Ellen Holly 1971 interview, photos

[EricMontreal22]

Vee, good catch--I've actually seen that (and yes, I'm pretty sure it was Marco). I know too in 1971 Marcy tried to ghostlight Vicki ina similar matter but I geuss we didn't get any images of Nicki (wasn't Marcy played by someone who became a soap writer or exec?)

And yep, I've had that WONDERFUL 1969 episode for a while--I actually got a inferior VHS copy of it back in the mid 90s when I started trying to trade for old soap tapes, and now it's on youtube (I believe it was on wost before that). Nothing much happens at all of course, but I still find it thrilling to watch lol.I've also seen, from that Agnes Nixon profile, in colour the brief tiny bit of a scene where Carla and her mom meet face to face, so it's out there (and in colour?!). Otherwise the next ep I've been able to see is the birth of Kevin 1976 episode that Daytime to Remember showed (and it must have been edited--all of their episodes were of course--for commercials and Reba, but I believe the show went to 45 mins by then too, so a significant chunk prob was). It's great to see of course--epecially to see Nancy as Dorian. And the next jump is to all the Karen, intro of Tina, etc stuff.

(Similarly the AMC stuff out there we now actually have 5 full episodes from 1970-1971, and then the next jump seems to be 1978 and Tom and Erica's wedding--next to nothing except tiny clips from inbetween)

[DRW50]

Francesca James played Marcy.

That episode where Kevin is born is notable for me because it has so much humor, from Joe, and from Pat. I can't imagine a lot of OLTL heroines now doing a Groucho impression -- at least intentionally.

[EricMontreal22]

Ha that's a good point. And yes James--I guess Agnes liked her since she wrote the very different role of Kitty for her...

[Vee]

There is color footage out there of the Carla/Jim/Price story from '68 - it's been slipped into a variety of OLTL-related specials in the last ten years, mostly stuff with Carla and Sadie, but some with Robert Milli's Jim Craig. I think the full material may be at the Museum of Television and Radio(?) here in New York, but I've never gone and checked.

[EricMontreal22]

Right, that's the colour footage I meant (I know I wasn't very clear) from the Agnes Nixon intimate portrait special.

It still angers me that none of this stuff has been released to DVD. Surely it would only mean money in the pocket for ABC (admittedly not TONS, but...) Then again you have situations like Fox or whoever owns the rights to Peyton Place not allowing Shout Factory to release anymore episodes because, even though Shout is more than pleased with sales, they are not--never mind that without such a release it's merely sitting in the vaults making zero money.

[DRW50]

I think a lot of it also has to do with elitism. The soap genre is the last bastion of that type of thing...I'm sure some is also down to the expense of releasing so many episodes, but you could just release some and market it properly and you would probably get a good return.

[EricMontreal22]

True--but yeah, I think even if they did a DVD-R "burn per order" thing like what's been done with some cult movies, and Falcon Crest season 2, they'd see enough interest to make it worth their while--Even just releasing to disc the equivalent of, say, the old SoapNet I Love Lucci Erica marathon--that kinda thing (I admit I think it's way too much to hope for complete seasonal runs or anything close for the years that have been saved).

[SFK]

And don't forget the color episode with Gillian surrounding the disappearance of Merri. They sampled a bit of it in the SoapNet interview with Agnes Nixon upon OLTL's 40th. You'll recall that I've viewed that episode in its entirety at the Paley Center.

I could be wrong, but educated guess here... the clips of Carla you and Vee mention, sadly, I don't think those are from full episodes. In her book, Ellen Holly talks about how pretty much all of the early years are wiped out, and somehow or another she got in contact with some folks at an ABC affiliate (I forget where) who miraculously had archived promo footage of early OLTL. Included were portions of Clara and Sadie's reunion which EH was ecstatic to find, even what little they had. I think this is the footage we've seen glimpses of. I wish they'd just go ahead and release it!

[EricMontreal22]

I remember that brief SoapNet interview but not any footage of Gillian What year was it from? Good to know the Paley has an early colour episode. Hrmm well even some clips with sound would be something...

[Pine Charles]

I remember WoST posting a (circa) 1974 episode of AMC -- in color! I would so love to see that again.

[SFK]

I want to say it was from '69. It had to be between '68-'70 since Gillian was in the role. I'm pretty sure I remember it being from the '60s though. I just did a quick Google search to get a better understanding of what I remember playing out, and it must have been the beginning of the s/l where Merri ran away to San Francisco when she discovered that she had a life-threatening blood disease that Larry knew about but didn't tell her. Wow, Victor/Merri/Larry=Palmer/Nina/Cliff even more than I originally thought.

BTW, in Ellen Holly's book, she mentions that another actress was hired to play Viki before Gillian Spencer (and even did promos that aired) before the show debuted. The actress she names is George C. Scott's widow, Trish Van Devere. Of course TVD was the original Meredith. I don't know if EH may have gotten her memories mixed up or not, but that would be interesting if say Merri was created for TVD (or another poor actress lost her job as Meredith). Good question for Miss Agnes.

[Sedrick]

I remember reading in SOD's OLTL 20th cover story that another actress has been hired as Viki before Spencer but she was dismissed because she was attempting to upstage her co-stars in all her scenes. The article did not name the actress.

[DRW50]

I will write up the rest of this later. March 1977 Afternoon TV.

[SFK]

Thanks Carl! Lovely picture of her. Wow, Altman. I really hope she gets to see this film made on the Indie level.

Alicia Keys?

[DRW50]

Seeing Ellen Holly in an Altman film would have been fascinating, especially since I really love some of the movies he made around this time (Three Women, Nashville).

That photo does pop out at you, the print, and also, you wonder if she's going to pop out.

There aren't any other pictures, it's just text and tacky ads, so I will write that up as soon as I get back from an errand.