One Life to Live Tribute Thread

[amybrickwallace]

Blast from the past - autograph success from Ken Meeker (Rafe Garretson, 1980-1991), who is still based in NYC:

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Edited February 18, 2021 by amybrickwallace

[Bright Eyes]

Oh wow, it must have felt good to see how genuinely pleased he was by your words and collage. It's a shame he was one of a handful of relatives from various families that seemingly became forgotten. 

[soapfave06]

Was Janice referring to Michael Storm being a good kisser and enjoying working with him? I thought he did not care for her? 

 

Interesting her thoughts on Rauch. Sad. 

 

Wonderful to see Ken doing well! Glad you got to hear back from him and he liked that great collage. 

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks so much!! I don't know why Ken/Rafe got lost in the shuffle. He was handsome, charismatic and could actually act. I liked him with both Samantha and Delilah.

[FrenchBug82]

So many culprits there.
-The writers first and foremost who fail to understand that a character that can be funny DOES not have to be merely comic relief, particularly when it has a layered relationships with many characters, a lot of history and a good actor.
- Tuc Watkins who, I am sorry to say, just phoned it in and let the camp take over even though he can act. He clearly was written as a buffoon but there was stuff he could have played understated and he chose to amp it up instead. Was he over it and just cashing the check?
- Robin Strasser who is a fantastic dramatic actress but who cannot do comedy. As her stints on Passions and Days showed, she just thinks comedy is over-the-top and broad. And since they were written as a twofer, TW kept up with her instead of, again, trying to rein it in since David should not have been the "straight man" (comedy terminology obviously, not the other kind) in that dynamic. But when you have camp interacting with camp, you end up with the disaster of these last few years.
- And finally the soap press. Boy did they love the "shenanigans". But in the small world of NY soaps and publishing I bet a lot of that was about personal friendships. And instead of calling them out, it encouraged them to think the audience loved it
A shame really. I hated the retcon of Bo as his father but if they were going to go there, so much more could have been, considering what had happened between David and that family, rather than turn it into an odd couple comedy show.

[Chris 2]

I had never seen her before, but after seeing just a few scenes of her, I understand why she was so highly regarded. She has a commanding presence, and there is something just sinister about her Dorian. She’s kind of scary, and that’s a compliment.

[amybrickwallace]

 

She is like that on The Doctors, too (as hospital administrator Viveca Strand). Did she ever play the good girl on a soap?

[Paul Raven]

Patty Tate on Search as a young girl and I believe Beth on Eon was a goodie.

Dorothy on ATWT not so much..

Seems once she played Dorian and matured her roles had a darker quality.

[Vee]

 

No. Tuc has spoken at length about finding the original David boring and difficult to get a hold on as a performer, until a moment somewhere in his first year or two when he flubbed something, they kept it in and he realized David is, to paraphrase, a dumb guy who thinks he's a brilliant schemer. The writers ran with it and that's how David became David. The character got too broad in later years, but I don't believe Tuc ever phoned it in.

[FrenchBug82]

I was not referring to these early years at all.
It is my personal opinion that these later years where he got too broad is when Tuc started phoning it in. Maybe because the writing of David as a buffoon displeased him. But I don't think in the last few years he was making the same kind of effort he made early on - as you describe - to balance the comedic with the serious.
He is talented and David was a great creation, that's not the point I am making. On the contrary that is because he is talented and David was a great creation that the later years sting.

[DRW50]

Barbara Rhoades "There Was a Crooked Man" 1970 - Bobbie Wygant Archive - YouTube

[titan1978]

How cool!  I thought he was so handsome when I was a kid, and I loved him with Delilah.

[Forever8]

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[victoria foxton]

 

  

[titan1978]

Oh that is very sad.