Hey guys. Some of you might remember I did interviews of some past soap actors or behind the scenes members years ago. I was asked by some here to revive it. So I got a contact to interview Veleka Gray, whose career on soaps ran from all the 70s' and the early 80s'.

 

As I am working on my questions, I could collect some of yours to ask her ! For reminder, here are the soaps and roles she was in.

 

Laura Donnelly Eliot                       LIAMST                                September 1970 – January 1972

Susan Pritchett                                 HTSAM                                December 1974 – April 1975

Vicky Paisley                                     SOM                                     May 1975 – December 1976

Mia Mariott                                       LOL                                        January 1977 – February 1980

Lyla Montgomery                           ATWT                                   June 1980 – November 1980

Ruby                                                     YR                                          February 1983

Dr. Sharon Reeves                          YR                                          April 1983 – October 1983

23 hours ago, FrenchFan said:

Hey guys. Some of you might remember I did interviews of some past soap actors or behind the scenes members years ago. I was asked by some here to revive it. So I got a contact to interview Veleka Gray, whose career on soaps ran from all the 70s' and the early 80s'.

 

As I am working on my questions, I could collect some of yours to ask her ! For reminder, here are the soaps and roles she was in.

 

Laura Donnelly Eliot                       LIAMST                                September 1970 – January 1972

Susan Pritchett                                 HTSAM                                December 1974 – April 1975

Vicky Paisley                                     SOM                                     May 1975 – December 1976

Mia Mariott                                       LOL                                        January 1977 – February 1980

Lyla Montgomery                           ATWT                                   June 1980 – November 1980

Ruby                                                     YR                                          February 1983

Dr. Sharon Reeves                          YR                                          April 1983 – October 1983

What happened on ATWT..I really liked her as Lyla (sorry, I always thought AS was boring and faded into the word work.) She seemed like a tough survivor and thought that worked well against Hastings and the rest of the Hughes family. It was a weird transitional period for the show as the Dobsons either by their choice or forced to...were phasing out the importance of Chris and Nancy and the tightness of the Hughes family..was that felt behind the scenes?

I'd also like to know more about the situation at ATWT. I've heard over the years that there was something shady with Don Hastings that led to Anne Sward replacing VG in the role.

She was on three soaps in a row that were cancelled - compare/contrast what it was like to go through that on a super short-lived soap, an established bu still short-lived soap, and a long-runner that had been around for decades.

How did she go about replacing the wildly popular Donna Mills on LIAMST? What did she do to make the role her own, and how long did it take for audiences to accept her as Laura?

What differences were there in heading to LA to do Y&R after spending a decade doing older-fashioned New York soaps?

Did any fans notice that she played two roles not far apart on Y&R?

 

Was there a favorite or least favorite headwriter or producer she worked with? 

 

Did she feel that the atmosphere on soaps changed in her years in daytime?

 

Great to see you doing these again. 

Yes I was also interested in reading about the different environments and the live to live to tape era that she bridged...

Was her first daytime role Love is a Many Splendored Thing, or did she have any small roles in daytime prior to Laura? If so on what shows?

What was the feeling at Love of Life when Cathy Abbi took over and Jean Holloway was the writer?

Did she fear for her job with many actors being fired?

Was there a change of atmosphere with Ann Marcus at the helm?

Thanks guys. I collected 20 questions I will send Veleka Gray on Monday (she gave her consent). I hope she will answer soon.

Hey guys, the interview has been posted on the main section ! Hope you will enjoy reading it