OLTL Tribute Thread

[antmunoz]

Cathy Craig questions:

 

Why so many recasts?  I assume Catherine Burns left following her Oscar nom.  Amy Levitt seemed to garner alot of publicity during her stint due to the addiction storyline. Why was she replaced?  And Jane Alice Brandon after her?

 

Why did Doris Quinlan fire Dorrie Kavanaugh after 4 years?  
 

Why wasn’t Jennifer Harmon, the first OLTL Best Actress Emmy nom, retained, despite the storyline?  And why didn’t the character ever return?

 

Was Cathy mentioned when Jim Craig died?  Or ever again?

 

Read that Robin Strasser refused the role of Cathy because Dorrie would’ve been fired. (She was anyway.) Robin could’ve been Viki’s nemesis years earlier than she was. 

[Vee]

I assume they just felt Cathy was played out.

I've always been fascinated by how they retooled Cathy into a feminist writer as an adult and quickly spun her off into drama with Joe, then Tony Lord, etc. We have so little of Dorrie Kavanaugh available but we know that was the role intended for Robin (I think) so Agnes could revisit some of the Rachel Davis dynamic. I wish we could see more of all of them. And Catherine Burns is so great in Last Summer.

I remember when Daniel Colson came on in the 2000s under Malone and he made a great fuss over telling his son Riley that his mother, a journalist, had named him for her mentor Joe Riley. At the time that had made me think of Cathy Craig. It was probably just a coincidence.

[vetsoapfan]

Ahhh, when the dreaded Paul Roach butchered yet another once-grand soap.

Sigh.

[danfling]

It should be remembered that many of the early casts on both One Life to Live and All My Children were quickly replaced.

Michael Storm was the third actor to play Larry.

Nat Pollen was the second actor to play Jim.

Alice Hirson was the second actress to play Eileen.  (And the original Eileen, Patricia Roe, had previously worked on The Guiding Light when Ms. Nixon was that show's writer.)

Tom Berringer was the second actor to play Timmy Siegel.

The original actress hired to play Victoria was replaced even before the show began.   After Gillian Spencer left the show, Victoria #2 (Joanne Dorian) was suddenly replaced.

I do not know why the role of Cathy was recast so often.   I would have been very surprised, though, if Dorrie Kavanaugh had been fired.   My understanding is that she was wanting to sing opera and that she was also editor of a newspaper for young people.   She and Francesca James (Marcy on One Life to Live and Kitty on All My Children) and, later, Felicity LaFortunate (Laurel on All My Children) all departed with the intentions of careers in opera.    (One reason that Kitty's twin Kelly was a singer when she arrived in Pine Valley.)

Dorrie Kavanaugh remained on One Life to Live longer that any of her other roles on television.   Her roles on Dark Shadows, The Guiding Light and The Edge of Night were all rather short.   And the roles on The Guiding Light (Charlotte) and The Edge of Night (Tango) were both filled by other actresses after she left those shows.

 

 

 

 

[SFK]

 

@antmunoz Robin has said in at least one interview that she wasn't interested in being a replacement when she was approached to play Cathy. That all changed when they were looking for a new Dorian.

While I follow Robin on Twitter, I tend to fall way behind. Any info on her relocation to Cleveland sometime back?

[cassadine1991]

Is Sadie’s last episode on there too?

[Chris B]

I just had a lovely conversation with Patricia Mauceri who played Carlotta. She had emailed my job and requested a call back and when I saw the name I jumped at it. She was impressed I remembered her from OLTL and said she loved being a part of the Vega family. She also told me to check her out on Manifest. She said she’s on season three and the upcoming final season. She said she plays an evil character who is very different from Carlotta!

So far she’s the second soap star I’ve been able to help  Lisa LoCicero was the other.

[Vee]

I'm happy for you. I always loved her work on the show and missed her despite the unfortunate way she left BTS, which clouded my memory of her.

[Chris B]

Omg! I just remembered that! 

[victoria foxton]

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[j swift]

I was struck by the comedic tone of the episode that was uploaded this week of Tina and Niki shopping.  As I recall Tina (as played by AE) was usually played for laughs, with her high pitched voice and absurd wardrobe.  But, given that the later reoccurrence of Viki's DID in the 90s was so dramatic, it was remarkable to see how silly those scenes were written.

I also noticed that Erika Slezak began to interweave some of Niki mannerisms in her later performances as Viki.  I don't know if that was a conscious choice, or if those traits were closer to who she was as a person.  But, mid-80s Viki usually spoke in a clipped, haughty, regal tone, whereas later we got a more relaxed vocal quality and even a lower pitch with a bit more humor. It was almost as if Viki chose to use her more formal voice when speaking younger people, and employees, and then was more casual with lovers and friends.  Which seemed notably different from how ES played Viki when she was married to Joe, or even in her early romance with Clint.

I also totally forgot about Joey and Kevin's nanny.  Did she ever get an exit story? 

One more: Besides Marco Dane, (actually his brother), how many times was Viki on trial or arrested for murder?

Edited February 27, 2023 by j swift

[JoeCool]

Sadie was not in that episode. Lillian Hayman got cut by Paul Rauch in 1986. According to Ellen's book, Lillian was walking to her car to drive home after taping when Paul Rauch's assistant ran out to catch her and tell her she taped her last show that day. Lillian was locked out of the studio but got there early the next day and security guards who were friendly with her let in and helped her box up her stuff. She was an original cast member since 1968! There is a special place in hell for Paul Rauch after what he did to Ellen and Lillian.

Edited February 28, 2023 by JoeCool

[antmunoz]

So many characters never got exit scenes.  Ed could’ve easily said that Carla had moved to Arizona without the scene between them. Carla says in the scene that she’ll probably send for her mother after she’s settled. 
 

It wasn’t perfect onscreen, but better than some. (The offscreen was of course atrocious.)

 

Didn’t Don Craig go out to mail a letter on DAYS and never return?  I mean, this could be (and probably had been) a thread in itself. 
 

Any other OLTLers who just vanished with no onscreen explanation, even in exposition?

[DRW50]

There's a lot of confusion about whether Brenda Brock ever got any exit. I don't think Eli, the HIV-positive boy Carlotta adopted, did either. 

[antmunoz]

I guess there’s always Larry, who was no doubt offscreen like Y&R’s Paul. 
 

Makes me wonder if Danny got an exit…multiple exits, actually. Josh Hall too.