Another Soap Legend Dies
Sorry to my political readers but as you know, there is another facet of my life that occasionally I need to address. Today is one of those days.
Gloria Monty, the former executive producer of General Hospital who made the couple Luke and Laura into iconic figures in pop culture as she saved that show from cancellation, died yesterday of cancer. She was a fascinating woman. She was a small and frail looking woman who could instill more fear in a person than a 4-Star General. She changed the face of daytime, turning the 'washboard weepers' into fast-paced action-packed episodes with sweeping romantic adventures, turning love-on-the-run into a soap staple -- copied by everyone else. She was an original. May she be creating some incredible soap opera in heaven with Irna Phillips, Douglas Marland and all the other tremendously talented people we've lost from this dying genre.
posted by Esther @ 8:23 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Did you see that Dan Curtis died? He created Dark Shadows and many other programs as well--quite a wide range. The story is here.
Oh, and I was an addicted viewer of General Hospital back in the 1970's. Luke and Laura--ah, the memories!
Whatever happened to the actors who portrayed those two young lovers? If anyone knows, you do, Esther.
Yes, I saw about Dan Curtis and while it saddened me, I don't really have much of a connection to him that I'd be motivated to blog. Gloria, I did. Bill Bell, Ruth Warrick, also. But yes, Dark Shadows was a fun soap. I still remember being a young kid watching it in repeats on cable. Then one day I walked into the kitchen, my mom had the TV on and I saw Alexandra Isles on and I was like, "Mom, since when do you watch Dark Shadows?" And she was like, "Um, I'm watching the news." Alexandra Isles was testifying in the Claus von Bulow trial cause she'd been his mistress!!! Better storyline than they ever gave her on DS!!! ;)
Well, the two young lovers....are no longer young. Tony Geary, who played Luke, is almost 60. He returned to the show, with Genie Francis, around 1993 (actually, Tony returned as a different character in '91, but they killed that one and in '93 he recreated Luke). Genie is almost two decades younger than Tony. She left GH again in 2002 after having a few kids. She's married to Jonathan Frakes from Star Trek: Next Generation. In between GH stints she did a couple of other soaps, some prime time stuff, etc.
I guess that was probably a bit more info than you were probably looking for, LOL.
You've got that christopher cross song in my head ("think of laura but don't cry...")
soaps in the late 70s/early 80s really confused me. As a youngster, i wasn't allowed to watch much, but I can tell you, Stephano Dimera caused me no amount of sleepless angst.
I vaguely remember watching luke and laura, though not much. My memories of GH get confused with memories of Tootsie. That's one whacky hospital.
(*)>
OH, and you left out the juicy tidbit that laura/genie and her hubby (frakes/riker) did a stupendous guest appearance in my all time favorite show, Lois and Clark: the new adventures of superman. (yes, I have whacky taste, too).
(*)>
bw, funny you say that about mixing up GH and Tootsie. Actually Dustin Hoffman did his research for the role by visiting the set of GH. As a matter of fact, he based his reveal as a man in the movie on Sally the hitman's reveal (during the first summer-on-the-run story of Luke, the mob's little black book and the secret of the Left-handed Boy, Beachers Corners story) to being a man. :) As for Stefano DiMera, I don't think you're the only one who had a few sleepless nights over that villain. LOL!
Esther,
That wasn't too much info at all. Good stuff.
Dark Shadows was the rage for a while. People actually scheduled their lives around the show. But the name of that lead character, Barnabas? Jonathan Frid. And he was always flubbing his lines. Some of us used to tune it just to hear how badly he screw up.
Dan Curtis did lots of other stuff. Among those productions was The Winds of War.
I loved Saving Milly. Irony: Curtis's wife died from Alzheimer's last month.
So, Curtis is remembered for more than Shadows.
PS: Tony Geary must be completely bald by now. He was losing his hair way back when. Hard to believe he's 60, though. In his prime, he had the sexiest eyes--bedroom eyes.
(Probably too much info on my part this time)
Esther,
I would have the slightest idea what this fuss is all about but I agree with you anyway.
;-)
I meant "wouldn't"
Soaps are not a dying genre.
In fact it won. What else is Lost, Desperate Housewives, Invasions, Friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Every show is now an soap opera. Daytime might be dying but that is because of demographics and competition for attention.
And 2-6 million viewers a day is nothing to sneeze at hits like buffy rarely hit numbers that high.
Thats my 2 cents.
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