Somerset Discussion Thread

[danfling]

Is it possible to print something about Doug Chapin (Tony Cooper #1)?

[DRW50]

Is it true that the first year of marriage is the hardest?

"Maybe for some couples," said Jack. "But Renne and I knew each other for such a long time before we got married that we didn't go through the usual traumatic adjustment period."

How long exactly is "such a long time?"

"We went together on and off for about three years," said Renne.

"We got engaged shortly after we met, but she called the whole thing off when she went to California and signed for the nighttime TV series Nancy," said Jack.

"The series only lasted 16 weeks but I liked California so much I wanted to stay on there and work," added Renne.

What changed her mind?

"I came back to New York for a visit and ran into Jack at my mother's office. She's a theatrical agent and handles the two of us."

"Luckily, I didn't drop Renne's mother when Renne dropped me, or we might never have gotten together again."

Is Renne glad she came back to New York?

"Of course!" exclaimed the pretty actress, batting her long eyelashes at her husband. "But I'm still partial to life in California, and when our contracts are up on our respective soaps, we plan to settle there."

And work there?

"And work there - and raise our children there," said Jack.

Children? Is Renne expecting?

"Not yet," said Jack. "But it could be any time now...Well, almost any time. There is only one stipulation. She can't get pregnant during the skiing season."

"He's an absolute nut about sports," Renne explained.

"I discovered sports at an early age," said Jack. "Sports - and girls. I wasn't the best student in school but I did excel at swimming, tennis, baseball, football. I almost wrecked my ankles playing soccer."

"Now he's trying to finish the job with skiing," said Renne.

"Actually, it's easier to ski with bad ankles - than it is to walk," said Jack. "It's a question of balance."

"Last winter we went to the Austrian Alps for a week of skiing but the weather hovered around 70 degrees so we ended up sunning and swimming instead," Renne disclosed.

"We're hoping to try again this year. We may go to Italy and Switzerland this coming March," said Jack. "It's tentative because Renne just came back from California where she filmed a pilot for a new nighttime TV series. If it sells, there goes our vacation."

If it sells, does that mean another long separation like the one that almost split up the couple permanently two years ago?

"Definitely not," said Jack. "We'll work something out."

"The most important thing is for us to stay together," said Renne. "I'm still interested in my career but the stardust is out of my eyes. My marriage will always come first."

How did the happy Stauffers originally find one another?

"Well, we were both born in New York City and we both went to the same college in Illinois," said Renne. "But we didn't meet in either place."

"I was ahead of her in school," explained Jack, who is one month his wife's senior (they are both in their mid twenties). "My family had moved to Stamford, Connecticut, when I was 8. I first saw Renne when she came up there with a group of my ex-schoolmates to spend the weekend with us. That was the summer of 1968, after we'd both graduated from Northwestern. At that time, I was just about starting my acting career."

Wasn't Renne already an established actress by then?

"She's been in show business all her life," said Jack.

"I did my first photo modeling job when I was three months old," Renne elaborated, "and my first TV commercial soon after that. At 6, I did my first TV show. And a year later I landed a running part on my first soap, Portia Faces Life. That lasted until I broke my arm off-camera. You see, I had a very normal childhood despite my early start in showbiz."

Did Jack have a normal childhood?

"I broke my arm too, if that's the qualification for normalcy," laughed Jack. "I fell in the ocean in December suitably dressed in 3 sweaters, 2 pairs of pants, overcoat and galoshes; I set the neighbor's house on fire and crammed in lots of other delightfully normal escapades that make growing up so much fun."

"Don't believe everything Jack tells you," cautioned Renne. "He's a terrible kidder and something of a tease."

"Look who's talking," said Jack. "About those three years we were dating..."

"I didn't mean that," said Renne blushing most becomingly.

Meanwhile back at Portia Faces Life...What happened after Renne's broken arm mended?

"I resumed my career," said Renne. "But working was always just something extra that I did. It didn't interfere with my membership in the Girl Scouts (I was a Scout for 10 years) or with my schooling. Of course, I had to be out of class now and then but I didn't go to a professional school. I tried one for a day - but I hated it!"

Has she appeared on many daytime serials?

"At 12, I was a regular on The Edge of Night for eight months. Then I came back to the show when I was 21 and stayed another year. Shortly after Jack and I started dating, I got a part on Love Of Life. But when my story line was dropped six months later, I decided to try my luck in California."

"She neglected to mention that she also did a couple of Broadway shows in the interim," said Jack who acts as his wife's unofficial press agent. "At 10, she was in 'The Loud Red Patrick,' and at 17, in a play called 'Giant Son Of Giants.'"

"That one was a flop!" announced Renne grimacing at the recollection.

How did she feel when her nighttime TV series, met such an untimely end?

"People often ask how you can survive the ups and downs of show business," said Renne thoughtfully. "All I can say is disappointment I felt when Nancy was cancelled cannot compare to the excitement I felt when it was first sold...The ups are so good, they make up for the downs."

Is Jack equally philosophical about the ups and downs of showbiz?

"I've been very lucky," he said. "I've only been in it a short time and I haven't hit the 'downs' yet. I first got interested in acting in high school - but just for fun. I was in those school plays that are so abominable to watch but such fun to do."

"Would you believe he originally set out to be a doctor?" interjected Renne.

