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OLTL's Ellen Holly's Open Letter to Fans and Historians


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Which explains Bill Bell's relationship at Y&R with Victoria Rowell. Because nothing before Rowell's first appearance on that show suggests that Papa Bell was as...enlightened about AA's as his colleague, Agnes Nixon. (In many ways, Y&R was the whitest show on television. Blacks loved it, though, for Victor, Jill, and "Miss Chancellor.")

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What a sad tale, I don't understand how she could sign a contract and accept paying this mystery agent without ever knowing his name. I also don't get why an actress who starred with Jack, Lemmon, James Earl Jones and so many others during her Joseph Papp career would ever accept such brusque treatment, scale, and not already have at least a manager. She really paints an bad portrait of Agnes Nixon and whoever it was that was hired to berate and fire her. Why didn't she return to her Broadway roots?

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It may have been her choice to freelance back then rather than have signed representation, and she may have had good enough connects with casting directors around town like those at The Public/Delacorte who kept rehiring her, that she didn't really need it. Plus, and this has not changed, it can be difficult securing legit representation when you fall between ethnic types. This was before "ethnically ambiguous" was in, and let me tell you, no matter what they say, it still ain't "in", maybe for commercials and print ads, but there is still a long way to go in film/tv. In a lot of cases, an agent would rather freelance a talented actor of a very "specific" type like Miss Holly until that light-skinned black/neo-Sarah Jane/Pinky role rolled around and push her for it knowing she'd probably book. I'm not hypothesizing here so much as offering real life anecdotes of myself and other young struggling ethnically ambiguous actor friends.

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It was very "in" for a while there to do all-black productions of the classics, several of which Miss Holly appeared in, and when that novelty wore off, it was back to relying on fresh new African American works. It's not like the Broadway theatres were going out of their ways to produce such shows, and perhaps they were happening more frequently off-, and off-off-Broadway, but then again, there is the matter of coin. Funding for these productions, and the ability to provide the actors with a living wage. My guess is that it was no longer financially feasible for Miss Holly to continue chasing a theatre career. The parts weren't there. And neither was the money.

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In that case, since JFP was at OLTL when Ed and Jared (and Josh? was he there, too?) were briefly brought on again, it makes me wonder if she did reach out to EH too due to working for her before, but EH declined again, perhaps due to all the unpleasantness (perhaps the wrong word to use here) she associates with the show now.

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If this subject matter interests you, I'd like to recommend some further reading. Josephine Premice was a friend and colleague of Ellen Holly's, they appeared together along with Earle Hyman aka Grandpa Huxtable in an all-black production of The Cherry Orchard. Josephine daughter, Susan Fales-Hill, executive producer of A Different World, penned this love letter to her mother, and really, every other black American diva who gave herself what so many others were lucky enough to have been handed. Susan talks about how the more things changed, the more they stayed the same given her own battles over race on the other side of the camera.

http://www.amazon.com/Always-Wear-Joy-Mother-Beautiful/dp/0060523565

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All I can say is, thank God I never had the inclination to become an actor (although I would like to work in the theatre as a director). Try finding that kind of work for someone who is the product of a half-AA/half-Cherokee mother and half-Indian/half-Chinese father. (And who is gay, overweight and from Oklahoma? Please.) Just try.

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LOL, when I was in acting school, one of my teachers was in a play written by pr's wife, hence me lending out my book to him/her <<vain attempt to keep it nebulous when I am TOTALLY giving myself away should said teacher frequent SON. Doubt it.

Khan, I know how you feel... sorta. I've had agents/managers say to my face, DIRECT quotes mind you, "You are incredibly talented but I wouldn't know what to do with you. You're not really black and you're not really white, but I'd rather have a good actor, period, even if I wasn't sure how I'd market you." Needless to say, my phone never rang.

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But Y&R had major black characters starting with Mamie in 1980. The precense was certainly there. You had Jazz, Tyrone, Nathan and Amy all in stories and used in recurring fashion as well. It certainly wasn't white-washed. One thing I hate about Y&R is how the 80s black characters were forgotten. The actress who played Amy went onto great soap success. I believe she was on GH and OLTL for stretches. I wish they'd brought her back. I also will never forgive them for what became of Nathan. He should still be around. I also think Tyrone was a character work revisiting at least. The actor co-stars with Tatyana Ali on Love That Girl and looks great. He could do big things for the show.

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I agree I wish they'd bring back some of their 80's black characters, although with MAB and Sheffer around, that isn't going to matter :(

Poor Stephanie Williams (I think that's her name - I hope I'm not confusing her with the singer) got a bum deal at OLTL and GH. She never had anything to do - her highlight was probably a catfight with Lucy Coe.

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I believe Ellen was the victim of Racism at OLTL but I dont believe it to be Agnes' doing. Given all Agnes has done starting at GL to bring black characters into the homes, it doesnt wash. I think this is more Of ABC. Agnes sold OLTL in 1973 and she may have been an consultant but that doesnt mean jack. Hell ABC didnt even have to take her input

As for Erika Slezak, Ellen comes off IMHO as Jealous. Im sorry but Erika said on Her Emmy Legend Interview in 2006 that she hated how the diversity was cut out and I dont get why EH to me played down ES as Victoria Lord cause ES was new To TV even though Victoria was an original character who always drove story.

This may be unpopular, If Ellen Holly didnt think she was being fairy paid than she could have quit. She didnt have to resign her contract after contract after contract.

As For Erika Slezak she was an actress not a writer she couldnt demand they create roles for black actors or better story for the actors on the show. That was not her job. Her job was to act on OLTL, not write it. If Ellen's contract was non negootable why did she accept it year after year? Why didnt she quit? Why didnt she say I want more. It was her LIFE and she shouldnt have expected anyone to fight her battle for her but she sure places blame that others didnt do that. It wasnt theirs to do. It was hers.

Im sorry Ellen didnt get the career she wanted in acting but a lot of actors don't, regardless of race, color and ethnicity. Ellen cant put that all on OLTL and Agnes. Its also on her. Im sorry but its true. Was their racism I bet but why did she stay 13 years and then return 2 years later. Doesnt add up to me.

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Since when was the maid a major Black character?

I'll give you Nathan and maybe Amy (although, I feel I'm being generous when it comes to her) but don't you dare bring up Tyrone, whose legacy with the show amounts to one of the most absurd and offensive stories in TV history; and certainly not Jazz, who was just...ugh...where was John Danelle's karate choppin'-behind when we needed it!?

Yeah, they've been forgotten, alright...with good reason!

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