Love Is a Many Splendored Thing

[DRW50]

October 1971 Daytime TV

[saynotoursoap]

Those were my least favorite Mark and Laura, but the photos are just glorious. Thanks for posting.

[saynotoursoap]

Thank you for the article, CarlD. I loved Sasha von Scherler. She was such a wonderful actress and so against soap type. I miss the days when soaps hired excellent theatre actors based on talent rather than looks. I did not know until now that Sasha and Paul's daughter Daisy, a film director, selected her own name. Interesting.

[DRW50]

I wish I could see more of her. I'll have to rewatch the episode you uploaded.

I have a few more articles around on the show if I ever find them.

[danfling]

Ms. von Schuler later played Brooke's mother on All My Children, but the storyline was dropped. The name of the character was Jane Durbrin.

[DRW50]

I didn't know that was her. I think I just saw a photo of her (with Brooke and Laura). She looked like Teri Keane in the photo.

[danfling]

Teri Keane played Rose Cudahy on All My Children. Rose was the mother of Tom and Sean, grandmother of Laura.

[Paul Raven]

Variety Feb 14th 1968

Conrad Nagel inked for an extended role in the CBS soap "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing"

Nagel was a silent movie star who continued to perform throughout the years. I have never seen his name in cast lists for LIAMST. Did he actually join the show?

[DRW50]

That's fascinating.

Looks like he was a judge on the show.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Orig-TV-Photo-CONRAD-NAGEL-1968-217G-/180293979789

[saynotoursoap]

He may have played the judge at Jim Abbott's trial over the death of Terry Andrews, which sent Jim packing until 1973. I cannot be sure as I was not watching at the time, but the dates would be about right.

[DRW50]

May 1973 TV Dawn to Dusk. I guess this was right near the end.

Edited April 17, 2013 by CarlD2

[saynotoursoap]

Awwww, what a great article. I love Christmas, and God, I still love Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. Truly, CBS should not have canceled it.

[DRW50]

Thanks for reading. I wish it were too.

Can you tell me about the characters Betty Miller and Karl Licht played? I can't remember if there's been talk about them before.

[saynotoursoap]

There is not much to tell. Both were minor characters. Betty Miller played the mother of Joe Taylor during the series' final months. Joe was heavily involved in the political intrigue of Spencer Garrison's campaign against Al Preston, which was tied to Mark raping and impregnating his Spence's wife Iris. Joe was being blackmailed by Preston's campaign manager Walter Travis. Years before, Joe had an affair with Travis's wife and was led to believe that he was responsible for her death. Travis blackmailed Joe into bugging Spence's conversations and accidentally recorded a conversation between Mark and Iris that revealed the baby she was carrying was not Spence's but belonged to Mark as a result of the rape. Mrs. Taylor was a very loving and protective mother who wanted only to see her son happy and was supportive of his relationship with Dr. Betsy Chernak. Near the end of the run, Walter Travis was murdered in his hospital room, and Betsy was charged with the crime. Mrs. Taylor was a prime suspect, as she had gone to Travis' room that night and demanded that he free Joe from the blackmail. Karl Light played Dr. Berger, the medical director of the hospital where the all of the show's doctors worked. Dr. Berger was a recurring character and was similar I suppose to Donald Westphall from St. Elsewhere. Berger brought Pete Chernak to the hospital to develop laser surgery research, and was always around to play a part in whatever professional or personal problems the medical characters had. Karl Light just died recently, within the past year. He played Springfield's mayor on Guiding Light in the 1980s.

[DRW50]

Thanks so much. I feel like I watched it myself. If the show had lasted a little longer, I wonder if the bugging story would have gained some viewers, as Watergate happened, and this seemed to help AW.