This is the eighty-first in an irregular feature where we will report updates on what cast members of Guiding Light are doing now. I’m playing catch up on some soap magazine news. So as a reminder you can buy back issues:
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2014/06/07/faq-back-issues-2014/
Bethany Joy Lenz (our dearly beloved Michelle Bauer Santos #4) guest starred on Grey’s Anatomy. The episode is called “1-800-799-7233.” It’s the winter premiere of the second half of the season (Season 14, Episode 9) and originally aired January 18, 2018. Her character’s name is Jenny. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7043736/
Morgan Englund (Dylan Lewis, Billy and Reva’s son who ended up with Bridget) is the subject of a where are they now feature in the July 3, 2017 issue of Soap Opera Digest. After GL, Englund wanted to go into music, but he was a single father so he decided he needed something more regular. Following in Dylan’s shoes he became a first responder and then part of the fire department. Then in 2017 he decided to try to get into music again. About his connections to the Guiding Light cast he says “I just talked to Melissa Hayden [Bridget Reardon Lewis] yesterday because she’s hopefully going to be involved in some way with the video. We connect every couple of years and want to do something together. And every time I see Kim [Zimmer, Reva Shayne Lewis], we’re right back to where we were before, so there’s a lot of love there. I loved working with her and Jordan [Clarke, Billy Lewis]. Maureen Garrett [Holly Reade] and I also exchanged messages recently….GL didn’t hire just any people; [they cast] mostly theater actors, like [the late] Michael Zaslow [Roger Thorpe]. They were amazing actors to work with. I feel very fortunate.”
In the May 14, 2018 issue of CBS Soaps in Depth Sharon Newman’s Crimson Lights gets a shout out because – unlike Company in the last couple of years – people actually pay for what they eat. Go Sharon!
Joseph Campanella (a criminal named Joe Turino) died May 16, 2018. Campanella was an incredibly busy actor appearing on many shows on daytime, primetime, film, and the stage over the decades until his retirement in 2009. Guiding Light was his second regular series role and we was on between 1959-1960. I have to idea who this character was. I’m glad we got the name, but if anyone has more details, please share.
https://www.cbs.soapsindepth.com/posts/days-of-our-lives-bold-and-the-beautiful-guiding-light-joseph-campanella-dead-160189
Joseph Campanella Dies: TV & Film Actor With 200 Credits Over Six Decades Was 92
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/joseph-campanella-dead-character-actor-909457
Check out photo spreads of soap star houses in the May 27, 1997 issue of Soap Opera Weekly. Check out the homes of: Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor, The Young and the Restless she also had a cameo as a friend of Vanessa’s at the last Vanilly wedding in the final days of the show), Grant Aleksander (Phillip Spaulding, Guiding Light), Judi Evans Luciano (Beth Raines, Guiding Light), and Robin Mattson (teenage Hope Bauer, Guiding Light). As a bonus there are two childhood photos of Ethan Erickson who played J Chamberlain on Guiding Light. His childhood nickname was Skip.
Recently John Wesley Shipp (Dr. Kelly Nelson, of Kelly and Morgan fame) was recently left out of a reunion photo for Dawson’s Creek where he played Dawson’s dad. He was interviewed for the Entertainment Weekly article for the 20th anniversary of the show’s debut, but neither of the parents were included in ET‘s reunion photo. Thanks for the tip VIP Auctions newsletter.
After Fiona Hutchison (Jenna Bradshaw Cooper) left the Guiding Light, one of her projects became teaching Understanding Daytime at New York’s School of Film and Television (SFT). Read all about it in the February 8, 2000 issue of Soap Opera Weekly. She talks about her return in December 1996 after 2 years and a baby. She feels she is better at her job and more appreciative. She neogiated a 3 year contract with a 52 week cycle instead of the normal 13. Read all about it in the May 27, 1997 issue of Soap Opera Weekly.
Emme Rylan (Lizzie Spaulding Lewis #6, part of the wonderful Bizzie pairing) has a quick interview about her General Hospital role in the January 22, 2018 issue of Soap Opera Digest. In a seperate roundup in the same issue about irrational fears Rylan confesses to an irrational fear that there are sharks in her swimming pool. Rylan had announced the birth of her daughter Dakota Rose Money on June 26, 2017. See a photo and read more in the July 24, 2017 issue of Soap Opera Digest.
