Here is my fourth write-up on All My Afternoons by Annie Gilbert. The book is copyright 1979. This entry will summarize the Search for Tomorrow chapter, which is broken into five sections: general show history, “Happy Birthday SFT”, Mary Stuart, Larry Haines and The Soap Opera Kid.
The general show history begins with a write up about what SFT was aiming for in creating Mary Stuart’s character of Joanne. She was the heart of the show and its main heroine. According to the book, Roy Windsor the creator of the program wanted Joanne to be a modern version of Ma Perkins who was exemplary.
When SFT premiered in 1951 as a 15-minute show (obviously in black and white), it cost $8,073 a week. The show in the 70s was 30 minutes long, in color (of course) and it cost $110,000 a week. The soap opera took place in Henderson. They reference Mary-Ellis Bunim who is best known to me as the person who came up with The Real World. Yes she came from daytime, and worked her way up from production assistant to producer of SFT in a 12-year period.
The book then begins to go into the long history of Joanne. She was married to a man named Keith who died in a car accident leaving her a widow caring for their daughter Patti. The actress who played Patti (Lynne Loring) grew up on the show from age 5-18 Joanne’s best friends were Stu and Marge Bergman and they went into business together opening up Motor Haven Inn. Joanne then became involved with Arthur. Owning the inn brought the mob into Joanne’s life. The “syndicate” tried to take it over by poisoning some soup to ruin the reputation of the place.
Joanne and Arthur’s marriage didn’t last, as he became an adulterer (sleeping with her sister Eunice) and an alcoholic. He ended up dying of a heart attack after he went into AA as someone claimed he fathered someone.
The next man in Joanne’s life was Sam, who had been an enemy of Arthur. She didn’t want to be with him, but Sam saved Patti’s life. Patti by this point was a teen and part of “the beat generation” (whatever that means…) Joanne’s sister was back again and tried to get Sam into bed, but failed. Sam went on trial for murdering his former wife, but was cleared. Before they were married, Sam went to Africa for the UN, and fell off a riverboat and was presumed dead.
Joanne had to move on again romantically and fell for the doctor who treated her blindness named Tony. Sam came back from the dead, but he had a jungle disease of some sort. She returned to him, but Sam died and was accused of his murder. She was cleared of the charges and married Tony; he quickly died of a heart attack when he tried to save a girl for members of a mob. By this point, Joanne was widowed four times…though it must be stated the stories summarized above happened over more than 20 years.
Joanne and Stu were still friends, but didn’t become involved even though Marge had passed away. They opened the Hartford House. Joanne dated a man named Chris and another named Greg, but those relationships ended quickly.
In real life, Mary Stuart had two children while being on Search for Tomorrow. The first pregnancy was hidden and Patti who was 12 at the time would stand in front of her mom. The second pregnancy was written in, but the child was killed. Joanne’s son Duncan Erik lost his life by getting hit by a car. Prior to this, the program had used footage from Mary’s real life of her own son for this baby. She was horrified by this story and nearly quit. Mary used how her mother dealt with her father’s death to play this material.
The book then mentions how SFT started to “layer” stories to attract different age groups. While characters like Joanne and Stu were still around other plots came into play. Steve and Liza Kazlo facing issues of careers, infidelity and tragedy. Steve was a musician and the actor pictured in the role is none other than Michael Nouri (currently on All My Children as Caleb). At the time, Meg Bennett was playing Liza, she has been on other soaps since then like Santa Barbara, Young and the Restless and General Hospital. She is married IRL to Brian Frons. Scott and Kathy Phillips who had to deal with her alcoholism, adultery and nervous breakdown and the difficulties they have with their adopted child is another example. The actors who played the roles at the time of the book may be familiar to some as well. Peter Simon who was Ed Bauer for many years on Guiding Light was Scott and Courtney Sherman played Kathy. During the 70s, they became involved in real life and were married. In the 90s, I read that it was controversial, but that’s a whole other story. These days she is a scriptwriter for One Life to Live and credited as Courtney Simon. There is also a picture or two of Joel Higgins who was the dad on one of the shows I grew up watching Silver Spoons. According to the author this layered approach had helped the ratings.
