DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[jam6242]

This one is from a July 1973 Daytime TV (the first page mistakenly associates him with "Return to Peyton Place"):

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks for sharing these. I know that there have been rumors that the relationship between him and Susan Flannery was "fake", but it is interesting to read more about his life pre-Monk, which is the show which gained him his greatest fame before he passed. His character on DAYS, from what I've read, sounds a bit like Luke Spencer before there was a Luke Spencer. Definitely a character with a lot of shades of gray. I would love to see the plot about the tell-all book and his brother going ballistic on him.

When Susan gave birth to Eric Peters' baby, was Denise Alexander still in the role or had Bennye Gatteys taken over by that point? I wish Corday/Sony would release a DVD set of DAYS comparable to what P&G did for ATWT and GL - especially with the 50th anniversary coming up next year. I don't think it will ever happen, but one can dream!!

[jam6242]

I believe Denise was still there when Susan had her baby. I also wish Days would release some dvds or put the early episodes on a streaming service. I think Sony now owns Crackle so that would seem a logical place to put it. And a bit of trivia, Bill Hayes' grandson, David Samuel, was one of the original founders of Crackle (called Grouper when it started). Even though I watched back then I missed a lot because I had to go to school, lol. And, of course, I've forgotten some things.

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks. Speaking of Bennye Gatteys, was she really that bad an actress or had Denise Alexander just put so definitive a stamp on Susan that the audience wouldn't accept anyone else in the role? All I've heard were negative things about her once DA jumped ship to GH.

[jam6242]

Denise was just hard to replace (she topped the fan polls for years). My biggest gripe with Bennye was her chirpy voice. I found it irritating. Otherwise, she wasn't really horrible. I still don't know why Days didn't try to hold on to Denise. I remember reading an interview with her and she said that there was no disagreement, her contract just quietly expired and GH snatched her up in the meantime.

Edited September 23, 2014 by jam6242

[amybrickwallace]

I wonder if DAYS regretted that move in the long run. I know that Susan Hayes and Denise Alexander had set the wheels in motion for the Julie/Susan feud that lasted for years (and SSH didn't even originate Julie!), so who was Julie's main nemesis post-Susan and pre-Lee Carmichael?

[jam6242]

I loved the Susan/Julie rivalry. That's what really hooked me on the show even before Doug showed up. Julie rarely lacked a nemesis though. I guess Julie's mother was her nemesis for a while, after Addie married Doug, lol! Next would be Phyllis Anderson, who hated Julie for marrying Bob. You know Julie was always blamed for that but she actually resisted Bob for a long time and he was going to leave Phyllis anyway. But Phyllis felt betrayed because she had treated Julie like a daughter after Julie's husband, Scott, was killed. Then Julie's son, David, would be next, along with his girlfriend, Brooke Hamilton. And then Doug's first wife, Kim, showed up. Julie had started turning into the heroine around this point. I guess Lee was her last big nemesis.

[amybrickwallace]

Again, I wonder what would have eventually happened with Lee had Brenda Benet not taken her own life. Hers is one of the saddest stories I have ever heard. Her guest spot on The Incredible Hulk, which occurred after she and Bill Bixby had already split, is eerie when watched in hindsight. I just wish more of her DAYS work was available to watch, but at least there is some of it on YT, unlike with Stanley Kamel.

[Paul Raven]

Wasn't Denise offered one of the highest salaries for a newcomer to a show to make the switch?

[amybrickwallace]

I do believe I read that GH had signed her to the contract guaranteeing the most money earned by a daytime actor at that time (1973).

[amybrickwallace]

Does anyone know whatever became of Bennye Gatteys? Was DAYS her only soap gig?

[DRW50]

Thanks for those Stanley Kamel articles. Nice pictures. And he has a wok!! They loved that.

I love the purple prose in those writeups of that era, especially when they compare him going to DAYS to getting a workover at a body shop.

[amybrickwallace]

I know - those articles from the 70s are a riot. From the clothes to the adjectives...too funny.

[jam6242]

Hey, the 70s were groovy, man! You should see my high school yearbook.

[amybrickwallace]

Totally far out, man!!!