One Life to Live Tribute Thread

[vetsoapfan]

I watched regularly from 1968 to 1983, and loved the show until so many beloved characters and actors started getting dropped, science fiction elements crept in, and Paul Rauch decimated Llanview.

Pinkerton was an excellent Dorian, although I must say that the character was one of the rare soap characters who was recast multiple times, and every single one of the actresses chosen to play the role ended up being quite good.

Honestly, he wasn't terribly memorable. I remember wondering at the time why this actor was cast. Jacquie Courtney was briefly paired with a potential love interest named Adam Brewster, played by an actor called John Mansfield. He was painfully wrong for the part. Sometimes, actors just don't make much of an impression. (Or worse, they make a bad one.)

The show changed so much in the 1980s, from the down-to-earth, grounded show it had been in the 1960s and 1970s. I'm glad you got to experience the glory years!

Since Courtney confirmed in a 1974 Daily TV Serial interview that she had had kinescopes made of many of Alice's important episodes, I've been hoping that they would show up eventually, but I imagine the likelihood of that happening now are slim. It's a shame. 

Those were golden years.

Eugenia's portrait originally hung in the drawing room, but after Dorian married Victor, she took that down and had one of herself done. She unveiled it at a party, to an aghast Victoria. (Later, after Pinkerton left the show, Dorian's portrait was redone to feature Claire Malis.)

 

Actually, James Storm was Larry Wolek # 2. The character was first played by actor Paul Tulley who (IMHO) lack screen presence. James was fine, but I immediately accepted Michael Storm as the definitive actor for the part. He had the remarkable ability to play a good, noble man...and keep him interesting and layered. It was egregious how the show just dumped him later on.

Yes, yes, yes. Daily TV Serials was one of the finest soap-based publications, ever. 

Being an avowed soap addict, I read them all in the 1960s and 1970s. Daily TV Serials ended up being the best, but Daytime TV, Afternoon TV, and a few others were great as well. At the bottom of the barrel was TV Dawn to Dusk, which was poorly produced and blatantly fudged their "facts."

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[Vee]

You're absolutely right, I forgot Paul Tulley. He was very cute from stills, if nothing else.

It seems a lot of it is from Vance Jeffries' (Matt McAllister) archives per the YT user who does not appear to be him.

[MissPalmer]

WOW!! I love them!! Classic OLTL!!!! 2025 is going to be a great year for the classics.... First Secret Storm, now OLTL....

[vetsoapfan]

Yes, this portrait is of Pinkerton's Dorian.

This is Lori March, who played Eugenia in the idiotic "Viki goes to heaven" nonsense.

Jordan Charney was a poor recast, but Vinnie #3, Michael Ingram, was worse. After Doris Belack left as Anna Craig, TPTB hired Kathleen Maquire to replace her. Another, baffling and miscast dud.

Unpopular opinion here, but when Melody Thomas took over as Nikki, I thought she was a significantly weaker actress than Erica Hope had been. MT's version of the character struck me as far too cartoonish.

I liked Patsy Rahn, but in the end, LC developed into a better Monica Bard.

Agreed. Light was an astonishingly effective recast.

When Brynn Thayer first assumed the role of Jenny, she was painfully stiff and unnatural. I thought she was never going to work out. Lo and behold, she developed into a great actress. After she had been on the show for a while, Gerald Anthony admited that she was now "500% better than when she started."

Yes, Jenny married Peter when this actor was on the show. (I answered the question about the accent in a recent post, above.)

Endless, rotating PTB ultimately altered and damaged many long-running characters on this (and many other) shows.

I don't believe it for a minute, either. It was a repugnant assassination of the Victor Lord character, just like the Rick-Webber-is-a-degenerate crap on GH. UGH!

Edited January 29 by vetsoapfan

[Khan]

 

 

Personally, I'm glad they made Jeff Pomerantz lose the accent.  It was unconvincing and made it very hard to understand a lot of what he was saying.  But I do agree that the on-air explanation for his dropping it was ridiculous.  It would've been better just to have him drop it with no explanation at all, lol.

I agree - but that's an argument we've had many times before on this board, lol.

 

Didn't Paul Tulley also play that creepy guy on Y&R who was obsessed with Nikki and even brought her home to meet his "mother" (in actuality, her ashes in some urn or something)?

[slick jones]

"Edward"   Yep!

[DRW50]

@vetsoapfan Thank you for the info on Peter's accent. The explanation reminds me of when EE realized the Vicky Fowler they cast could not do an American accent, so one day she just started using her natural British accent and she gave the same line about trying to fit in or something along those lines. 

I haven't ever seen Erica Hope so you may be right about her being better than MTS early on.

I had forgotten Gerald Anthony's quote about Brynn Thayer. It makes me laugh all the more knowing they were married at the time. I can see her being somewhat wooden early on - she just had so much presence. 

Watching the fourth episode on the channel, I am glad to get to see more of Tony around Llanview. I only ever associate him with the Dorian and Victor story. Never knew much about his involvement with Cathy or that Wanda worked for him. I thought George Reinholt did a good job in the depressing commiseration scene with Joe.

Wanda is such a spark plug even here. I can see why Paul Rauch kept her even as he wiped out so many longtimers. Marilyn Chris never loses what makes her special.

It took me a while to figure out who was talking with Viki - Will Vernon. I wouldn't have recognized Farley Granger. He was never much of an actor, but at least on ATWT he had the same charisma from some of his old films. There's just nothing here, aside from, frankly, a very shaky performance. I can see why he was recast. 

