Y&R: Old Articles

[Paul Raven]

I think it was still the case that actors who had done lengthy stints on soaps, particularly West Coast serials were pigeon holed and found it harder to get a good primetime role, except in nightime soaps.

Janice Lynde got that Norman Lear 'Roxy' pilot that she hyped up but it wasn't picked up. Later the best she could manage was a guest spot in the awful Morgan Fairchild 'Avengers USA' pilot.

David Hasselhoff lucked out with Knight Rider.

John McCook got cast in Codename Foxfire for NBC around 85 but it was shortlived.

Beau Kayzer got a pilot 'Harcase' that sat on the shelf until it was aired in Summer a year or so later.

[asafi]

https://x.com/MarcoMcinroy/status/1730150833642442984?s=20

Nikki accuses Christine of being a gold digger (1996)

 

[Khan]

I think Lorie Brooks was the greatest character that Bill Bell ever created, on ANY soap.  Seriously.

[SoapDope]

She was one of those characters that pretty much crossed paths with all the other characters during her run. 

[Broderick]

Most of those young original actors who bolted after their contracts expired were probably looking for greener pastures than a long-term soap role.  I'd say the two exceptions were likely Miss Bauer and Mister Espy. 

When Jaime Lyn Bauer bolted in 1982, I believe she was pretty adamant about leaving because she was TIRED.   During that chaotic transition period, Bill Bell often used her 4 or 5 times a week, which led to her working five days a week, sometimes six days a week, and she claimed that the workdays were often 12-18 hours.  She said she wanted to rest and spend time with her family.  She didn't seem to be angling for an immediate movie role.  

And William Gray Espy was such an unpredictable and unusual boy, there's no telling why he left.  He didn't seem overly committed to being a movie star.  He probably woke up one morning, discovered he'd saved enough money to buy a horse and said, "I'm leaving. Bye."   

[SoapDope]

Espy was a strange fish. Several co-stars said after a few months he would start complaining about having to come to the same place to work day in and day out and wanted out. They also said he is probably happy now that he runs/owns a golf course. I also remember reading he said he felt he was taken advantage of in his original Y&R contract.

For years a lot of people thought he and Janice Lynde were married because they appeared on Tattletales together.....LOL

[Broderick]

I expect everyone was "taken advantage of" in their original contract negotiations, because nobody had ever heard of them, they were mainly inexperienced kids, and they were probably signed at a bargain price.  They likely went from feeling "rich" at first, to resenting their contracts later.

Mister Espy is from over in my neck of the woods.  His mama and daddy died back around 1995 or 1996, and seemed to "roost" around Dothan in their final years.  I wasn't sure what he was doing over there, but I was thinking it was a wildlife preserve.  He's always marched to his own non-Hollywood drum.  He definitely never gave a flip if he was a "star" or not.    

[Antoyne]

I figured this was the best place to ask this.

For you long term viewers all the way back to the 80’s, what exactly is so great about Victor Newman? Why are he and the performer behind the man seemingly never on the losing end? I’ve only watched Y&R for maybe 15 years or so and I’ve just never understood the characters appeal. He’s an ass.hole to just about everyone but seems to in particular get a kick out of doing it to his family. I just don’t get it. 

[BoldRestless]

There's lots of great material in the soap vault to catch up on! Most of the clip compilations from '82 on feature his storyline.

 

Bill Bell's Victor showed much more vulnerability after his initial story as Julia's terrible husband who holds her lover in a dungeon. Everyone knows about the orphanage storyline, but there's all these little details like where he is bothered by people overindulging because he didn't get enough to eat. And there is the time he goes to the unemployment office just to show that he can get a working class job on his own, and runs into someone he laid off. He doesn't judge Nikki in any way for being a stripper but he can be tough on her as his way of getting her to improve herself. He thinks he's too old for her and she should settle down with someone her age. He gets taken for a ride by Lorie Brooks bigtime. Not to mention the saga with EveHoward. But he has his badass moments too of course. And he shows a dry sense of humor in his scenes with Douglas. He comes off as a well-rounded, educated self-made man knowledgeable about the world. Way more nuanced than the angry man from the last 15 years.

[SoapDope]

I'm pretty sure James Houghton mentioned golf course in a soap magazine when he and Espy returned to the show in the early 2000's, but that's been over 20 years ago. Espy would be 75 years old now and may be retired. 

A few years ago I bought the DVD of the TV movie "Gidget Get's Married" from 1972 and Espy has a small role in it. He had no lines and was pretty much an extra to make Gidget's husband Moondoggie jealous during a party scene.  

Gidget Get's Married has a lot of actors who also appeared on soaps. Macdonald Carey( plays Gidget's Father), Elinor Donahue, Corinne Camacho, Helen Funai, Joan Bennett, Judith McConnell, Roger Perry. 

The movie is now free to watch on Tubi.

[Khan]

In the beginning, I think viewers fell in love with Victor, because he was a mysterious, charismatic man, who literally came from nothing, and who refused to take [!@#$%^&*] from anyone.  He always commanded respect and loyalty, especially from his children.  The problem is, since Bill Bell's passing, a lot of nuances to Victor's character - in particular, the vulnerability that @BoldRestless mentions - have gradually faded away to the point where Victor, at times, comes close to being a boor, and a bore.

A similar transformation has happened to Jack Abbott, by the way.  You look at who and what he is today, and you'd never know that, once upon a time, the guy was literally sex on a stick.

Edited December 1, 2023 by Khan

[Broderick]

Well, he definitely always liked golf.  Even when he was on Y&R, he used to show up on golf courses with his fraternity brothers from Vanderbilt, whenever he would come visit his mama.  He dragged Jim Houghton down here one time (about 1975) to raise money for a local boy who had cancer.  Not very many years ago, Bill did some stage work at the Southeast Alabama Community Theatre.  Like I said earlier, I don't think he ever cared much about "stardom"; he seemed like a guy who'd rather tend to his mama and hang out with his friends than audition for movies.     

(Dothan Eagle, August 24, 1975)

Actor Bill Espy, a Dothan native, and Jim Houghton, also an actor, were met at the airport Friday by Charlie Silva.  Silva underwent lung and throat surgery 2 1/2 weeks ago and expects to begin cancer treatments this week.  Espy and Houghton, who play Snapper and Greg in the daytime TV series "The Young and the Restless" will emcee a six-hour musical extravaganza at the Dothan Civic Center this afternoon.  Proceeds will go toward Silva's medical expenses.  Featured artist will be Bobby Goldsboro, also from Dothan.  

[It was a Sunday afternoon concert that started after church and lasted till about dark.  They raised a ton of money for Charlie Silva, but he died a few months later.  He had a LOT of really extensive surgery and radiation but had no health insurance at all.  I believe the Espy boy and his friends organized the whole fundraiser.]   

 

[kalbir]

 

 

It was the combination of Bill Bell's writing and EB's acting that made Victor's character arc, from short-term villain to anti-hero/romantic leading man with the backstory of being abandoned as a child and becoming a self-made man, a success. 

Bill Bell was the only writer that understood Victor as a character. I'd go as far to say that Victor is Bill Bell's greatest male character.

[fivethej]

Do you know the air date when Leanna Love & Victor had a one-night stand?

[YRfan23]

That not sure, haha