Tuesday, June 14,1970
The other day I saw an ABC inter-office memorandum which began “Effective mid June, Rosemary Prinz who played Amy Tyler . . . will no longer be with the show.” For soap opera fans like myself, the world was coming to an end. There hadn't been a comparable bit of bad news since the day it was rumored that Penny (Miss Prinz’ last starring role) was leaving “As the World Turns.” Having turned a number of housewives on to the peace movement, why was Miss Prinz now abandoning the group? Was she the victim of a purge, the repression all the real-life political activists have been saying is now going on? The confidential ABC memorandum reported only that ‘at this point, the character of Amy is not being written out of the script. Amv will be leaving Pine Valley for a ‘rest.’ ” Isn’t that what the Kremlin said when Khrushchev stepped down? Was Amy Tvler being sent to Sochi, the Black Sea resort, or Siberia for a rest? Before Amy Tyler became a non-person, I had a cup of coffee with Rosemary Prinz at the Russian Tea Room last Friday afternoon to find out the real story. It’s true that Amy Tyler is kaput.'
Miss Prinz had just finished shooting her last installment on the show that day. The last show will be on the air this Friday. It will be the bluest Friday in the history of daytime television since a bar of Ivory Soap sank in the Proctor and Gamble Co. swimming pool. Miss Prinz denied the show was getting rid of her character because of Amy’s political and social activities. “I promised Agnes (Nixon, who writes the show) that I would stay for five months. My time is up.” “You play a flaming moderate,” I suggested. “Are they explaining your vanishing act by sending you to jail for 90 days for trespassing or burning your sister’s son’s draft card?” Miss Prinz told me exclusively how Amy Tyler takes her final powder. “I write a letter stating my reasons for going away. My continuing presence in Pine Valley can only antagonize the already-oomplex emotional situation. I don’t want to hurt Philip anymore. I need time to get things together. While I am away, the letter explains, I hope to do something helpful for humanity in general. I wilt continue to work for peace—in Europe.” Reading the letter lasts about three or four days on the show. “It’s a long letter,” Miss Prinz said “Amv Tyler Isn’t one of your note-writers.”
The last time we will see Amy Tyler on Friday she will be on an airplane. “I am having hallucinations. They call it flashbacks. In soap opera, characters have total recall; they never forget a word of old dialogue.” The very last scene in her career as queen of the soap opera shows Miss Prinz on the plane coming in for a landing somewhere in Europe. “I am crying,” she said. “No, I’m not crying for joy. I enjoyed working on the show, unlike 'As the World Turns.’ ” Historv repeats itself in soap opera. When Miss Prinz as Penny got out of “As the World Turns,” she also wrote a letter that last week explaining she was sorrv she had caused so much pain to the other characters. She loved everybody too much, especially her stepson, to go on like that.The last sight of Penny was on an airplane bound for Europe, and she was crying.
It may be some consolation for soap opera fans to learn that Amy Tyler is meeting Penny in Europe, and they will live together unhappily forever. (P.S. Rosemary Prinz is really going to Beverly Mass., where she will open in a summer stock production of “Send Me No Flowers" on June 22. She has vowed never to return to soap opera. Like I am finally in my right mind.” Tune in next year for the continuing drama of Rosemary Prinz and her fight to stay disenchanted with soap operas.)
By
Paul Raven ·
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