The Happy Birthday SFT section has a picture of the cast on its 25th anniversary in 1976. At the time, it was the longest running soap opera. The cast, their families, and friends, CBS reps and P&G people were there for the party at the Plaza Hotel. Mary Stuart gave a speech about the event. How three men Charles Irving, Roy Winsor, and Bill Craig came together to built a town from nothing. Part of her speech was the following that I think explains a lot about the appeal of soap operas: “…Oh, you can’t find it on a map, and at night the houses and the shops come apart and are stored in scenery docks, but it is real. If you don’t believe me, ask millions of people all over the country, and they will tell you it’s real. Maybe a special kind of real that is a little gentler. It is a place to share a fantasy, an idea, a friend or emotion. The emotions are not play-pretend; we all know that and so do they. If that is not reality, I don’t know what is.” She goes on to a great analogy of people who have come and gone how some are like ornamental trees and some have stayed and grown shade trees that have roots and a history.
Mary Queen of Soaps is about an interview the writer does with Mary Stuart. At the time, the author wrote how Mary was perhaps the only person to have played the same character for over 27 years on television. She started her time with Mary outside Mary’s apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Mary chatted with her doorman about needing her dog walked and some milk. They then go to the drugstore on Madison Avenue where she cashes a check. The druggist and Mary have a conversation and while he knows her, the writer wonders if he knows Joanne. Outside the pharmacy, they meet with Pesya, who is grey-haired and the wardrobe mistress for SFT. Mary and Pesya go to work every day together in a cab.
Then Annie Gilbert goes into Mary’s history. She’s from Tulsa came to NYC to do radio serials as in a magazine it said the salary was $500 a week. Mary felt out of sorts in Tulsa, and once she was old enough left the south. Her first job in NYC was as a hatcheck girl at the Roosevelt Grill, where she sometimes was able to sing with the band. Joe Pasternak, a producer, discovered her, and believed she should be in pictures. Mary did a screen test and was given a contract with MGM. After four years and 20 movies, she quit being a starlet and moved back to New York, as she was just not happy out in California. Humorously, she and Roy Winsor had a mutual acquaintance and were waiting for them. They struck up a conversation and she complained how on radio and television women are too perfect. This meeting was so memorable to Roy that he created a show based upon that idea, which was SFT. He got an assistant to track Mary down for the lead part and offered her a salary of $500 a week to start.
The article then goes back to present day sometime in the 1970s. The cinderblock rehearsal hall at SFT has no windows, cluttered with a coffee urn, donuts, metal folding chairs and Formica tables. The director Don Wallace asked Mary’s advice about a kitchen set as she knows more than anyone else in regards to the show. Then it was her turn to rehearse. It is explained the scenes being rehearsed were the end of the relationship between Chris Miller and Joanne. In real life, the actors didn’t get along so great, so the pairing was scrapped and he was sent packing. From the way he was acting, the author could tell he was humbled.
After rehearsing Mary and Annie Gilbert go back to Mary’s dressing room, which is very small. Mary calls TV Guide with a correction to an interview they did over the phone the day before. The metal closet in the room is overflowing; hooks on the wall have umbrellas, sweaters, hats and dresses. Mary though has been busy not just with acting on SFT, but singing/songwriting too. The author said Mary looked sad, as she told her about how she is up at 3 am thinking about everything she didn’t do right. Mary takes out her guitar, strumming and humming. She talks about her failed marriage, and how she wrote a children’s book. While they were married, she told him about writing it, and he threw it across the room telling her how she doesn’t even read. She ended up never finishing the book, but on the day she divorced she started writing music and sang her first song.
Then it goes back to things, having to do with SFT. In the make-up room, Joel Mason takes care of her like he has done for years. What is interesting was early on Mary would shop for Joanne’s props, as she wanted it to be accurate. After Mary divorced and cut her hair, Joanne changed too and became more outspoken, adventurous and independent.
At lunch, Annie and Mary sit on a bed on a studio set and munch on roast beef sandwiches. Mary explains how being Joanne is not like being two people, but she feels like they grew up together, as she put a lot of herself into the character and it helped her grow. She’d try things out as Joanne and then be able to do them as Mary. Then she mentions sometimes what happens when she meets people who are condescending to her due to her role in daytime. “In this country, we’re all programmed not to show feelings, and soap operas are all about feelings. That’s why people put them down. That’s why they’re ashamed to say they watch them.” That’s an interesting way of looking at it.
The crew comes back and Mary wrapped up her leftover sandwich. She goes into a quiet and subdued mood, which fits what is going on with Joanne. The show is taped and then Mary goes up to the control room where Don Wallace smiles.
