Recasts on shows: good, bad, in between

[Xanthe]

The physical resemblance often doesn't go beyond hair colour, especially for women. One of the weakest recasts I can think of relied heavily on physical resemblance: Judy Dewey as Blaine. Dark-haired Mary Page Keller was a popular recast in the same era after a series of blonde Sallys. 

[j swift]

I would also add that as a casual viewer of current soaps there's a downside to recasting using "known" soap actors.  When I tune into GH, once or twice a month, I continually have to remind myself who Carly from ATWT and Annie from GL are playing in Port Charles.

I think back to the recasting of Taylor Miller as Sally on AW as the same issue.  I could not help but think of AMC's Nina when I saw Sally and it was very distracting.  A viewer totally naive to soap press would still recognize Taylor as Nina, and even superior writing could not over come that obstacle.

There are some exceptions, for example I no longer think of GL or Loving when I see Laura Wright on GH.  And, Sherilyn Wolter did such a great job on SB when she was cast against type.  But, I think the exceptions don't excuse the argument that recasting using well established actors is not always a great idea.

[Xanthe]

Thinking about recasts, when I was paying attention they typically would make a voiceover announcement of the new actor's name at their first entrance depending on how recently the previous actor had been in the part or if it was just temporary. Is that still the convention? I wonder when soaps started following it. 

[FrenchBug82]

It is actually an interesting question I also would love to hear more about.

As a side note, I rewatched Robin Strasser's return scenes on OLTL in 1993 after the Elaine Princi interlude and I was struck that the voiceover said "Dorian will ONCE AGAIN be played by...". I had never heard that before and it had a slightly more mild-mannered "real Greenlee" feel to me.
I checked and the other un-recast returnee I could think of, Anna Stuart, got a traditional "Donna will be played" voiceover.

[Nicholas Blair]

A couple of blonde actresses who must surely have read for Alice on AW are Diana Walker (Mary on WTHI) and Barbara Stanger (the last Laura on LIAMST). I am not sure either of them would have been more successful than Susan Harney, but they were both good actresses. Bibi Besch would have seemed a little old for Alice.

[Paul Raven]

Tina Sloan for Alice?

[kalbir]

@Xanthe @FrenchBug82 When Brenda Dickson returned to Y&R in 1983, the announcement was something like "today Brenda Dickson returns to the role of Jill Foster Abbott".

[Bright Eyes]

I was thinking about the recast Laura's from DAYS. Even though she wasn't on the show long, I enjoyed Susan Oliver on Peyton Place, but looking her up she might be considered too old for the role. I haven't seen much, if any, of Rosemary Forsyth's work but she's certainly the right age and looks the part. Then there's Jaime Lyn Bauer ... maybe too glamourous? 

[slick jones]

Diana Walker subbed as Alice  5/11/1973.

 

[kalbir]

@Bright Eyes I find it so hard to believe that Jaime Lyn Bauer actually played the Days character originated by Susan Flannery. Speaking of Jaime Lyn Bauer, I'm surprised that after she left Y&R CBS didn't try to keep her in the family so to speak and cast her on one of their primetime soaps. She seemed so made for that genre. 

[Paul Raven]

Rosemary Forsyth had a very stern countenance - not a lot of the vulnerability needed for Alice.

[Nicholas Blair]

Paul, I would see Tina Sloan as fine for Lillian Raines or other supporting roles, but not for any starring role. If Alice is not going to be a central role, then you might as well keep Susan Harney. Ideally, Alice would be 1) blonde; 2) someone with star power who immediately reads Soap Opera Heroine; 3) someone who can access deep emotions.

 

[Xanthe]

I searched without success to see if I could find the 1998 return of Sandra Ferguson as Amanda, but if they didn't hype up Anna Stuart of all people I would be surprised and horrified if they had done it for Sandra Ferguson.

I associate it a little bit with the slips you get in your program when the understudy is going on for someone. My guess is the likelihood is that they didn't make any announcement in radio serials, but for television they felt there was an immediate need to make sure the audience knew it was a familiar character with an unfamiliar face and dispensed with exposition. But I have no idea who the first recast was and how it was handled.

[Paul Raven]

Good question.

I think the first major recast would have been the lead on 'First Hundred Years' I guess there would have been an announcement as viewers would have been surprised and puzzled as to why there was a different face onscreen.

[Xanthe]

Oh, thank you, that's very interesting. Do you know why Olive Stacey left and how long it was before the replacement (Anne Sargent) appeared? I tried to do some searching and came up with nothing. Neither the wikipedia page for the show nor the IMDB has any comment I could see.