As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

What a treat! I don't know very much about Mary Harris. How odd to have an actor named Paul Stuart on the same show as a character named Paul Stewart.

I guess this is before Gary Sandy went on Secret Storm.

[Paul Raven]

[DRW50]

Wow I didn't recognize Gillian Spencer at first.

[Paul Raven]

[P.J.]

No Nancy?

And who's the kid next to Frank Runyeon? I understand the babies in the pic not getting a credit, but why Pintauro does and not that kid seems unfair.

[DRW50]

Helen Wagner had quit the show during this time.

That might be Andy, whoever was playing him at the time.

Edited July 15, 2011 by CarlD2

[FrenchFan]

No Nancy and Chris as this is the cast photo from 1983-1984. Helen Wagner left the show between 1981 and 1985.

[DRW50]

November 28, 1992 Weekly interview with Terry Lester and Douglas Marland.

Q: At the time you were dealing with this offer, you were also dealing with an offer to create a new role (Frank's father) on Guiding Light. What tipped the scales?

TL: (laughing) It was a better part. No, I can't tell you that without getting my legs broken. These two people sitting beside me, for starters. I've known Laurie since he was a CBS executive, and I have admired Douglas' work since I began watching soaps 12 years ago.

Q: What can you tell us about Royce - and the name?

DM: Just from the lunch and from meeting Terry (when he came to New York last June to attend the Daytime Emmys), I immediately envisioned him as an architect. I think we did talk about (Ayn Rand's) The Fountainhead at lunch, and that may have clicked it into place. There are not a lot of architects in daytime, and architects are a very romantic profession. It's a man who works alone, who has a vision, who sees something and then puts it on paper and then supervises it until the end of the construction. It's someone who works alone, like a writer, and that kind of separates them from the people who work with a lot of people and it makes them more romantic. I have a Rolls-Royce, and I want a name to look and rounds like a person's character. Royce has class. I played Chris Keller when I was an actor in All My Sons. I always loved that name because it was short and snappy. So that's how Royce Keller came along.

Q: In what areas will we see Royce interact?

DM: The Lucinda group, because she wants him to stay on to design the Worldwide towers, and he moves very quickly into all of Oakdale. I think by the time he's been on the show two weeks he's mixed with everyone but the Snyders. And we'll get him to Luthers Corners eventually.

Q: Having created roles and taken over a role...

TL: Starting from the beginning is much more pleasant. Usually, when a character is recast it's because the actor playing it was popular, s oyou have to deal with that. You have to deal with the possibility of intense rejection, and you have to honor the character and his history and the actor who played the part while making it your own, and it's very tricky. It's a very difficult balance. I'm glad I had that experience; now I know what Peter Bergman went through (when he took over as Y&R's Jack). He was more successful at it than I was, as it turned out.

Q: How does Royce compare to Jack and Mason?

TL: I would say someone like Jack had virtually no integrity at all, and Mason the same way, but probably to a lesser extent. I think Royce has a great deal of integrity because he has come from a not-so-fortunate background, and everything he has he has earned on his merits, and so his work and his word mean a lot to him. Whereas the two other guys were just liars and didn't care. [but] he's not a saint.

Q: Since this role is being created for you, are there elements of your personality we may see for the first time?

TL: Yeah, probably. I think this guy isn't a smart ass, for one thing, and I think people are used to seeing that from me. He's not without a sense of the absurdity of things at times, but he's still more serious and thoughtful, which I guess is like the private me, the one thing I don't show often.

Q: Did you have any trepidation about joining a cast with so many heavy hitters?

TL: Yeah! But I survived that once. When I started on The Young and the Restless I was just another blond, and it took me a year and a half to really figure out what to do about that. Actors are always worried about that, but Mr. Caso assured me months ago. There's one big difference in style between Y&R and As the World Turns, in that there are more ensemble scenes, and that's how this show can manage to have such a big cast, because so many people can work at the same time, whereas on that other show, it was two, maybe three, and the third one comes in and doesn't stay very long.

Q: What was your impression of Kelly (Menighan, who plays Emily)?

TL: Well, when I saw her on television before I met her, her attributes were obvious, and when we met we developed a real immediate rapport. She's kind of a no-nonsense person, but she has a sense of humor and she's very responsive when we work together. We're not ready for Romeo and Juliet, but I think we have the basis for a really good thing.

Q: Are there any plans for a Keller family?

DM: No. He will acquire his family as he goes - onscreen people.

Q: Most of the time we write about actors leaving New York soaps and moving to L.A. What was the reaction of your compatriots in California about your reverse migration?

TL: I had to stare down so many astonished looks. It's just people's habitual thinking. Everyone my age in California had this thing about California, the big migration. And it's no longer the promised land.

Linda Susman

Edited July 16, 2011 by CarlD2

[Mitch]

Terry Lester as Frank Cooper???? Hmm, I can kind of see it! At least it would have opened up the romantic possiblities for him instead of the Deas.

I love Marland but he just sounds so, pretentious with the "I have a Rolls Royce," and his stuff about architecture!

[Paul Raven]

ATWT made the cover of TV Guide in 1971

[Paul Raven]

Eileen with Frankie Thomas (Tom)

[DRW50]

Was he after the Tom they have in a few episodes available from the late 60's (mostly Bob and Grandpa trying to deal with Tom)?

[DRW50]

April 1971 Afternoon TV.

[soapfan770]

Wow that's a fantastic find Carl!! What was the decision behind killing Claire Lowell off like that?

I wonder if Anna Minot ended up regretted saying that about A World Apart. I had no idea Sandy's mother was ever shown on the show. Was she like Alma Miller?

Who exactly was Dean Snyder as Peter Kane? What was his story as a character on the show?

[DRW50]

I don't know if Anna Minot actually said that or if they were just filling in quotes. I can't imagine she had a lot to do on ATWT.

I think they killed Claire off because she sort of showed the incongruity of the aging with Dan and Paul. She really wasn't old enough to be Dan's grandmother, not when Dan was pushing 30.