32 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Russell departed March 1980 and Peggy O'Shea took his place. So Russell/Hall had a long tenure. Despite that, they never seem to be recognized as a top writing team.

I remember Ellen Holly, etc. singing Russell's praises. I always thought he was quite venerated from OLTL actors and viewers of the period (whereas as a Dark Shadows viewer I found his work there very workmanlike a lot of the time). I think it was just too early in the game for him to be fully recognized, ultimately. And there were bigger names floating around - Lemay, Agnes, Bell, etc. But per OLTL I was under the impression he was one of the greats. It's just that very little of his work has survived.

Edited 18 hours ago18 hr by Vee

BUFFALO COURIER-EXPRESS, Saturday, August 19, 1979

Sammy Davis Wild About ‘Opera’ Role by Jon Michael Reed

NEW YORK - "He’s the greatest thing since Ovaltine,” said “One Life to Live” stage manager Ray Hoesten about Sammy Davis Jr.’s apearances on the ABC soap opera. Davis popped up on the serial last week as Chip Warren, an ex-convict working undercover with police captain Ed hall to unravel a crime. Sammy’s been such an avid follower of the program that when he’s touring in Europe he has videotapes of the program mailed to him. While in New York a few months ago, he met with Al Freeman Jr. (who plays Ed on the senes), who in turn introduced him to the show’s bead writer. Sammy admitted he’d love to do a limited number of guest appearances on the show, but only if be could play a character and not apear as himself.

“THREE YEARS AGO I did a one-shot on ‘Love of Life’ which involved me coming into the show as myself and singing a couple of musical numbers,” explained Davis. “But I have such respect for the work done on soaps and ‘One Life,’ in particular, that I wanted a shot at doing a character role. I realized that I was taking a chance on laying my career on the line by doing this. There’s a lot of snobbery in Hollywood about the quality of soaps. “But I tell you, there’s nothing being done on nighttime television or films that approcaches the kind of exploration about human problems and relations that go on in soaps.” “Take the Ed-Carla-Jack triangle on ‘One Life.’ An audience can really get involved with their emotions because they are fully explored and defined. They’re black folk who aren’t stereotyped or exploited. I wanted to get rid of some of that snobbery by making the statement that if I can do this work, then why can’t others.

“I’VE BEEN WORKING my buns off. But it’s been a treat to work with Al Freeman again. We were both in ‘Golden Boy’ a couple (or so) of years ago. And to be able to work with the ‘One Life’ cast has been a ‘fan’ dream come true.” Davis admits that on his first day on the set, he ran around like a kid in a candy store while meeting all of his “idols.” He even went up to Robin Strasser, who plays villainess Dorian Lord, and said, “I promised a lot ot my friends that I’d do this if I ever met you," and preceded to pinch her arm mockingly. Although Davis’s appearances are being stretched over a three-week period, his scenes were all shot in four days, which entailed 48 hours on the set for an on-air count of 14 acts, 28 scenes and 272 pages of dialogue. Off screen, a production assistant added that Davis has consumed 13 cases of cola and 22 cartons of cigarettes but he was always the professional and invariably was the first actor on the set at 7 in the morning, then working till 10 or 11 in the evening. “I think I'm a better actor for having had this experience, Davis concluded.

And a few years later wasn't he also Bryan's father or uncle on GH?