GH: Classic Thread

[vetsoapfan]

Thank you. As I say, I will take her word for it, based on her history of accuracy.

[amybrickwallace]

I didn't know Lesley had had another child, either. I knew Laura was illegitimate, but I had always thought that her first husband was the Faulkner guy.

[AbcNbc247]

I didn't know either. That info's not even listed on Lesley's Soap Central page or the GH wiki. 

[titan1978]

I know she said she was mostly just excited by the amount of money they were paying her and acknowledges the character was not there when she got there.  But it must have been frustrating to go from such a well defined character on DAYS with Bill Bell to the mess that Lesley was at first.  Funny to think that by her own charisma and talent she made Lesley a lead that not only lasted, but was beloved.

Edited August 29, 2021 by titan1978

[amybrickwallace]

I recall reading in a soap book (I think it was the GH Trivia Book by Gerry Waggett) that one of the show's producers was against the hiring of Denise Alexander. Not because he didn't think she was a good actress, but because he would rather have seen the hefty price tag used to lure her away from DAYS go to the sets. The sets had always been on the shoddy side, which was made even more obvious when the show transitioned from b&w to color.

[titan1978]

In her We Love Soaps interview she said the production side was a mess.  Old cameras and equipment, and DAYS was very modern as far as all that goes.  I think she credits Tom Donovan with getting the production side up to date before the expansion to 45 minutes and poor writing got them in trouble again before Monty.

[amybrickwallace]

John Beradino even said that at the outset, he had taken a paycut so that more money could be used making the sets palatable.

[vetsoapfan]

Lesley spoke about her past when she was first introduced to GH, but besides having had Laura, her pre-Port Charles existence was sort of looped off and not referred to. The last mention of her deceased, other child was in 1980 or so, when Lesley and Gail talked about it. I daresay the vast majority of viewers have/had no clue that Lesley had even had a previous child, since the fact hasn't been mentioned in over 40 years.

There are a lot of omissions and inaccuracies on Soap Central, but to be fair, very few sources--if any-- sources acknowledge Lesley's other child. I doubt historians from books and magazines and internet sites even know he (I seem to recall the child was a boy) even existed.

[amybrickwallace]

Yes. I know for sure it's not in Gary Warner's GH coffee table book

 

[will81]

In the 1975 B&W kinescope floating about she tells Cam or Joel about this. It is her birthday episode I think. She doesn't go into detail from what I remember but tells him she doesn't care if they have children as she lost two babies before

Bryna is accurate, but there is always the possibility that the story changed somewhere along the way

[vetsoapfan]

I have spoken to various fans who lament the omissions in most of the soap coffee-table books. I guess it's to be expected; with so much history to cover, no book can give complete and concise information on every bit of minutia. 

Right, but after those mentions in the character's early years on the show, the "other child" drifted into forgotten/ignored/unacknowledged history. One of the things I always loved and respected about Pat Falken Smith as a writer is that she knew her stuff, and studied what was under every leaf in the soap towns she wrote for. Douglas Marland and Claire Labine who another two who studied, used, and respected history.

The more I think about it, the more I believe Lesley's first child had had diabetes, but succumbed to crib death. I suppose we will never know for sure, alas.

[cassadine1991]

Do we know the child’s name of Bruce’s last name?

[vetsoapfan]

Sadly, I remember neither the name of Lesley's late child nor the family name associated with her first husband.

Edited August 30, 2021 by vetsoapfan

[victoria foxton]

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by victoria foxton

[titan1978]

I was really impressed when Claire Labine’s team had Laura visit Robin and Mac’s house, because truthfully I had forgotten that it was the Webber house before they lived there.  Of course, that attic lead us down a terrible road later on.  But it was a sweet scene with Laura, Lucky, and Robin.  Having Frisco play such a major part of the very important Maxie/BJ story was another great and believable use of history.  And Lucy’s reaction when she found out what happened.

Soaps (and all continuing media) are so much better when someone is there to make sure the details count.