Soap writers and their non-soap projects

[DRW50]

I don't know if this is already a thread, but I didn't see it, and, frankly, that doesn't stop others from doing the same. If it is, feel free to lock this, not that you need my permission.  

We all know the basics - Harding Lemay was a playwright! Henry Slesar wrote thrillers and mysteries! Bob Guza did something I don't give two shits about! And so on. 

Rather than just providing a list that we've already seen 15 times, I thought this thread  could be  a more detailed place for either your thoughts on their other projects, or links to some of it.

I'll start off in what made think about this thread - watching a  Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents episode that was written by none other than Anne Howard Bailey. Unfortunately, the writing quality is about on the level  of her soap work, but still, it's interesting to compare: 

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Edited March 19, 2022 by DRW50

[Paul Raven]

Roy Winsor the man behind Search for Tomorrow. Love of Life and Secret Storm who also wrote for Somerset and Another Life. He authored 3 mystery novels in the 1970's, even winning the Edgar Award for best paperback original for 'The Corpse That Walked'

I read it and was underwhelmed. Interestingly, there was a soap connection as one of the characters was a soap actor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited March 19, 2022 by Paul Raven

[Vee]

Bob Guza worked on a couple of classic slashers in the early '80s - both Prom Night with Jamie Lee Curtis and Curtains with Samantha Eggar, which is a favorite of mine. I know he supposedly was working on a Broadway musical following GH (with Nick Offerman!) but who knows what became of that beyond a few stagings or readings.

[Paul Raven]

James Lipton who wrote Another World,Capitol and others was responsible for the Broadway musical flop 'Sherry'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherry!

[Faulkner]

Pam Long wrote those Dolly Parton movies for NBC, featuring Alyvia Alyn Lind (ex-Faith, Y&R) as the young Dolly.

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Current Y&R writer Sara Endsley comes from the world of cable Christmas romance movies (like the Melissa Joan Hart romp, “Holiday in Handcuffs”):

 

[Faulkner]

Melissa Salmons has also entered the world of Hallmark movies, like this one from last year:

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[Khan]

Former DAYS/GL writer Victor Gialanella wrote the notorious 1981 flop adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," which opened and closed on B'way on the same night.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/theater/frankenstein-broadway-flop.html

Pam Long was a perfect fit.  She's always excelled at heart-warming, family drama.

Sam Hall (AW, OLTL, SB) was one of several writers (Anne Howard Bailey and former AW HW Corinne Jacker were two others) who worked on the 1976 miniseries, "The Adams Chronicles."

And former AMC/GL writer (and one of my personal heroes) Wisner Washam self-published a novel several years ago about the cloning of Jesus.  (Yep, you read that right.)

Edited March 19, 2022 by Khan

[Paul Raven]

Agnes Nixon wrote 'Manions of America 'mini series which aired on ABC in Sept 81 starring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Purl.

[ClassicsSoapFan]

 

Leah Laiman (ATWT, AW, and others)wrote a series of novels.

 

 

Edited March 19, 2022 by ClassicsSoapFan

[Titus Andronicus]

David Seidler was on Nina Laemmle's Days writing crew in 1980 (and apparently was later a staff writer for Another World).

He kinda won a ton of awards for writing the screenplay for The King's Speech

[YRfan23]

Wasn't Sally Sussman Morina also a writer on "The Facts of Life"? 

[Faulkner]

In the U.K., Jimmy McGovern went from writing Brookside and Coronation Street to creating the great series Cracker and one of my unsung favorites, The Street:

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[Vee]

Victor Miller (AMC) famously wrote the original Friday the 13th, and his ongoing litigation against series producer/sometimes director Sean S. Cunningham (who refuses to credit Miller with royalties for the creation of Jason Voorhees, the hockey-masked killer) continues to this day, freezing all production of anything related to the franchise.

Incumbent co-HW Chris Van Etten (GH) has a background in YA literature. I've always liked those two guys at GH and I feel they could do better work out from under Frank, but who knows.

Russell T. Davies (Doctor Who, It's a Sin) also got his start submitting scripts to Crossroads.

I've often wondered what became of some of Eastenders' most famous or visible writers, but I haven't looked into it.

[Bright Eyes]

 

The director of the movie, Tom Hooper, got his start directing episodes of EastEnders. 

[Paul Raven]

Thom Racina who wrote for Days, GH, AW etc has published several novels. The great Los Angeles Blizzard was the basis for the Ice Princess story on GH.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/authorpage/thom-racina.html