Soap Opera Digest is there that day, and Mary takes some photos. She took Annie by the hand and they left to go back uptown from 6th Avenue. At Mary’s apartment, Mary’s mother insists Annie looks at Mary’s fan mail, which has been organized in boxes by date and subject. Just about every letter she sees is addressed to Joanne and not Mary. They ask for advice, some give support, and some warn of bad things going on in Henderson that Joanne should know about.
Annie goes and looks at Mary singing in the next room and is struck that Mary has been wearing the same clothing all day (both as herself and Joanne). She said it is interesting that in her opinion Mary seems alone/lonely while she is probably the only person who has ever had 8 million people consider her their friend.
The next part is an interview with Larry Haines about soap acting. He started as a kid with the acting bug, who would see movies and then re-enact it to the other children in his neighborhood. In college, he got a scholarship. He did a general audition, which no longer happens. Basically an actor would go to an ad agency and have their performance rated, and get jobs in that manner. Quickly he was doing three or four shows a day seven days a week.
He got a job on the first television soap opera The First Hundred Years. The show was cancelled and was offered a gig at SFT, which lasted more than 25 years. Then he describes the soap opera time line. They started at 8 am, blocking and rehearsing each scene in the hall. This would be until about 9:45 am. Then it was time for makeup, and a camera run through from 1015, and a second run through at 1130 until lunch at noon. After lunch, at 1 pm there are notes, dress rehearsal from 1:30 and taping from 2:30 to 3. So in about 4 hours of prep they do a 30-minute show. He compares that to doing Maude, and it was over 40 hours of prep over five or six days. With soaps though to be successful you have to be a quick study and concentrate.
They also talk about wisecracking on the set (helps lessen stress), and new actors feeling ostracized (newbies do it to themselves being uptight). She asks about how he deals with the fact he knows more about the character of Stu than writers and directors. He said this is one of the problems of soaps, and how he learned to “override the fluctuations in how his character is written. You have to inject your own knowledge of the character.” He explained it is by attitude and sometimes paraphrasing a line or two, as some writers tried to write him too proper. He was also asked about getting tired playing the same character. He said at times he gets annoyed if he is only doing recapping, which is “a necessary evil on soaps. You can’t expect even an addicted fan to see five shows a week, so you have to catch him up on what he’s missed.” He said the trick is to make them conversational. Also as an actor he doesn’t like to read ahead and know where Stu’s life was going to go. In meeting fans, about 90% of them think of him as Stu and not Larry. When he interacts with viewers, he tries to stay in character for that reason.
In closing, Larry mentioned some of the positives in his career due to playing Stu. He was able to pick and choose projects outside of SFT. All but one of the Broadway shows he was involved in was successful. He also shares a story about walking on the street and Joe DiMaggio passed him by. They got beyond each other and then looked back simultaneously. It gave him a real kick that Joe DiMaggio a hero to him recognized him. Larry though was too shy to ask for an autograph. Another time, he was walked on Park Avenue. A limo pulled up and out came Mr. and Mrs. Nixon (at the time he was the Vice President). He overheard Pat whispering to her husband how that was Stu on SFT.
The chapter wraps up with a story about Chris Lowe who at 14 had been on SFT for 9 years as Eric. They explain SORAS without using the term, as it was not around yet in the 1970s. Chris Lowe got into acting, as he was a precocious 5-year old who went on his own anti-smoking campaign to convince adults to stop the habit. One person was so impressed by Chris, she suggested to Chris’s mother Anne to get pictures done. They got a call for him to audition at SFT. One of the producers was smoking and Chris told him “it’s a matter of life and breath!” He ended up winning the part.
From working at SFT, he learned how to act. Chris’s mother helped him memorize. Eventually people in the cast helped him Leila Scala (who played his grandma) taught him how to run lines. Dan Levin, a director, treated him like the adults in the cast. Peter Simon until he left SFT mentored him (and there is a quote about that experience in the book from Peter about Chris.)
The book describes his stage mother, who had been a teacher. She tutors him on schoolwork and he works at SFT without a contract. That way if it becomes too much for him, he could leave the program. Chris did television ads too, and saw the commercials as the business and Search as the show. He seemed to prefer SFT, but the money is in ads as a successful one can earn as much as $6,000. Chris wanted to be a normal person when he grew up, and if he continued acting not be a big star. As an actor, Chris’s biggest challenge was dealing with a drunken father. These scenes proved he was more than just a cute kid, but an actor.
So that’s the Search for Tomorrow section. I didn’t expect to write such a big summary. I tried to be brief, but it was over 20 pages to summarize. The next section of this book is on the late soap opera As the World Turns.
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