I think some aspects of Holly's book and her later interviews, mostly her statements about Slezak, are colored by time, anger and sort of a sweeping hurt not only about the show and network but also re: the young woman out of drama school (with a famous father) who came in as a third recast to become the star of the show while Carla was downgraded. She also totally took ES' criticism of Rauch, which you've mentioned, out of context.
Erika was very forthright when asked about this stuff in recent years, denied those parts but said she had tremendous admiration for Holly. Do I think that overt or passive aggressions were possible from the white cast towards Ellen Holly (including from ES), absolutely. Do I think those specific anecdotes about ES are true? No. But at the same time, as far as we know in most other places EH's facts are right on - most specifically about the close-ups of Viki at Carla's wedding to Jack Scott, which we saw for ourselves when it surfaced on YouTube.
And yes, both Erika and Bob Woods backed up Holly's story about Arthur Burghardt (Jack) in the OLTL oral history. Erika confirmed it was Holly's story she pitched (which Holly talks about at length in her book) and both of them say Burghardt was an awful guy who treated Holly terribly. It's wild when you consider some of the men who auditioned and who Holly pushed for to Joe Stuart, including Morgan Freeman pre-AW.
As for her potential return, Holly goes into rather heartbreaking detail in her book about why she would've felt out of place coming back in 1993. I understand her feelings, but I do wish it had happened. I don't know if they approached her again in 2011 along with Judith Light and Tony Call (who both turned it down, though the reasons for why vary and Tony Call's version is pretty wild) but I assume if they did she turned it down again.
Based on her book, I think Ellen Holly said she still had either kinescopes, affiliate tapes/reels or both of her classic storyline in '68, or Ed and Carla's wedding. I still wonder to this day if those are still out there among her estate or loved ones.
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Vee ·
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