All My Children Tribute Thread

[amybrickwallace]

 

I wonder what Joanna Miles was like on AMC. I loved her Emmy-winning turn as Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menegerie, which aired on ABC in 1973.

[danfling]

There is an episode with Ms. Miles as Anne on YouTube.   She is in New York and visits with Phil Brent.

[SFK]

Barcroft's episodes filling in for Erika Slezak as Viki must still be in existence. To my knowledge, they've never turned up on YouTube.

Any mention of Ann makes me think of those pics of Gwyn Gilliss looking so utterly troubled in those photos in the AMC scrapbook.

[victoria foxton]

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Edited June 1, 2018 by victoria foxton

[DRW50]

I didn't know Carole Shelley was on AMC.

 

It's nice to see Dottie outside of Tad.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Diana De Vegh, the original Ann, did not make much of an impression on me, but Miles was quite good in the role: sweet, charming, likeable.

 

I wonder if she quit on her own, or if AMC hired JB thanks to her immense popularity from AW. In the 1970s, ABC was wont to try boosting their soaps' ratings by hiring beloved stars from other shows. 

[danfling]

I have wondered the same thing too. Ms. de Vegh (Anne #1) was said to have been terrified to be on television, and swore that if she survived the first episode that she would not return for a second. I wonder if Ms. Miles, a veteran of The Edge of Night (which Ms. Nixon is said to have watched) had auditioned for the role of Anne or just was available after the departure of Ms. de Vegh. I do know that Ms. Nixon created the role of Kate Martin for Kay Campbell (who had worked with Ms. Nixon on The Guiding Light and who had appeared for four years on The Edge of Night before her retirement), but she was unable to hire Ms. Campbell for the role. I also wonder if Ms. Campbell had not come out of her retirement if the role of Kate would have been written off All My Children.

[All My Shadows]

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[danfling]

Also, it has been reported that Ms. Nixon and her husband were avid viewers of The Edge of Night.   Joanna Miles (Anne #2), Mary Fickett (Ruth #1,, and Ray McDonnell (Joe) were all prominently featured on the show although they had not worked with Ms. Nixon previously.

 

[Paul Raven]

Did Diane De Vegh really only last one episode?

 

If so, that reminds me of Irna Phillips firing actors at such short notice.(maybe Agnes copied her lead)

Will Lee apparently played Grandpa Hughes for one episode and there were a couple of actors from the original cast of AW that were short lived.

I wonder how this came to pass?

Surely Irna had casting approval?

Could an actor's performance really be judged from one or two episodes?

And was there any guarantee the replacement would be any better?

[amybrickwallace]

 

Was he the same Will Lee who played Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street?

[Paul Raven]

Yes indeed!

[John]

It was LIVE then and I heard Irna would watch and fire on the spot if performances didnt suit her

[amybrickwallace]

Yes, she would...and would always call the studios of her various shows from her home in Chicago to complain! Of course, she always called collect. 😂

[John]

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