Many of us would have liked to have seen various performers playing soap opera roles that were filled by other performers.

 

For instance, Frances Heflin (All My Children) would have been a good Martha Wilson on As the World Turns.

 

I thought that Mitchell Ryan (Dark Shadows) would have been a much better recast as Mike Karr on The Edge of Night than Forrest Compton.

 

Who are some performers that you would have liked the producers to have hired for a role.   (Please identify the roles.)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 20205 yr by danfling

I wish to pose a question:

In the late 1970s, there were three popular characters on The Edge of Night:  Raven (played by Juanin Clay. April (played by Terry Davis) and Deborah (played by Frances Fisher).

When Ms. Clay departed the show, the role of Raven was recast.  However, during probably an eighteen-month period, the show lost Draper, Logan, Steve, Deborah, Winter, Kevin, and April.

Had the show made the decision to recast the roles of April and Deborah, what actresses would have been good in these two roles?

(Also, the show should have recast Steve Gutherie.   I suppose that the show knew that Ms. Fisher was going to leave and decided that to not recast would be the best decision.    I still think that there should have been a new Steve!)

I was thinking about writer Don Ettinger.

I lhad thought for a long time that he had created or co-created A Flame in the Wind.   I now know that he did not.

He did write for that show as well as Love Is a Many Splendored Thing and either (or both) Love of Life and The Secret Storm.

I am speculating that it was he who created the Hale family on Love Is a Many Splendored Thing.

He had worhrked with actor Terry Logan on A Flame in the Wind/A Time for Us, and he may possibly have brought Mr. Logan over to play Dr. John Hale (my favorite member of the Hale family) on Love Is a Many Splendored Thing.

 

But, the reason that I am writing this in the section about performers who could have played other characters well is that I remember the actress who played his Terry Logan's mother on A Flame in the Wind/A Time for Us, the Oscar-winner Anne Revere.

Diana Douglas Dill, in her autobiography, wrote that Love Is a Many Splendored Thing writer Ann Marcus saw her and told her that she did was not like anything that she had imagined when she created Lil Chernak Donnelly on that show.

It occurred to me that Ms. Revere may have been a very good Lily Chernak Donnelly!  I don't know if Ms. Revere was playing either of her roles on The Edge of Night or Search for Tomorrow at the time that Lily was introduced.   I do think that she would have been good in the role!

(Ms. Revere later played a short role on Ryan's Hope.)

The death of actress and writer Lara Parker made me think that Ms. Parker would have been a terrific Josie/Serena Travis on The Edge of Night.

That role, of course, was played by another actress who later turned to writing, Louise Shaffer.

On 6/10/2020 at 11:03 AM, Soapsuds said:

Heather Rattray as a recast Victoria Newman on YR.

I agree with this. Rattray and Heather Tom did favor each other and could buy and accept her as Victoria more so than Amelia Heinle.

Someone has uploaded some new Search For Tomorrow videos on youtube.  I watched some of them and I thought after the show ended in 1986, why didn't P&G Productions hire Marcia McCabe (Sunny) to play Hope Bauer Spaulding on Guiding Light?  They already knew her work and she would have fit in over there better than on OLTL and later AW.  I don't think the show would have lost as many views if there had been another Bauer woman rather than just Maureen after Bert died.  

Also on GL, instead of that weird actor, Doug Hutchison, playing Roger's son, Sebastian, it should have been Bronson Picket.  He had already played Diego on World Turns and some character on Another World.  He had the sexual energy and charisma for the role and had played a villain.

I also noticed three actors that could have played triplets.  Gregg Marx (Tom on ATWT and David on Days), Todd McKee (Ted on Santa Barbara and Jake on B&B) and Ernie Garrett (the 1st Mark Wheeler on Texas) could have swapped roles and no one would have noticed, even if they were all different ages.

Bronson Pinchot would have been terrific as Roger’s son - great idea!

I may be repeating an earlier post, but I think that Frances Sternhagen (who has recently passed away) would have been wonderful as Dr. Julia Hoffman (as well as the other roles that were played by Grayson Hall) on Dark Shadows.

I think that I saw her once in a film playing a psychiatrist.

Jada Roland (despite the dark hair)) or Bibi Besch as Alice Frame on Another World in 1975, when Jacquie Courtney was fired.   

In my opinion, Leigh Lassen would have been good as Alice on Another World.   However, I am glad to read your opinion about this recast.

(I do think that Susan Harney was great in the role and am sorry that she did not remain on the show.)

Drake Hogestyn As Julian Jerome on General Hospital? 🤭

Just putting it out there! 

Kim Matula (Former Hope from Bold and the beautiful) would be a great Lulu Spencer recast on General Hospital

I think that Scott Glenn (Calvin Brenner on The Edge of Night) could have been either Dr. Ed Bauer or even Michael Bauer recast.   (especially when Robert Gentry left the role as Ed)

I always thought Janice Lynde could have played Patti on SFT. She resembled Lynn Loring a bit who had originated the role. 

 

 

 

I cannot remember any physical resemblance between Ms. Lynne and Ms. Loring, but I do agree with you that Ms. Lynne would have been a good Patti (better than Jacqueline Schultz).

How would the audience have felt if the late Michael Levin (best known as Jack Fennelli on Ryan's Hope) had played Mark Elliott on Love Is a Many Splendored Thing?

He probably would have remained on the show for most of the run.

And, David Birney (who played Mark #2) would have been great in the role of Jack on Ryan's Hope (excepting the fact that he did not look very Italian).