OLTL / Just finished reading Ellen Holly's book...
Uyun
before, but I just finished reading Ellen Holly's book 'One Life,' and
I am utterly appalled and saddened.
It's plain disheartening how she and Lillian Hayman, both of whom had
a successful stage careers prior to OLTL when Agnes Nixon personally
approached them to join the cast of this fledgling soap, were treated
by various directors and producers. From how she described it, they
seemed contemptibly put off by her for simply not feeling "grateful"
that they gave her a job and willing to take anything they dished out
w/o question, and for daring to have an opinion--no matter how fluffy
and non-threatening she'd attempt to make it to not offend anyone.
They wanted her to smile and say 'Yes Massa, I's happy to do wut you
tell me.'
The blatant disrespect and disregard that they showed her on one hand
is shocking--but on the other is typical.
Based on what I read, I now also have mixed feelings for Agnes Nixon.
On one hand, Holly praises her for being a brilliant writer, with a
keen sense of timing, realism and palatable creativity--on the other
hand though, she also describes her as being too much of an
unquestioning 'team player,' who basically jumped ship to AMC and
became so embroiled in that show that she didn't bother to keep an
active tab on the going on's at OLTL, and rarely, if ever, used her
silent veto power to protect her creation--or go to bat for the
actors, even when she knew that they were being mistreated. Almost
like a passive wife who allows her husband to over discipline the
kids, while never doing anything about it on the surface.
After Nixon left, ABC immediately made a deliberate effort to turn
OLTL into a interchangeable with the rest daytime soap, didn't bother
to uphold its original purpose, and often regaled Holly (and the rest
of the early ethnics) to being a second tier supporting player (even
though she had been PROVEN to be a ratings draw, at one point was
receiving the most fan mail of anyone on the show, and had OLTL fans
her asking her to tell the show to feature her more).
Executive producer Joe Stuart, from the way she describes him, was a
big cad who played hot and cold with her, was suspicious of and
couldn't understand her appeal...but willing to exploit it from time to
time--while Paul Rauch was simply a Doberman, who saw her as less than
dead weight. The way he went after her for just being there was truly
disgusting. It sounded as if he angrily resented her for simply not
fitting the mold of the "new," vanilla, One Life to Live that he was
trying to create, bullied her insessantly, and openly wanted her
gone. She and Hayman were continually slapped, and when their stiff
upper lips proved to strong to run them away, were finally kicked
out. The saddest part of this was when after having been fire by
Rauch and ordered out of the studio, Ellen was cleaning out her
dressing room, and the only one who was gracious enough to help her
and say goodbye was the actress who played Didi O'Neill--who at the
time was new to the show and sweetly unaware of the vicious politics.
None of her co-stars, who'd she been working with for years, said
anything to her.
And after spending so many years trying to be committed to OLTL,
despite how unhappy her experience largely was, Holly's Broadway
career wound up cooling down on her...resulting in her having to
basically to give up show business altogether and join the check to
check rat race, accepting work wherever she could just to support
herself. That the show then had the nerve to invite her to OLTL's
25th anniversary gala, after having not bothered to say anything to
her since her firing almost a decade earlier, was simply tacky. They
just wanted her to be there so that they could exploit the legacy of
the Carla character that evening.
While Holly's writing seemed, at times, very bitter, hostile, and
perhaps even mildly neurotic--she still came off very convincing and
poignant, so much so that you can't really blame her.
Very sad book. Even though the administration that was responsible
for this debauchery is long defunct, it still left me feeling a bit
sour toward One Life to Live anyway.
Sort of makes you wonder how they're treating Renee Elise Goldsberry.