Erika is styled better in this episode. I will say it's weird seeing Viki in that house. I know she was in there for a lot of the '70s, it makes sense for her to have her own home with Joe (did Joe ever live in Llanfair?) and have the resentment in the background of Dorian "taking" Llanfair from her, but I'm glad Joe Stuart or whichever producer eventually let Viki take Llanfair back. 

I just love watching Nancy Pinkerton. It's such a deeply intelligent performance. You know Dorian is troubled, but she doesn't let Dorian's neuroses overwhelm her. She seems like an everyday person, but you know she isn't - that's what makes her so dangerous.

Edited January 30 by DRW50

[Vee]

IIRC the '75/'76 episodes that came out a couple years ago (still on YT now) had Tony played with both Cathys (Kavanaugh and then Harmon), who I believe he may have married briefly in the intervening time. She was a spoiler for him and Pat at that point. After losing Tony I think her character sort of petered out on the show.

I haven't seen the new ep but I will say I do think Farley Granger was a talent both in movies and on ATWT, where his well-known daytime nerves have never shown for me. But the stories of him struggling at OLTL (and later ATWT, according to his memoir I believe) are of course true.

[DRW50]

Granger is one of those performers I think of having such a strong presence onscreen, which is well used in his Hitchcock films. I think the day-to-day grind of acting wasn't his forte. He's not awful here, but it stands out for me compared to some of the others in these episodes. I can't see this being what they had expected.

I started watching that 1975 episode earlier today but am still only partway through. Dorrie has such a formidable presence as Cathy. Harmon is also very good but it does feel more like seeing the character wind down with her in the role.

Thanks for reminding me of those three 75/77 episodes as I'd never saved them (they also have some Manhattan Transfer variety series episodes).

[Vee]

It's a very different energy, and frankly I find Harmon more dreary albeit talented. I'm very curious to see more of Kavanaugh in the role when she was a major heroine or troublemaker for the show. I will have to rewatch that second '76 episode from a few years ago with Harmon again to be fair - I think she was in the thick of it with Brad and Jackie Zeman's Lana later on IIRC, or I may be thinking of someone else. I know at one point in there they were teasing Cathy with Larry before she exited.

The holy grail ofc would be seeing more of the great Catherine Burns as the original(?) Cathy, who we both know from Frank Perry's Last Summer. An episode of her from '69(?) actually is out there IIRC though I haven't watched it in forever. Or the Cathy rehab story with Amy Leavitt, I think.

[Vee]

The stream of new stuff is relentless. Now there's more up with Jackie Zeman, '77 etc.

[Vee]

Francesca James (Marcy Wade) briefly addresses her time on OLTL in this wonderful recent AMC cast/crew panel in NYC. The timestamp is below:

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[vetsoapfan]

If an accent simply isn't working out, I'd prefer the show/actor just to drop it without resorting to twisted, idiotic on-screen explanations. Nobody cared that Kim Zimmer abandoned Reva's original twang early in her run on TGL.

Another atrocious accent that never should have been greenlit was poor Jacqueline Courtney's British impression when she played Maggie Ashley on OLTL. I adored JC, but...egads!

To be honest, I've always considered MTS to be vastly overrated, although at this point she owns the role of Nikki, and I would not replace her.

Yes, she was quite stiff and wooden in the beginning, but she did have a certain "something" which was appealing. When Jacquie Courtney first began on AW, she overacted and had irritatingly exaggerated (to me) facial expressions that made Alice look like a teenybopper from Beach Blanket Bingo. Once she toned that down, she also became quite appealing. And Jaime Lyn Bauer was squeaky and fluttery when she debuted on Y&R, but patience paid off in her case as well. Courtney, Bauer and Thayer all became daytime icons.

The Tony/Joe scene was lovely and effective. The best aspect of OLTL in the 1960s and '70s was natural dialogue and believable conversations characters had. Doris Belack once said that writer Don Wallace could write her reams of dialogue to study, and the words would flow effortlessly out of her mouth because Wallace wrote from character. We have not seen that on soaps in decades.

She was a gem. The odious Rauch fired so many stalwart, essential actors, but at least Marilyn Chris flew under his radar.

When Granger was nominated for a Daytime Emmy, I took it as yet another confirmation  that the awards were not based on merit, but rather out of habit and/or name recognition. Both Granger and Uta Hagen (also nominated) stumbled and staggered through their lines, would look around for the teleprompter, and gave tepid (at best) performances. Unfortunately, FG's first replacement was dull as dishwater. I was relieved when the show recast again, because Tony George was the best of the three men who had taken on the role.

I loved, loved, loved Joe and Viki's carriage house! It was my favorite home set on OLTL. I would have chosen to live there instead of Llanfair.

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Pinkerton is the sort of actress who is so good, and who inhabited Dorian so well, it was easy to forget she was even acting. I considered Charita Bauer another performer like this; she never once gave a false note.

Edited January 30 by vetsoapfan

[janea4old]

Oh I remember Viki's reaction to Pinkerton's Dorian putting her portrait on the wall.

As you said, after Pinkerton left the show, Dorian's portrait was redone to feature Claire Malis.

And then of course it was replaced with Robin Strasser's portrait.  Ron Carlivati has posted in the past that after OLTL ended, he took the Strasser portrait -- he has/had it in his possession, or a copy, and has posed with it.

Edited January 30 by janea4old

[vetsoapfan]

Of the four portraits (Eugenia, Pinkerton, Malis and Strasser), I think I'd want the Pinkerton one most (although I'd happily accept any of them).

There are so many objects from soap opera sets that I'd kill to have!