Your Soap Connections

[robbwolff]

I thought it might be interesting for us to share stories of our own happenstance connections to soap stars, writer, producers, directors, etc. I’ve got a few I wanted to share.

I’ve shared this in other discussion threads in the past, but the first involves my house. My husband Eric and I fell in love with the town of Collingswood in New Jersey. It’s like a real-life version of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. We found out an acquaintance was selling his house there so we went to check it out and an hour later, we had a deal to buy the house. The owner told us that he had bought the house from the Cianfrani family and shared that the Cianfrani’s son had been a soap opera actor. Through the information he shared, we realized he was referring to Michael Corbett of Ryan’s Hope, Search for Tomorrow, and The Young and the Restless. Michael's mother has since passed (she was 101 when she died), but Michael would often drive her by the house on holidays. Unfortunately, our acquaintance tossed all of Michael’s soap and theatre memorabilia, but saved two items that we now have: Michael’s childhood ruler and wallet from when he was a teenager.

The second story involves writing. Back in 2005, I participated in a novel writing workshop on Cape Cod with writer William J. Mann (Bill), who has written novels in addition to biographies about Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Barbra Streisand. One of the students in the class was the late Harry Eggart, who had directed Guiding Light for many years. Harry was workshopping his novel, which was a murder mystery set behind the scenes of a fictional soap story. He was quite a talented writer! He was also kind and compassionate. Turns out Bill and I had been fans of Guiding Light in the 80s and Harry regaled us with stories of that period, including tales of Nola and Kelly, Quint’s house on Thornway Road (I believe it was inspired by an actual house on Long Island), and Charita Bauer.

What stories do you have to share?

[beebs]

The only real good one I have was making friends by way of karaoke with Constance Ford's niece, who works as a TV sitcom writer here in Toronto. We spoke about how she was sick in hospital as a child and her aunt brought her flowers from the studio from Steve and Alice's wedding. At one point, she even got me on a three-way call with Meredith Scott Lynn, who was a good friend of hers. We lost touch many years ago, but I always really appreciated those little things she did for me.

I also knew a bunch of people who'd been to high school with Brittany Allen, and every time I mentioned being interested in soaps, her name would always inevitably come up at every social function, with her former classmates waxing poetic about how unbelievably talented and kind and virtuous and wonderful she was, and it would take everything in my power to hold my tongue about how the soap fandom actually felt about her. 

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[Franko]

This one's more soap-adjacent, but Lonette McKee once came to my family's Christmas. She was friends with my great-aunt and they reconnected during my college years. I think this was the early days (or continuation?) of Lonette's actors workshop, which was apparently going to be Michigan based. At one point, my great-aunt was going to be among the acting coaches.

By the following summer, the friendship had ended, apparently for good. What I got out of the experience was my picture with Lonette and later, one bit of secondhand gossip from my bitter great-aunt. It has to do with a male movie star supposedly being gay. Here's a hopefully pretty big hint: my reaction was "Whoa." I'm not going to lie, my conversation with my great-aunt went something like this:

"Oh, auntie, that's just awful. I'm so sorry for you. ... Did Lonette spill anymore tea?"

[Contessa Donatella]

For a long time I've just ended up in positions to talk to people, or for them to talk to me. Probably the earliest was Lisa Rinna when she was on DAYS & first began dating Harry.

Then I was one of the AW fans online who were activists trying to keep the show on the air. We ended up being in contact with Charles & Victoria & Linda Dano & others. We were successful in getting JFP not to kill Donna Love but we failed at Frankie Frame. Then 3 of us raised $5000 for the AW Fan Bench in Central Park & from that came short-term talk that was behind the scenes talk with Anna Stuart, Stephen Schnetzer, Linda Dano & Larry Lau. 

From late 1998 to July 2005 I lived in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, which is one neighborhood over from Park Slope on one side & Prospect Park on another side. My partner was a member of the soap press assigned to cover one of the NY soaps, so I came to know many actors & a writer & some other production people from that show. And actors from the other 3 NY shows. And members of the soap press. Behind teh scenes soap talk was  just a regular event. About a half dozen close friendships remain from those NY years. 

Now, besides contact with those people it's mostly online via DM or PM, etc.

Learned from Patrtick Mulcahey that the TEXAS! writers were put to work writing for AW before the new show was ready for them but they don't show up on any lists so are not credited with the work. And also that IMDb & wikipedia are rife with errors that are hard to correct. Learned from him that Mary-Ellis Bunim got a negative reputation she did not deserve at SFT but that she would not defend herself. Learned from him that he seriously thought someone would kill Paul Rauch.

Learned from Jean Passanante that she & Leah Laiman thought Lumina was  a strange story to be telling at AW. And, from her that the ABC HWs hated writing Rae Cummings into their stories & resented Shapiro making them do it. 

Learned from Carolyn Culliton that Lorraine Broderick retired & then that she & Richard retired a few months later. And from her that she was not in the Writers' Room the last days of AW because she was a daily script writer. And from her that Gary Tomlin & Sam Ratcliff came up with the gorilla for the 2-day finale & that she "effin hates" being memorialized forever as Carolyn the gorilla but that one of those guys is godparent to one of her children & the other one she just loved so she's okay with it.  

Back in NY, one night after seeing Alan Rickman in Noel Coward's PRIVATE LIVES, we went to Joe Allen's for supper & to wind down & Anne Heche's party from PROOF was seated right beside us. Needless to say I spent the entire time nodding as if I was paying attention but really just straining to overhear everything they said. Awful I know. 

Edited September 3, 2023 by Donna L. Bridges
forgot something

[Xanthe]

Oh, interesting. Do you know what shows she has worked on?

[beebs]

She was EP of "Working The Engels" on NBC with her sister Katie, but otherwise I'm not familiar with other projects she's been involved in.

[Xanthe]

Thanks! I remember that show with Andrea Martin and watched at least some of it at the tlme. The name Ford is of course kind of ...tainted... in Toronto and it never would have occurred to me to connect the EPs of a Canadian-produced series to Constance Ford.

[AmandainNC28655]

Years ago, I wrote for an online soap site and covered All My Children.  I had an opportunity to go to New York City and got to spend time with Alexa Havins, Justin Bruenning and Bobbie Eakes and attend their fan events when they were on AMC.  

[beebs]

I forgot to mention as well, a friend on mine had a small speaking role last year on Coronation St.