The soap opera writers' discussion

[amybrickwallace]

Who was the first soap actor to make the transition to writing soap operas? Who else acted and wrote on their soaps at the same time? The only ones I can think of are Lois Kibbee and Meg Bennett.

[Paul Raven]

When did Don Hastings begin writing as CC Mathews?

 

Don Chastian wrote Search during the Writers Strike in 1981.

 

I think a lot of actors turned to writing when the shows went to an hour and more writers were needed.

[Paul Raven]

As Soap Star and Scriptwriter, Meg Bennett Faces Double Duty on the Young and the Restless

 

By Susan Champlin 

June 06, 1983 12:00 PM

FBTwitterMore

Meg Bennett was leaving the cast of The Young and the Restless. After a year on the show, her character, Julia Newman, was being written out of CBS’ highly rated soap at the end of 1981. But since Meg’s on-the-set script doctoring had impressed the production staff, series creator William Bell suggested a career alternative. Would Meg join the show’s stable of writers? Recalls Bell, “What it comes down to is that she’s such a lovable little thing, and I felt so bloody guilty.” For Meg, 32, it came down to having a job. Says she, “I get insecure real fast.”

These days Meg has little to worry about. As a writer, she scripts one episode a week of The Young and the Restless. And last October she made a triumphant return to the series when Julia Newman reappeared to overwhelmingly positive viewer response. Alternating between acting and writing could take a toll, but a double life suits Meg. Says she, “As an actress, you’re always seeking approval. ‘Am I doing all right? Is the scene working?’ As a writer, I feel like an adult.”

Meg’s second career has affected Julia Newman too. Once a spineless victim of her ex-husband, Julia is now a successful, self-assured fashion designer, after an extended stay in Paris. That change is, in part, the result of Meg’s stint at the typewriter. The other writers “saw how different I was from the character they’d been creating,” explains Meg, “and they said, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting if Julia were more like Meg?’ ” Sometimes Julia’s new toughness even astonishes Meg. “Now they’ve got her so strong that I think, ‘That’s what I want to be like.’ ”

Despite her current success, Bennett never envisioned herself at the typewriter. The eldest daughter of a printing company executive and a psychologist, Meg had a comfortable childhood in Pasadena, Calif. She majored in drama at Northwestern, acting in summer stock between terms. Hired in 1971 as the “Cadillac Eldorado convertible girl” for a New York auto show, she decided on Manhattan as home, which proved a fortuitous choice. In an elevator, a man asked Meg if she wanted to be on a quiz show. Thus was born a champion of NBC’s Three on a Match, with winnings that included complete furnishings for her new apartment. “I felt charmed,” she says. A part in the original Broadway cast of Grease led to the role of the good girl, Liza, on Search for Tomorrow. Meg quickly beguiled the cast, which included Kevin Kline and Morgan Fairchild, who had beaten out Meg for the show’s vixen role nine months earlier. Notes Morgan, “I still consider her a best friend, even though we don’t see each other very much.”

In 1978 Meg left that soap and New York for acting opportunities in California. But a bout of hepatitis interrupted those plans. Meg’s weight dropped to 95 pounds. While recovering, she was approached about a part on The Young and the Restless. Explains Meg, “When the writers saw me, I was very frail, and that’s how they wrote Julia.”

Because she is usually in front of the cameras four or five days a week, weekends are reserved for scripts. The soap’s head writers in Chicago concoct the story lines, which are sent to Meg and other dialogue writers in Los Angeles. Each writer executes an entire episode. To avoid a conflict of interest, however, Meg never scripts scenes for Julia. Like an actress, a writer can get typecast, according to Meg. Says she, “They tend to send me the more emotional scenes. I do better with that than glib, snappy repartee. In real life, I can never think of the great remark.” Her guiding principle at the typewriter: “I try not to make any character say something that would make me gag if I had to say it.”

Meg’s schedule cramps her socializing, but she admits, “I really like working all the time.” Still, she would like to have a marriage and children someday. “There’s this life I envision going on in one place, and my real life is going on over here.”

For Meg, working double duty has paid off. With Julia’s resurgence of popularity, she now receives 100 to 200 fan letters a week, some of which contain offbeat requests for a photograph “where I can see your belly button.” Most mail, however, concerns a continuing plot line in which Julia’s ex-husband was being slowly poisoned by the evil Eve. Says Meg, “People have written to me saying, ‘Dear Julia: It’s Eve! You’ve got to do something right away, or he’ll die!’ ” At least those fans are addressing the proper party. Meg the actress may be unable to help, but Meg the writer does have influence.

 

 

 

 

 

[danfling]

James Lipton appeared on The Guiding Light as well as writing for it.   I am not sure if this was during the same time or not.

 

David Lesan and John Bourff also were writers for The Guiding Light and appeared on the show.

 

Richard Holland (after having appeared on The Guiding Light) played Don Hughes on As the World Turns.  At some point, he became a wrtier (I think for As the World Turns)   I do not know if these times on the show overlapped.

 

These would certainly been prior to Lois Kibbee.

 

Ralph Ellis was an actor and later a writer (but not on the same shows).