Kurt Knudson recurred as Len the ice cream store owner who gave Michelle an alibi. He first aired January 4, 2000. He previous had a recurring role as Judge Ari Waxman on Law and Order and as Judge Louis Brandels on ABC’s Annie. Read more about it in the January 11, 2000 issue of Soap Opera Weekly.
There is a profile about Scott Bryce (Craig Montgomery #1, both chronologically & in greatness, during falling in love with Sierra, etc.) in the July 25, 2016 issue of Soap Opera Digest. It includes a shout out to his father Ed Bryce who starred as Bill Bauer on Guiding Light. He passes on this advice from his dad. “Remember, even when you’re the star, you are just a brush stroke in someone else’s painting, so check your ego at the door.”
Melina Kanakaredes (Eleni Cooper #1) talks about her time on Guiding Light and on her new show The Resident in the February 26, 2018 issue of Soap Opera Digest. She says she is still close to Rick Hearst (Alan-Michael Spaulding #3).
There is an indepth feature story on John Driscoll (Coop Cooper #4) in the November 13, 2017 issue of Soap Opera Digest. It talks about his transition from acting (last appearing as Chance Chancellor on The Young and the Restless) to a life in the Army. He currently is serving in the Virginia Army National Guard 29th Infantry Division in Kuwait. Driscoll said he is currently in touch with Robert Bogue (A.C. Mallet #2), Mandy Bruno (Marina Cooper #6), Lawrence Saint-Victor (Remy Boudreau), Jeff Branson (Shayne Lewis #7, the last one), Michelle Ray Smith (Ava Peralta), and Frank Dicopoulos (Frank Cooper).
Saint-Victor was featured as a Take Five in the July 24, 2017 issue of Soap Opera Digest.
Among the stars on hand for the 2017 Jane Elissa Extravagenza benefitting Broadway Cares and The Jane Elissa Charitable Fund for Leukemia and Lymphona were Sonia Satra (Lucy Cooper Spaulding, part of terrific LAM pairing, victim of Marian Crane) and Sean McDermott (Hart Jessup #3 who came back to find Roger married to Dinah). Read more in the January 8, 2018 issue of CBS Soaps in Depth.
Laura Bell Bundy (Marah Lewis #5, the one who started Marony) produced and directed a concert benefitting women’s rights, the ACLU, the National Breast Cancer Coalition, and Planned Parenthood NY. Read more about it in the January 8, 2018 issue of CBS Soaps in Depth.
The October 30, 2017 issue of CBS Soaps in Depth features a tribute to New York City photographer Arthur L. Cohen who specialized in shooting soaps. He had to retire in 2014 when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and passed away during summer 2017. Check out a roundup of photos from New York based soaps over the years. Find a bunch of Guiding Light and As the World Turns stars with their memories of the photographer.
Karla Mosley(Christina Boudreau) reports back on a recent publicity trip for The Bold and the Beautiful. The trip was to South Africa during October 2017. She got the chance to show off South African high fashion. B&B cast mates Jacob Young (Rick Forrester) and Heather Tom (Katie Logan) joined her on the trip. Read more and see photos in the January 8, 2018 issue of CBS Soaps in Depth. Mosley announced she is expecting her first child with boyfriend John Roger it’s due in August see the announcement in the May 7, 2018 issue in Soap Opera Digest. In the same issue in answer to a roundup Mosley says: “They call me ‘The Human Jukebox.’ because if someone says anything that reminds me of a song, I can’t help but sing it, and I don’t even realize I’m singing it sometimes.” Mosley also won one of the GLAAD awards for her portrayal of Maya Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful and showed of a baby bump she is pregnant by her boyfriend John Roberts. In a separate story she tells about going to see Nelson Mandela speak and that she was in a kids’ rock group called Sugar Beats. Read all about it in the May 14, 2018 issue of CBS Soaps in Depth.
Maura West (Carly Tenney Snyder on As the World Turns, Ava Jerome on General Hospital) is interviewed about her General Hospital role in the July 3, 2017 issue of Soap Opera Digest. About ATWT she says she keeps connected with her former costars through social media, “We were SO close on that show. We are still a big family, we’re just sort of scattered to the wind. I communicate the most with Martha [Byrne, Lily Walsh Snyder], Michael [Park, Jack Snyder, part of CarJack], and Colleen [Zenk, Barbara Ryan].” She hadn’t yet seen Park in his hit Broadway show, Dear Evan Hansen.
