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9 hours ago, kalbir said:

Lee Bell birth name was Loreley June Phillip but I had no idea she was related to Irna Phillips.

3 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

No I don't believe she is . You would think that link would be very widely known. When Bill spoke about first working with Irna that connection was never mentioned.

They messed that up. Mrs. Bell isn't related to Irna.

Bell often told the story about his introduction to Irna. He was working for a Chicago ad agency. He heard Irna might be looking for an assistant writer, as one of her writers was leaving. He called Irna's secretary and was advised to submit a sample script. He did. But the writer who was thinking of leaving decided to stay.

Several months later (or years later), he crossed paths with a lady who said she was Irna Phillips's niece. He said, "I sent your aunt a script one time, but nothing came of it." The niece said, "I believe she's looking for someone right now." The niece mentioned her conversation with William Bell to Irna, and Irna said, "If you see him again, tell him I need an assistant. I believe he's the boy who's married to the talk show hostess, and he sent me a script once."

That time they connected, and she hired him.

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9 hours ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

No nepotism… Right. They started all at the bottom. Especially Lauralee. With a character on Daddys Soap and as a Front burner lol That’s definitely the bottom of it all.

Cricket was fine in small doses (LLB school break appearances) but when LLB became a full time cast member in Summer 1986, Cricket ate the show for the rest of the decade.

8 hours ago, Broderick said:

They messed that up. Mrs. Bell isn't related to Irna.

That writer didn't fact check. Thanks for the additional info @Broderick .

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Thanks for letting us know @YRfan23 . Julianna was one of the best actors on Y&R, or any soap, and has had so many other wonderful performances on everything from Dark Shadows to Starship Troopers. I am sorry to hear about her struggles.

  • Member

Reading this article got me to thinking how none of the original Y&R cast who left when on to have much success in primetime.

Janice Lynde was all pumped for her 'Roxy' pilot that wasn't picked up and by 79 she was back on soaps on AW.

Trish Stewart landed a series Salvage 1 but it was short lived and she pretty much disappeared.

William Grey Espy never seemed to want to move to primetime and only found work at AW.

James Houghton did OK with KL and The Colbys. He was the first of the originals. to depart. Did he have a shorter contract?

Tom Hallick had a few pilots but then nothing.

I wonder if any of them had regrets, or they took it in stride that being a hot daytime star didn't mean much out of that sphere.

The Journal 20 November 1977


Tom Hailick

TV Actor Wants More

BY DICK KLEINER HOLLYWOOD — According to most polls, Tom Hallick is the number one male star of daytime television. Whether popularity is measured in terms of fan mail or viewership or whatever, the handsome Hailick hits the high figures. He's one of the big reasons CBS' The Young and the Restless is a top-rated soap opera. He plays Brad Eliot on the show and both of them are winners.

But it isn't enough for Hailick. He enjoys being where he is because there's nothing wrong with the atmosphere at the top.. Even so, he wants more. In the first place he wants more money. "I have to say that I like the security of a weekly paycheck," he says, "and that's what you get with a soap opera. But I recently played a part on a TV pilot, 'The Return of Captain Nemo,' and I made doing that pilot than I made all year on The Young and the Restless. "I work very hard on the soap — I believe it's the toughest work there is for an actor — but compared to 'Nemo,' I make nothing. And on 'Nemo,' all I had to do was say 'Up, periscope' a few times."

So there is the inducement of more money that beckons Tom Hallick to broader horizons. There is also the hope to attract more fans to his banner, although there is quite a crowd there already. "Actually," he says, "the make-up of the public who watches me is surprising. The show is a big hit on college campuses for example. It's almost a cult thing with the collegians, ahd I have a lot of teenage girl fans, too." Still, he'd like to become better known among the bulk of the public, those who go to movies and watch nighttime television. So he's branching out. He's done a couple pilots lately. One of the aforementioned, "The Return of Captain Nemo." Another one is a new Irwin Allen proposed series, Time Travellers. And a third pilot was for a syndicated variety series with Dan Rowan and Michele Lee called The American Flyer.

"I think I can do both a nighttime series and the daytime series," Hailick says. "I want to have my cake and eat it too. I want that regular paycheck plus the other money. And most important, I like working hard." He has a clause in his contract which permits him to take time off from The Young and the Restless to do other things, provided he gives the show sufficient notice. He says it took six months to work out the details of that clause, but now it's proving its value. Tom began acting as a first-grader — "The Reluctant Dragon" was his first role — and never really deviated from the acting dream. "I did go to law school for a while, but that was mostly because I had, no idea how to become an actor." It was a long struggle working in Buffalo,in Florida, as a page for NBC in New York. Then he came to Los Angeles and things began going his way. Now he's number one — but is that enough?

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