In Memoriam: Remembering Those We Lost in 2016 (Updated)

As 2016 comes to a close, we want to pay special tribute to those who passed away this year from the world of soap operas, including beloved creators, writers, performers and executives. Watch our tribute below.

Ilene Kristen: Claire Labine "Best Writer That I've Ever Worked With"

Roger Newcomb and Ilene Kristen

For two new episodes of entertainment web series Serial Scoop Now, I covered the red carpet for the Pride: The Series Season 2 premiere event on Saturday night in downtown New York City. Among those interviewed were creator Dorell Anthony (who plays Kai), Ilene Kristen (Eleanor), Lauren B. Martin (Tia), Jonathan Villanueva (Luis), Terissa Kelton (Riley), Ashley Mitchell (Trina), Aaron Mathias (Garrett), Scott Michael Salame (Owen), director Michael V. Pomarico, Adam Andrew Rios (Sheeneda/Adam), Braden Bradley (Travis), Tony D. Head (George) and Geri Reischl, who played Jan Brady in The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.

The iconic Ms. Kristen shared her appreciation for the creative side of working on independent productions.

"It's interesting to see people unleashing their creativity," she said.

Kristen also remembered legendary writer Claire Labine, who passed away earlier this year, and wrote years of memorable scripts for Kristen's Ryan's Hope character, Delia.

"Claire was the best writer that I've ever worked with," she explains. "When you got her scripts, you never wanted to change a line of them."

Six-time Emmy winning former All My Children director Michael V. Pomarico loved the freedom of being outside the studio.

"Coming from a structured show like that [All My Children] to have the freedom with this show was really, really wonderful," he explained.

When asked if there might be an All My Children 3.0 someday, he would only say, "I don't know. Maybe."

Watch the interviews below.

FLASHBACK: Claire Labine Honored at Soap Opera Digest Awards (1995)

In 1995, Claire Labine was given the Soap Opera Digest "Editor's Choice" Award at the magazine's annual awards ceremony. The honor was bestowed each year on individuals who had made a significant contribution to the genre. A tribute was introduced by Ryan's Hope star Kate Mulgrew, and General Hospital's Leslie Charleson and Brad Maule.

"I find myself in desperate need of a writer," Labine joked after taking the stage to accept the award. She was the still the head writer of GH at the time.

Labine then went on to express gratitude for the opportunities she had been given.

"I am so fortunate to have worked with the people with whom I have work, and am working," she said. "And I am so fortunate to be loved by the people by whom I am loved. I think all of us, everyone here tonight, is so lucky to have the opportunity to share what we get to share and do every day. And I just hope I'm going to go on doing it for a long time to come."

Watch the tribute to Claire Labine below.

ABC Releases Statement on Passing of Claire Labine

Claire Labine returned to Ryan's Hope in 1983, only
to be fired later that year by ABC.

Beloved soap opera writer Claire Labine died last week at age 82. During her storied career, she spent a number of years working for ABC, creating Ryan's Hope, and later writing for General Hospital and One Life to Live. The network released a statement after her passing, calling her an "imaginative storyteller" who paved the way for future writers.

Read ABC's statement below.

"We are sad to learn of the death of our friend and former colleague Claire Labine. As creator of Ryan's Hope and head writer of both General Hospital and One Life to Live in the 90s, Claire was an imaginative storyteller who inspired hope and sparked conversations through her stories and characters paving the way for a new generation of writers who would follow in her footsteps. We are proud and honored she was a part of our ABC Daytime family. We send our deepest condolences to her family and those closest to her."

RELATED:
- We Love Soaps Interview Archive: Claire Labine (2009)
- EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Claire Labine Answered YOUR Questions (2009)
- FLASHBACK: Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets (1979)

WLS Interview Archive: Claire Labine

Claire Labine

EDITOR'S NOTE: Reposted from November 2009.

I had the honor and privilege of talking with the eloquent and wonderful Emmy winning writer Claire Labine recently. In case you missed it, here is the complete seven part interview.

Part One - Labine discusses her writing process, reflects on her early career, and how mothering contributed to her understanding of soaps.

Part Two - Labine discusses her battles with ABC, struggles with recasts, and the psychological underpinnings of the Ryan family.

Part Three - Labine discusses controversial storyline choices on Ryan's Hope and General Hospital, and her reaction to the criticism that her work is “too depressing.”

Part Four - Labine dishes about life at General Hospital, the pressures of continuing the Luke and Laura legacy, inventing Sonny and Brenda, and why Jason Quartermaine was given amnesia.

Part Five - Labine shares insights into what happened when she went to work on One Life to Live and Guiding Light.

