@#$%^&*].

[DRW50]

They could have it where Dorian and Carla turn out to be sisters.

[SFK]

Or Victor was Carla's light-skinnededed dad and Viki and Carla are sisters.

Hell, what's a little more scandal on the Victor pile?

[EricMontreal22]

I got all my NYT stuff through my work as a TA at the University here...

[EricMontreal22]

If Carlivati can bring back [!@#$%^&*] ECHO--he could so handle an Ellen return... And think of how ABC/Fronsie could milk it--"the return of the most talked about character in soap history" (in the 60s )