Here are my thoughts and summary on the beginning of the William J. Bell biography, "The Young and Restless Life of William J. Bell Creator of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful" by Michael Maloney with Lee Phillip Bell (Bill's widow). This entry will cover the foreword, preface and first three chapters.
The foreword was written by David Hasselhoff who played Snapper on Y&R in the 70s, and returned for a quick stint in the last two years. Of course, to most television viewers, he is better known as the guy from Knight Rider, Baywatch, America's Got Talent, or the viral video where he was extremely inebriated. David explains how he got the job with Y&R, how he left with Bill's support and never forgot his past. He references Baywatch and how his character Mitch had a son named Hobie. The on-screen relationship mirrored his story on Y&R. I would have never guessed that, he would use that influence on that show. That father/son duo was one of the few things on Baywatch that was genuine though out the run of the series.
The preface was written by Lee Phillip Bell. She explains the reasons behind the book (to inspire others, for the viewers, and the grandchildren.) She gives a brief synopsis of their life together, but there is a lot more to come. It is a great introduction into what will be read next.
The introduction begins with a quote from when Bill won his Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys in 1992. (Yes I did see the broadcast, and the fact that it is 20 years ago makes me feel OLLLLD). The intro goes into one of the most salacious parts of the book, an actor freaks out and complains about the writer. Bill responds chiding the actor, in such a way to shock everyone. It also explains a bit about Lee's history, how she was a talk show host in the style of Donahue and Oprah, before either hit the scene. There are also references what their children are up too, and mentions Irna Phillips/Guiding Light.
Chapter One - Backstory
This chapter explains Bill's life growing up in the Chicago suburbs. He had planned to be a doctor according to what he wrote in grade school, obviously that wasn't meant to be. There is also a reference to Bill having listened to radio soaps with his mother, specifically Irna Phillips' Guiding Light. Of course, Bill's mentor in the business was Irna, but more on that later. What is interesting is that Bill sounds ambitious as a kid, but pretty normal. There is a reference to how Bill would be a boring soap opera character, even if some of his characters had his traits. From reading this book, I'd disagree. There have been "normal" characters in soaps, as they exist to react to the crazy all around them.
Chapter Two - Mad Men
In this chapter, Bill Bell's work at McCann Erickson (a top Chicago advertising firm) along with his friendship with Jerry Birn, which continued until Bill's death. Details are given in regards to what campaigns they worked on along with how Bill proposed to Lee.
Chapter Three - When Bill Met Lee
This chapter, backtracks a bit and explains the early days of Bill and Lee's relationship. They knew each other casually as they both worked at WBBM-TV. Bill asked Lee on a date, but once she found out "we adopted a baby", she made a hasty retreat. The baby was his sister Mary, and obviously not a threat, but Lee feared the worst that he was married. Is it just me or does that sound like a classic sitcom premise? Eventually Lee found out what was really going on, and she befriended little 4 year-old Mary. This chapter explains Lee and Bill's wedding, which had flowers provided by her family's floral shop "Phillip's flowers" and goes into detail of who was in the wedding. Lee due to being a television personality, was extremely well-known. Bill had to deal with people treating him like a nobody, but took it in stride. Eventually with the family got a farm near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Bill was a huge Cubs fan, not missing opening day. The birth of their kids is also mentioned along with their birthdays.
After all this background material, the book begins to touch upon Bill's life working in soap operas. This of course is why I was interested in reading and writing about this book. While I think a biography needs material about the subject's personal life, I appreciate that less than 30 pages in, the focus shifts to Bill Bell's career in radio soap opera. Some of the stories about Irna Phillips are interesting especially if you take what she wrote in soaps into account, which I'll try to do, but that will be in my second "thoughts" post.
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