I barely remember Strudwick as Jim, mostly because I didn't begin watching AW daily until 1971. But from what I remember, he seemed a little old to be married to Virginia Dwyer, and Marlowe seemed a better fit -- at least age wise. I don't know the DOB of either Strudwick or Marlowe, but Marlowe at least looked younger. And I believe Dwyer was only in her mid-50s when she was fired in 1975, while Marlowe was in his early-70s when he died in 1982-83. I'd love to see more Nixon era episodes with Strudwick, Dwyer, and Groom.
It seems to me that NBC put some effort into casting former movie stars as the patriarchs of some of their soap operas in the 1960s and early-70s. And that may have contributed to there being four actors cast as Jim Matthews. All four had at least some experience in motion pictures, but Marlowe had by far the most experience in Hollywood. So NBC was satisfied with Marlowe and they finally had their movie star. Of course DOOL had MacDonald Carey, and Bright Promise had Dana Andrews. I'm not aware of any attempt to cast a movie star on either The Doctors or Somerset, although there may have been some effort that ultimately failed. And aside from the patriarch role, AW also had Ann Sheridan and Connie Ford, both had lots of motion picture experience. I do not recall either CBS or ABC casting movie actors in major roles during that time period, so this seemed to be a special effort on the part of NBC. All just speculation on my part, of course.
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Tisy-Lish ·
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