18 minutes ago, Khan said:

 

Yup.  Well, sort of.

 

From the start, Bridget and Jerome Dobson wanted Marj Dusay to play Pamela Capwell Conrad; their HW's, Anne Howard Bailey and Charles Pratt, Jr., wanted either Shirley Anne Field or Samantha Eggar.  (I can't remember which, exactly, but I do recall that Eggar signed on for the role, realized almost immediately she couldn't hack it and quit).  Because the Dobsons believed their HW's should be allowed to write for the characters and actors who excited them most, they acquiesced (sp?).  However, in an ironic twist, Field was so listless in the role that they had to recast (again) with Marj.  Of course, by then, I think the Dobsons had been forced out, but I could have that wrong.

 

Anyway, what REALLY broke the camel's back was New World's resistance toward Bridget's decision to fire Bailey as HW.  The Dobsons claimed they had full control over production; New World claimed they didn't and that firing Bailey would have jeopardized the show.  And, well, we all know the rest.

 

Thanks. Appreciate it. The sad thing is from what I've read by the time Marj came in the writing was shoddy and the character never had much value, aside from a brief return several years later. What a waste of Mason's mother. 

 

Did Eggar and Dusay ever interact at AMC? 

 

I'll always think of Vanessa as Marj's crowning achievement. She had a lot of dumb stories, right from the start (I was never a fan of the mask storyline), but always spun them into gold.

2 hours ago, Faulkner said:

While Bev was irreplaceable, I thought she was quite compelling in her early GL days. It’s just too bad what they did to her later on. Glad she at least got a great role as Vanessa on AMC, where she was so much fun.

 

Yet successfully replaced at least twice!

Pretty sure Eggar's brief stint as Anna and Alex's supervillain mom was pre-Marj.

Edited January 29, 20205 yr by Vee

 

22 minutes ago, ChitHappens said:

 

Yet successfully replaced at least twice!

Gonna have to agree to disagree on that one! I liked Joan fine as a novelty, but Bev for me created a version that had so many layers (of course, some of that was better writing during Bev’s tenure).

59 minutes ago, Vee said:

Pretty sure Eggar's brief stint as Anna and Alex's supervillain mom was pre-Marj.

it was summer 2000

Marj was  at AMC From FEBRUARY 1999 to OCT 2002

Edited January 29, 20205 yr by John

Fair enough. I'm fairly certain they shared no scenes.

I remember her as the insane, yet cunning Pamela Capwell Conrad from the late, great soap, "Santa Barbara", mother to Mason (and Elena), But she had a long, full career in addition. May Ms. Dusay RIP.

13 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

Gonna have to agree to disagree on that one! I liked Joan fine as a novelty, but Bev for me created a version that had so many layers (of course, some of that was better writing during Bev’s tenure).

 

I respect that.

12 minutes ago, Vee said:

Fair enough. I'm fairly certain they shared no scenes.

I dont believe so as well

 

I believe all of SE's scenes were mostly with Finola & Hunt Block

37 minutes ago, Wendy said:

I remember her as the insane, yet cunning Pamela Capwell Conrad from the late, great soap, "Santa Barbara", mother to Mason (and Elena), But she had a long, full career in addition. May Ms. Dusay RIP.

 

I still wish we'd seen something with Elena and Pamela. I need to watch more of that period - the whole killing Kelly story and the Kelly/TJ stuff kind of puts me off (and the Kelly recast). 

Lisa Whelchel made a post about her former TV mom, a role for which I will always remember Dusay.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just heard about the passing of Marj Dusay who played Blair’s mom, Monica Warner. She was absolutely perfect for the part, a seasoned actress and a delightful woman. It was a privilege to call her Facts of Life family. 💙

A post shared by Lisa Whelchel (@lisawhelchel) on Jan 29, 2020 at 12:05pm PST

Ironically, Marj didn't originate the role of Monica Warner either.  IIRC, a blonde (forget her name) appeared as Monica during the first season.  Yet, when you think of Blair's mom, you think of Marj.

 

Also, unless I'm wrong, I think that (FoL) was the only time Marj ever acted with Nicolas Coster, another soap vet, who portrayed Blair's dad.  (FoL sure did love their soap actors, lol.)

Edited January 29, 20205 yr by Khan

I really wasn't watching GL at this point but this is a touching sentiment.

 

Heartbroken by the loss of my dear friend and colleague Marj Dusay. Marj was a dear friend to me and I will miss her greatly. I, with a couple of other GL colleagues, visited her last year here in New York and we all had a wonderful visit. She was, as always, in terrific spirits

— Ron Raines (@RonRaines) January 29, 2020

1 minute ago, Khan said:

Ironically, Marj didn't originate the role of Monica Warner either.  IIRC, a blonde (forget her name) appeared as Monica during the first season.  Yet, when you think of Blair's mom, you think of Marj.

 

One post referred to Dusay as the "Recast Queen".  I don't take it as a slight in any way.  

I was wondering if Lisa would say something. Glad she did. 

 

I wasn't that big on the Alex/Alan relationship (I hadn't seen the Bernau and Bev era at that point) but Ron and Marj had their moments. Probably the strongest was the leadup to Marj's 1997 exit.