Recasts

[safe]

Yes, I've heard that. However, Julia Barr made it sound like she was let go by Ryan's Hope and then auditioned and hired by AMC.

Julia's version fits with what soap magazines reported back in 1976 – they reported that Julia, Michael Fairman, and Dennis Jay Higgins (Sam Crowell) were let go because the show wanted to trim the cast and also refocus on Ryan/Coleridge stories

http://www.welovesoaps.net/2011/07/juliabarr1.html

[SFK]

How long was the break between Elissa and Julia?

Was there a break between Nancy Pinkerton and Claire Malis? Carl shared in the classic OLTL thread that Nancy was let go because the show didn't believe that the audience could shake the depth of Dorian's villainy and grow to accept her Dorian as a lasting character with new storylines. I think that's a shitty reason to get rid of a good actor who certainly had the ability to modulate her performance with the writing on her side.

[SFK]

I guess it's hard to say given the fact that it was so many years before the Internet, but I've always wondered how AW's audience received David Canary (who went on to become a daytime superstar as Adam/Stuart) when he replaced George Reinholt. Was it a huge deal that "Candy" was coming to daytime? Also, who if anyone was playing Alice when David was playing Steve? His time on the show was very short IIRC, but I'm assuming it was enough to lead him to AMC.

[danfling]

There was little break in between the first two actresses (Elissa Leeds and Julia Barr) who played Brooke on All My Children.

There was also little break in between the second and third actresses (Julia Barr and Harriette Hall).

Harriette was not more glamorous that Julia, in my opinion. When she was on Somerset, I thought that she greatly resembled Carole King with her face and curly hair. On All My Children, she had better hairstyles and wore more jewelry.

Harritte Hall was written off as Brooke, and the character later (maybe six months or a year) returned after Julia Barr completed her tour in West Side Waltz by Ernest Thompson. Incidentally, Ms. Hall and Mr. Thompson had been co-stars on Somerset.

[SFK]

Thanks for the info. Danfling. Why is your post all crossed out?

I've never seen the late HH as Brooke but I have seen her in other things and she seems like an odd choice to replace JB. Julia's an unique looking woman, there's a certain exoticism to her features, not unlike EL (excellent recasting). Seems hard to make that lightning strike a second time.

[DRW50]

I never knew that story about Denny Albee. I never knew why they let go an actor who was clearly so right for the show. I guess it took a lot.

I hope that wasn't one of the reasons Godart was written out later that year.

I think people could have gotten used to Canary, but many fans hated the storyline (that Alice recast wasn't popular, and it upset some fans that he dumped Alice for Rachel).

[Paul Raven]

Linda Borgeson was Alice by the time that Canary was cast as Steve. I don't recall it being a big deal that he joined. He was never that popular on Bonanza I don't think and a good many years had passed since that show was cancelled.

Canary had already had 2 smaller soap roles (Far Wind the cult leader on The Doctors and Arthur Benson on SFT) so it wasn't as though he had been lured to daytime and it was a big get to have him.

[SFK]

Thanks Paul, interesting information. My grandad worked at home and watched AMC while he ate lunch and introduced my then teen dad and later my grandma to the show once she retired. He was the one who informed me that DC and his "coal black hair" had been on Bonanza. I didn't realize that DC had appeared on other soaps prior to AW. He was so great as Adam and Stuart, I wonder how impressive he was in his earlier roles. Were you a loyal fan of The Doctors? One of my acting teachers had what I suppose was a small role on the show. I don't know why I never asked her more about it. Sadly, she passed away last year. Eulalie Noble.

I've mentioned this before, but I think that it's an interesting bit of trivia that AMC's two Terrances, Akili Prince and Dondre Whitfiled, both appeared in a Halloween episode of The Cosby Show.

[DRW50]

I was reading an old soap magazine article that talked about casting changes, and they mentioned Joanna Miles replacing Diana DeVegh as Ann Tyler. They said DeVegh was a "mother-to-be." I wonder if that's why she left.

[John]

Maybe they were talking a temp while she was on Maternity Leave?

[DRW50]

Some of Carrie Genzel as Nurse Ali.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hghw4qYVjc

[Paul Raven]

I read somewhere that Diana DeVegh only lasted a week or so on AMC. Does anyone know how long she was on?

[SFK]

Was she the thin sickly-looking mentally ill Ann? I only know her from pictures in the AMC 25th anniversary scrapbook. I seem to remember reading in the classic thread that there was a bit of musical chairs casting with some breaks in between towards the end of Ann's run and someone was brought in just to kill the character off. I know someone can clarify/verify this...

[DRW50]

Gwyn Gillis was the last Ann.

DeVegh was one of the first Anns. From what I read in one of the soap magazines of that time (late 1970) I wonder if she was fired for being pregnant.

[SFK]

Has any of Larkin's Clay made it to YouTube? I saw him in a couple of episodes during Loving's original run. He and Patricia Barry were on around the same time. From what I remember, he played Clay rather stuffily, like Ernest Graves as Victor Lord in the few episodes I've seen, or even Ron Raines as Alan Spaulding. At the time, I felt like he was sort of imitating Adam Chandler/Palmer Courtlandt.