Bert Bauer Interview

Janet McLean shared this link on a Guiding Light Facebook page. I’m glad she did because it is well worth seeing. According to the original YouTube uploader this was Charita Bauer (Bert Bauer)’s last interview. (She was on the show on a regular basis until that December.) I think it’s a little early for that, but it could be.

This interview takes place in September 1984. Bauer (her character and her last names were the same) had to have her leg amputated due to a blood clot. When she returned to the show her character, Bert, had the same experience. At first she resisted the idea of having her character live through it too, but when she got such a positive response from the real life people she was working with she agreed to do it.

This was her last major storyline (although she lived off screen on the show after the actress’ death until Ed took Michelle to visit and she had a chance to hold her namesake). Normally all you see of this amputee storyline is the famous scene where she confronts Josh Lewis who is dealing with temporary paralysis and so is doing recovery at the same time she is. Josh angrily gives up and Bert rolls over and tells him why he can’t quit.

Besides that one scene this clip goes farther showing parts of other scenes including:

• Behind the scenes shot of prepping a scene between Phillip Spaulding and Bert
• Bert talks to Ed and Mike (Awesomesauce) Bauer, her sons, about how grateful she is to still be alive and that it wasn’t worse
• Mike finding her in the physical therapy room
• Bert standing up for the first time
• Mike encourages her to continue walking across the room when it suddenly strikes her that this is a reverse of a situation where she encouraged a baby Mike to take his steps across Papa Bauer’s living room

It really was a great story and it’s truly sad that by the time they had “Bert’s” funeral on-screen that there weren’t more people who had really worked with her left (due to recasts etc.) Michael O’Leary (Rick Bauer, Bert’s grandson) was very close to her and as you watch the episode I think what you’re seeing is O’Leary‘s true grief and respect. 

Robansuefarm is the handle of one of Manny and Guiding Light‘s biggest fans following in her family’s footsteps of Guiding Light fandom since 1939. This blog is an effort to make it easy to find Guiding Light and especially Manny online. Check back here for her blog, find fanfic previews and fake WSPR newscasts on her YouTube, find podcasts that look back to old shows and audios of her fanfics on Blog Talk Radio, and finally follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Tags: Bert Bauer, GL, Guiding Light