Kassie DePaiva (Chelsea Reardon, Maureen and Nola’s little sister) is featured in a roundup where they feed actors quotes from past interviews and ask them to respond. Find it in the November 13, 2017 issue of Soap Opera Digest. DePaiva also was featured in a detailed round up about the stars on Mother’s Day. Read it in the May 14, 2018 issue of CBS Soaps in Depth.
Back in the February 8, 2000 issue of Soap Opera Weekly featured Jean Carol (Nadine Cooper, Harley and Frank’s mom) talked about her latest movie Scream Queens: A Musical.
Laura Wright (Cassie Layne #1, Reva’s long lost sister) talked about her time on Guiding Light when her character stayed with Edmund when they were trying to get pregnant and impregnated Dinah Marler. “Brian Mertes, who was my director on Guiding Light, taught me that I can justify absolutely anything as an actor. He wouldn’t let the stay in the no and he taught me to just go for it. He’d say, “We have to do this. So why would your character do it? I’m not the actor who would say, “That doesn’t make sense to me,” or put in changes or complaints, ever, because I still justify anything you hand to me.” Read about it in the February 26, 2018 issue of Soap Opera Digest.
The 1997 Time Capsule round up article in the July 3, 2017 issue of Soap Opera Digest list these turn over in the TPTB at Guiding Light: “Paul Rauch took over as executive producer, succeeding Michael Laibson; Head Writers Michael Conforti, Victor Miller and Nancy Williams Watt were replaced by James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten; and the show celebrated major milestones; the 60th anniversary of its radio debut and the 45th anniversary of its move to TV.”
The 2003 Time Capsule round up article in the February 26, 2018 issue of Soap Opera Digest list these turn overs in the TPTB at Guiding Light: “John Conboy was named EP, and Millee Taggart resigned as head writer, succeeded by Ellen Weston and Donna Swajeski.”
A spooky story round up in the October 30, 2017 issue of CBS Soaps in Depth includes the end of the Cleva (Reva’s clone) story complete with photo. It also has photos of David Kimball (Killer carved in his forehead) from The Young and the Restless and from As the World Turns the James-Barbara-Gunnar time travel story and Shannon O’Hara return from the dead despite her shrunken head storylines.
In the July 24, 2017 issue of Soap Opera Digest has a close up photo of Vincent Irizarry (Lujack/Nick McHenry) in his disguise he wore for the end of his role on Deimos Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives. Read an article about his character’s death and an interview with him in the July 3, 2017 issue of Soap Opera Digest.
CBS Soaps in Depth online celebrated Kim Zimmer‘s (Reva Shayne Lewis) birthday in February. Check out the photos across her long career. http://www.cbs.soapsindepth.com/posts/guiding-light-kim-zimmer-birthday-124616/photos/kim-zimmer-gal-01-132496
Ellen Parker who played Maureen Reardon Bauer #2 announced she was in the independent film called Ties to Rachel that was then seeking a distributor in the May 27, 1997 issue of Soap Opera Weekly.
During the heighth of the Annie-Reva feud around when Annie faked Reva pushing her down the stairs, Suzanne Schwarzer (GL’s then costume designer) found a company called Annie Reva (in a total coincidence). She bought several of their pieces for the cast. Read more about it Soap Opera Weekly issue May 13, 1997. The article also spells out the complicated shooting of the actual fall. It mentions stunt woman Janet Paparazzo, director Bruce Barry, and stunt coordinator Peter Hock. It also looks as if Reva could actually be charged (it hasn’t happened, but hypothetically it could).
The May 27, 1997 issue of Soap Opera Weekly did a Where Are They Now? feature on Val Dufour. He left acting right after he left his role of attorney John Wyatt on Search for Tomorrow in 1980. He gave this great quote. “But the real challenge is the development of the characters and the day to day movability of it, because the writers change. I once told Mary Stuart (the last Meta Bauer on Guiding Light) that we should have been given an award for rewriting.”
UPDATED December 31, 2018: I caught 2 typos and fixed them.
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.
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