Questions about Unexpected Soap Actor's Deaths and How The Soaps Handeled Them

[ChitHappens]

That was truly sad. Wasn't really a fan, but it was so shocking and she seemed like such a great person!

[YRfan23]

Thanks, I wish I could see those scenes again, it sounds like a nice little tribute and I'm glad Eric and Stephanie payed their respects.

[All My Shadows]

This is interesting to me, considering that era of soaps is so different from the last 20-30 years as far as real life vs. reel life matters. Of course, just two years later, Theo Goetz of GL died and we know that they acknowledged this by having Papa Bauer die. Aside from these two and Santos Ortega, did any of the other soaps have to confront this issue in the 60s or early 70s?

Watching soaps in the 2000s meant having to endure a lot of tentpole cast member deaths, that's for sure. It seemed like every other year, a soap lost a long-running star.

[DRW50]

Ed Zimmerman on GL, although they recast his role instead of killing the character off.

Walter Greaza (?), who played Mike Karr's father-in-law on Edge of Night for fifteen years, also passed away around this time. I'm not sure what the show did to acknowledge it.

[Paul Raven]

On Love of Life, actor Fred Stewart played Alex Caldwell beginning in 1966, who either romanced or married Van and Meg's mother Sarah. When he died in 71,lookalike actor Charles White took over.

[SFK]

Martin Short did a brief monologue about Papa Bauer's passing in one of his primetime specials.

[DRW50]

He watched GL?

[applcin]

General Hospital's Norma Connolly died from complications of a stroke. Aunt Ruby died in her sleep.

Also on GH, Mary Mae Ward was given a funeral that was as close a memorial to Rosalind Cash as you could get while still keeping things in character. Several of her real life friends (Esther Rolle, Lou Rawls, etc.) were part of it.

A bit off subject but I was curious to see if Peter Hansen (Lee Baldwin) was still among the living and he sure is--just turned 92!

[SFK]

Yes, I guess he and his family watched while he was growing up in Canada. It's on YouTube, I posted it once before but I forget in which thread.

[AmandainNC28655]

I remember Bernard Barrow passed away when he was on Loving. His character was the step father to Ava Rescott. I think the show had his character leave town and then said he passed away off screen.

Also, Bob Hughes stepfather ( the police officer) died in real life but it was a year or so after his real life passing before they acknowledged it on screen when the character died.

[robbwolff]

That's not true. Dan McCloskey, who married Nancy Hughes, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in the mid-90s. He was killed off in 1996. Actor Dan Frazier, who played the role, was still very much alive when the character died. Frazier died in 2011.

[EnglishTea]

AMC, Louis Edmonds' death as Langley wasn't acknowledged until Ruth Warrick's passing when Aunt Phoebe was reunited with her Langley.

[JackPeyton]

It was really well done. The scenes of everyone finding out about his death, the story it created. Very fitting IMO.

[Melroser]

In regards to Douglas Watson on AW, hadn't they already written/planned the 25th Anniversary episodes at the time of his passing? I thought that they unexpectedly had to re-write/say that "Mac" was away during the big celebration which was supposed to be in honor of Brava/Cory Publishing...and then tackled his onscreen death after the anniversary eps where done.

[John]

When Bernie Barrow died, Loving temp recasted the role and then had the character die