Jacqueline Courtney Passed Away!

[DRW50]

[DRW50]

This is from the March 1977 TV Dawn to Dusk (Ideal Publishing). It's a bit cheesy but is a good window into soap publications at that time.

[DRW50]

[DRW50]

From the 1969 and 1982 Who's Who in Daytime TV (Sterling Inc). I have some other stuff but can't find it at the moment.

[Vee]

I don't know if Bob Woods has ever spoken too much about JC. I know she was apparently the bane of Clint Ritchie's existence during their own brief pairing, but CR reportedly had a number of issues with his female scene partners. Or maybe I'm mixing her up with his hatred for Barbara Luna.

[soapfan770]

Yeah at the time Paul Rauch was interviewed about him producing soaps in Russia(too bad he didn't stay there) and when asked about his AW history Rauch gladly took the opportunity to bash Courtney and Reinholt. Lo and behold a couple weeks later Courtney came out of the woodwork having read Rauch's comments to defend herself and Reinholt. It's a bit unjust and unfair that Rauch and Lemay are now 80-something geezers still pushing old feuds around while Courtney passes so young and was always gracious it seems.

[AMCHistory]

Off topic, but any chance that you can post the AMC special feature.

[Cat]

Some beautiful tributes from fans here. However, I cannot help but wish SteveFrame was around so he could post his tribute or anecdotes regarding Jacqueline Courtney. He was such a huge fan.

[DRW50]

I know what you mean. But he's been able to pay a tribute to her wherever they are now.

[Llantano Incorporated]

Ah, good old Steve Frame...

"Should old aquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?"

This thread is particularly sad for many reasons...

[Cat]

I will say, Carl, that you have absolutely taken over Steve's mantle of "unofficial archivist" with these hundreds of scans from soap magazines of the past. I love looking at your posts from a bunch of threads, and these Jacqueline Courtney-themed ones are especially poignant now. These actors were superstars. LOL, I love the one profiling Courtney and George Rheinholt entitled "How they make each other better lovers." I'm serious -- it really hits the nail on the head as far as what this genre was all about. Rheinholt is quoted as saying "Americans love melodrama and women adore it most. The soaps do two things: they sell soap, and they satisfy a woman's fantasies." Jacqueline Courtney played a complex, old-school heroine through which many of the viewers could live vicariously.

[DRW50]

That's nice of you to say -- it really means a lot.

I don't think I compare to him, he had so many pictures (all the stuff Gilbert posted helped inspire me to post more of them) and also first-hand memories of the soaps of the great years, sadly only available now, somewhat, through Youtube.

Reinholt is correct. Soaps are at their most fascinating when they are about the lives of women. Even Edge of Night, which was a crime-based soap, had many strong, complex women. Dark Shadows, which got attention for their horror and their pinups like Barnabas and Quentin, took off in part thanks to Angelique and Julia, and the ratings first started going up when Laura Collins debuted.

Jacquie was so unique and she was able to play a strong woman who was also a nice person. That's what daytime no longer allows. Women have to be bitchy all the time or they have to be vapid, victimized, pathetic. I guess someone like Jessica Buchanan is the modern day version of what Alice once was. And look at Jessica. Then there's Sharon, who, in many was, was a strong and complex heroine, destroyed beyond repair with the arrival of Rauch.

I would like to believe that some producers and writers, now or in the future, will look at what work is available of Jacqueline Courtney and see her not as the past, but as the future.

[AMCHistory]

Thanks for sharing those clips. She was very natural is the role of Pat... I do not see what Rauch's concerns about her acting are. Maybe the standards were just higher then?

I can't believe that a man who has ruined as many soaps as he has saved like Rauch could have so much power as to dictate a cast cleansing prior to taking over (for example, with Jacqui at OLTL). It is sad because when the morale behind the scenes on a show is low, you can see it translate onscreen (like in 2006-2007 when someone at AMC banned the "goodbye cake" ceremony, and many people were dropped without final episodes).

[SFK]

Exactly, that's what I was wondering. It's like, "If this is 'bad', hold onto your seat for the next two decades!" Did PR date her too? Maybe that's what's really behind it.

Very well put.

[SFK]

Wow, that's something else. I'm glad she wrote in and was published. I guess she and George were kinda like the original Drake and Dee a far as fired supercouples go.