 

I know very little about Meg Bennett, so it is hard for me to say who came first.

 

But, some writers/performers who may have pre-dated her are Gillian Spenser, Ellen Holly, Kenneth Harvey, Millee Taggart,  Clarice Blackburn, and possibly Stephanie Braxton.

Also, Ian Martin was involved with the Canadian serial Strange Paradise (possibly as the show's creator) then wrote Somerset with the late Henry Slesar.   Mr. Martin played the butler in the Moore/Matson household during this same period.

 

Edited April 7, 2019 by danfling

[danfling]

Also, shall we not forget Douglas Marland (The Brighter Day, As the World Turns) who began writing in the 1970s.

 

And Bethel Leslie (The Doctors) who wrote The Secret Storm in the 1960s.

 

As far as the first to appear in a show and to write the same show, I recall Ellen Holly (although she did not receive on-screen credit).

[Paul Raven]

For the record Addie Walsh's CV

She has been involved in soaps for over 30 years. She would have some stories to tell. Never really made an impact as a headwriter.

 

Staff Writer TEXAS, NBC-TV January 1980 – March 1980 3 months

Staff Writer GUIDING LIGHT, CBS-TV January 1982 – January 1986 4 years 1 month

Headwriter SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, NBC-TV  January 1986 – January 1987 1 year 1 month

 

Associate Headwriter One Life to Live, ABC-TV January 1987 – January 1990 3 years 1 month

 

Creator/Headwriter RIVIERA, CHANNEL 1 TV, PARIS January 1989 – January 1990 1 year 1 month

 

Headwriter LOVING, ABC-TV January 1990 – January 1991 1 year 1 month

 

Associate Headwriter As The World Turns, CBS-TV January 1991 – January 1997 6 years 1 month

 

Associate Headwriter Days of Our Lives, NBC-TV January 1997 – January 1998 1 year 1 month

[robbwolff]

 

Out of curiosity, what is the source for her credits? Her Search credit is clearly wrong. Gary Tomlin was head writer for the first part of 1986. Walsh arrived around June 1986 and was there till the end in December 1986, not January 1987. She was also a co-head writer for ATWT.

[dc11786]

The Loving credit is also off. She was credited head writer from January 1992 until January 1993. Granted that was the on air credits. Millee Taggart was announced in November 1992. 

 

I think Riviera aired in 1991 though the material was probably written earlier.

 

I imagine Walsh genuinely forgot or was trying to create the sense of consistent employment.

[Paul Raven]

This is from Walsh's Linkdin account, so as to why dates are off ????

[amybrickwallace]

In the reruns of The Doctors, there are several subwriters I am totally unfamiliar with. Ever heard of Lin Cole or Frederick Fierstein?

[danfling]

There was later a writer named "Liz Coe."  She wrote for Ryan's Hope, and I understand that the network liked her work a whole lot.  I have also heard speculation that the character of Lucy Coe on the serial General Hospital was named for her.

 

 

 

Who was the head writer.?  Elizabeth Levin?   She is the wife of Michael Levin (Jack Fennelli on Ryan's Hope), and Ms. Levin briefly had written for Ryan's Hope prior to being the head writer of The Doctors.

[amybrickwallace]

 

Right now in the rerun cycle, Mel and Ethel Brez are the technical headwriters (though they are still credited as "story by" and "written by" goes to one of the subwriters - my guess is it was whoever wrote that particular episode's script). Elizabeth Levin came later on.

Edited April 21, 2019 by amybrickwallace

[Paul Raven]

It's interesting that the writers credit changed with the arrival of the Brez's.

NBC had a press release about them in Aug 77

 Mel and Ethel Brez have been s i g n e d to NBC-TV contract.

It was announced by M a d e l i n e David, Vice  President, Daytime Programs NBC Network. "We-are developing Mel and Ethel as potential head writers for serials'," David said. "They will work in the development of concepts and ideas so they can become familiar with the serial form. "Mel and Ethel have not assigned to a specific s h o w , " M s . "and, to my knowledge, this has never happened before in daytime television." The Brez, who are married, wrote the script for the 1977 Daytime Emmy Awards Show that was telecast May 12 on NBC. Mel Brez is the 1965 recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship in cinematography awarded annually to a leading American scholar or artist in the  United States. Since 1971 they have written motion picture and television scripts together on a freelance basis....

 

I think they took over TD in September?

if so it appears circumstances changed re them not being assigned to a show and learning the ropes.

In reading about TD at that time stories like Tom's child abuse and Greta;s pregnancy were attributed to Marland so maybe the Brez's were working from his bible and just tweaking stuff along the way?

Edited April 21, 2019 by Paul Raven

[j swift]

There were significant changes starting in 1981 with the Writer's Guild that standardized these types of roles in a writing team.  So, stuff before 1981 could mean anything.

[RavenWhitney]

Several writers who broke into the soaps didn't use their real names at first. Some have speculated that Millee Taggart used "KC Collier" when she first joined ATWT. 

 

Another fake writer name that showed up was on OLTL just before the writers' strike in 2007: Veronica Stanbridge.  There's no such person.  Some speculated at the time that it was a scab writer who ended up working on the show during the strike.