"That's true," nodded Jack. "My first summer job was in a hospital. I said to myself 'Look out Christian Bernard - here I come!' But I took one look at what I would have to go through in college and decided to switch careers before I was in midstream. I did spend five summers working at the hospital as an inhalation therapist treating respiratory diseases. But during the winter, I studied Soviet politics and modern history at Northwestern."

"Northerwestern's particularly noted for its theater arts course," said Renne of their mutual alma mater.

"And it was while I was there that the acting bug bit me," Jack confessed. "I appeared in a few local musical productions. And in my senior year I directed two shows. When I graduated, I decided I'd better give show business a try or I'd never forgive myself. I came to New York and rented a closet on 84th St. - cause that's how starving actors are supposed to love. But it turned out that I wasn't to be a starving actor."

"He signed with Jarrett Management," said Renne, her family pride showing, "and has never been out of work."

"I did TV commercials and a season at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Florida before I signed for All My Children."

Children...there's that subject again. What about those children the Stauffers are looking forward to producing one day soon?

"I hope the first one's a boy," said Jack. "I was raised in a house with three sisters, so naturally I'm partial to boys."

"I'd like a boy and a girl," said Renne. "One of each would be just fine."

"But we should have the boy first," Jack insisted.

Doesn't the fact that Renne and Jack adjusted so easily to marriage and never experienced the usual newlywed syndrome of fighting and making-up, deprive the union of some of the elements of romance?

"Not at all," balked Renne. "You don't have to fight to keep romance alive. Fights aren't an asset to a marriage - they are a liability."

"When the romance has gone out of a marriage it's time for a divorce," Jack stated unequivocally. "My parents have been married for over 30 years, and the romance is still alive...I think Renne and I will fare as well. Why don't you stick around and find out?"

Since I don't have 30 years to spare, I'll take Jack's word for the durability of their marriage.

"He wouldn't kid you about something as serious as that," Renne assured me. "Neither would I. We have a good - and permanent - marriage!"

- MARILYN T. ROSS

[Paul Raven]

Harriet Hall as Andrea,Diahn Williams as Crystal and Renne Jarrett as Ginger

Ann Wedgeworth (Lahoma)

Barry Jenner and Fawne Harriman (Tony and Ginger)

Edited September 5, 2012 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

Thanks. I'd never seen any of those before.

[danfling]

Eugene H. Smith, who played Lt. Price for a lengthy time on Somerset, has died.

He also played Bill Bauer on The Guiding Light.

Here is an obituary from the New York Times:

Eugene H. Actor, WWII Veteran, Purple Heart New York actor Eugene H. Smith died peacefully on October 1st surrounded by family. He was 86 years old. Born in Brooklyn, he graduated from Texas A&M and served as a naval aviator in WWII. After making his professional debut in 1946 in Good News, he was in the entire four year run of the original Broadway company of South Pacific. Other Broadway shows included Fragile Fox, 40 Carrots, and Buck White with Muhammad Ali. He appeared in TV soaps such as Another World, The Edge of Night, As the World Turns, Sommerset, The Guiding Light and One Life to Live. An NBC announcer, he is also credited with many Off-Broadway shows, 600+ TV commercials, live radio and TV shows, and industrials. He starred in the UA film Cry Murder. He was a former Vice President of the Episcopal Actors Guild, Hon. Lifetime Director of The Lambs, Life Member of The Actors Fund, member of The Players & the Brooklyn Schutzen Corps, and former deacon of Queens Baptist Church. A motorcycle enthusiast and billiard champ, he was also an accomplished photographer, writer and artist. He leaves behind his wife of 62 years and fellow Broadway actor Avril Smith, four children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandson. A celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, October 6, at Stutzmann & Son, (718) 465-3210. In lieu of flowers, donations to honor Eugene can be made to The Actors Fund (www.actorsfund.org).

[sungrey]

Hi everyone... I have decided to place my version of Somerset in a blog so people can see it. I used to have it at SON TV... come check it out! You do not need to understand the original show at all... it's like you're revisiting Somerset 35 years later. (There are some connections to the original show.)

Thisissomerset.blogspot.com

Thanks,

Steve

[DRW50]

From a TV by Day Yearbook

[DRW50]

[Paul Raven]

I have never seen Doris Frankel listed as co headwriter with Don Arpel. Did Somerset set a record for most headwriters in a year?

[dc11786]

Thanks for posting these. \

Does anyone know who's child is baby David? Did Lyling and David have a child together? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

[DRW50]

Her IMDB credits mostly are early 50s anthology shows. Did she have any other daytime experience?

[Paul Raven]

Doris Frankel wrote SFT in the mid 60's with Leonard Kantor and was apart of the AMC writing team in 77/78. I recall her name from the proposed soap thread and will go back and check.

[DRW50]

Thanks. IMDB rarely lists soap writers so I didn't know what she'd written in daytime.

I didn't post all the soaps listed in that yearbook because some of them we already know most of the info on, but I'm glad some of you are reading these and enjoying them. I'll try to post some of the others soon.

[Paul Raven]

Please post more.

I do read and enjoy all your post and the fascinating responses from posters like saynot and DC, but have been lazy/busy of late and don't always respond.

Anyway, Doris Frankel was the writer of the proposed 1957 CBS soap 'The Will to Dream'.

[DRW50]