Oh no My Sweet Billy Clyde. RIP

I know some people didn't care for Billy Clyde's very specific brand of weirdness on the new show, but I felt it was so appropriate - any time we checked in with him, especially with him and his 'girls' in Center City, it seemed right out of Agnes's old book, and I believe she actually wrote some of those bits. You could've beamed some of those slapstick scenes in from the early '80s. And someone - maybe her, maybe the HWs, but I'm leaning towards Agnes - made the point of writing the sequence of events where Dixie left him a letter forgiving him.

To me the use of Billy Clyde felt old-fashioned and off-kilter, yet so very right - especially the way they emphasized his desire to be taken seriously as a man of wealth and taste in high society, to be like his 'idol' Palmer, right down to buying the manor and fantasizing about arriving at the gala with Opal comparing him to her late husband. That kind of consuming human need to better oneself, to get out from under, being used as a character throughline comes out of the old Nixon, Lemay, Bell, etc. playbooks. Billy Clyde in 2013 was no different. And Matthew Cowles played it with great glee. His other material, where he was revealed to be Celia's father, was cut for apparent rewrites or perhaps delays, but I'm sure they would have found more for him to do.

I forgot to mention Christine Baranski before as I thought it went without saying, but obviously my sympathies are with her.

I agree 100% And yes, Agnes Nixon herself said that she wrote the scene between Joe and Billy Clyde as a favour for Ray who always wanted to be in more comedy scenes.

Can anyone find the clip of his very similar character in Loving on youtube? For the life of me I can't now...

Here is Baranski in a cameo as a woman from Billy's past in a 1984 AMC episode (mere weeks after she won a Tony for The Real Thing)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E_H9iESCz4

As well as Eban on Loving, he started back on soaps in 1970 on A World Apart.

Wow.

OMG! This is awful news

Poor Christine and their children

When I learn they were married, it always seemed like such an odd pair, but over 30 years? That's wonderful!

Billy Clyde Tuggle will always be one of the most memorable characters in Daytime history. I used to run home from school to see him and Lyman's Opal.

RIP MC, my heart goes out to the family he left behind

It truly is a blessing we got to see Matthew Cowles as Billy Clyde Tuggle for that brief time on AMC 2.0.

My heart goes out to Ms. Baranski, Who will always be Jewell Maniscalco to me.

I adored watching clips of Christine and Matthew together on AMC. I'm so sad to see the news of his passing. It was a delight to see him back on AMC again last year.

So devastating. That is far too young to go. Thank god we got to see him on AMC one last time and gift us with his magic. My thoughts and prayers are with Christine and their kids.

Edited May 25, 201411 yr by alexisfan07

RIP

RIP.

Liz Vassey commented on twitter

Liz Vassey ‏@LizVassey 2m

RIP Matthew Cowles. My "All My Children" dad, an incredible actor, and lovely man.

https://twitter.com/LizVassey

This is a good scene with Billy Clyde and Emily Ann, where she finds out she was a product of rape and confronts him about it.

Edited May 25, 201411 yr by ghfan89

Sad news. I loved Billy Clyde back in the day and was glad he was able to be part of the new version. My heart goes out to Christine Baranski and their family.

omg! Rip : ' (

Another door closes on soaps' golden age. I'm glad we got to see Billy Clyde again and I'm oddly grateful for that scene where he and Dixie declared a truce.

Cady McClainVerified account ‏@CadyMcClain

@enriquevbjr @broadwayworld so sad. What a lovely man... I adored working with him last year. So kind.

Very upsetting to learn of this news. The storyline where he kidnapped Dixie and went over the bridge with Tad was one of the very first story lines I watched on AMC, but I remember my mother and grandmother talking about him long before.