Part Six - Labine shares more about her struggles with Guiding Light and Paul Rauch, plus, the absurdities of focus groups.

Part Seven - We conclude by discussing Labine's life after Guiding Light, her health, and future hopes.

FLASHBACK: Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets (Part 1)

Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets

The Soap Box
Vol. V No. 9 September 1979
by Linda Susman

Like parents raising their offspring, soap opera writers have the awesome responsibility of creating and nurturing their show's characters and personality so that when it goes out into the world of daytime television, audiences will like it enough to become loyal friends.

Unlike a book, play or film that builds towards its conclusion with a prescribed set of circumstances in a specific period of time, the nature of the soap's continuing format puts it on a different plane. Henry Slesar, Edge of Night's super-sleuth, notes that "the key word in a soap is 'organic.' It has its own inner growth, and it changes because of the nature of the ingredients. Watching for change makes a soap more exciting and unique."

Behind that uniqueness, the philosophy and outlook of the writers provide the framework within which characters come to life and storylines achieve validity. For Edge, Slesar says, the personality is "suspense. We are definitely more related to the mystery magazine than to the confession magazine. We have a harder edge than most soaps because we are more plot-oriented. We must have the element of surprise and suspense that comes from very careful story planning." Slesar adds that his show is not without its share of inter-relationships. "There's no way of avoiding them--they are at the core of drama."

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Claire Labine Answered YOUR Questions

Claire Labine

EDITOR'S NOTE: Reposted from February 2010.

The Divine Ms. Claire Labine took extra time last December to answer YOUR questions, in response to her We Love Soaps interview in November. Here below are the answers to your questions:

Part One - The Emmy Winning writer answers YOUR questions pertaining to her influences, the writers she admires, and her history of writing on daytime.

Part Two - She responds to more comments and questions about the current state of soaps. Plus, what role did Claire play in the creation of The Bold and the Beautiful?

Part Three - She answers your questions about Ryan's Hope. Including network battles, cast turnaround, and what Maeve Ryan would say about Sarah Palin!

Part Four - The Divine Ms. Labine answers your questions about General Hospital, including reflections on writing for Jonathan Jackson, Maurice Benard, and her plans for the beloved Ward family.

Part Five - She answers your questions about One Life to Live, including how she helped Ron Carlivati, her fascination with Todd and Tea, plus her secret about Wendi Mercury.

Part Six - She answers YOUR questions about Guiding Light and Love of Life, including what the real plan was for "Holivia" [Crystal Chappell + Maureen Garrett].

Claire Labine Has Passed Away at Age 82

Claire Labine

Beloved nine-time Emmy winner writer Claire Labine passed away earlier this week. She was 82. A cause of death has not yet been disclosed.

Labine wass best known for co-creating ABC daytime soap opera Ryan's Hope 1975, and her writing stints at General Hospital, One Life to Live, Guiding Light, Where the Heart Is and Love of Life.

An alum of the University of Kentucky and Columbia University's School of Dramatic Arts, Labine began her writing career in the 1960s with a stint on Captain Kangaroo. After being fired two years into the job, she moved into soap operas, writing for CBS daytime drama Where the Heart Is.

Labine shared her love for working in daytime television during a 1997 interview with Writing magazine.

"The difference between daytime, primetime episodic, and film is simply that we have the luxury of time to play those scenes that I think are ultimately the most valuable: the emotional scenes involving relationships that really let the audience identify with these people," Labine said. "What you are dealing with is fundamental human emotion. And if you have a scene that is not about emotion but only about business or plot, you're in trouble. You need a few of them. But by God, the real scenes are the scenes between two characters in which something real and emotional is at stake for them."

The television community immediately responded with thoughts and memories of Labine on social media.

FLASHBACK: Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets (Part 3 of 3)

Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets

The Soap Box
Vol. V No. 9 September 1979
by Linda Susman

(continued from Part 2)

While Slesar doesn't specify "repition," he notes that, "after 11 years, you find yourself using story elements you said you'd never use, things that are dictated by logic. I always said I'd never bring anyone back from the dead; but when Maeve McGuire (ex-Nicole Drake) wanted to come back to the show, I managed to turn it into a good storyline." Slesar says he'd "write about anything interesting and entertaining" and likes to avoid "cliche subjects."

Part of the individuality of each soap lies in the names of its characters. Slesar feels that "if you are going to introduce a character with a personality, the name should be appropriate so it helps the audience define the person." For 'Raven,' Slesar envisioned a flashy, dark-haired dangerous kind of woman; young, with as yet unsharpened claws--the predatory bird. He knew a 'Draper' many years ago, who was "a dashing, boyish personality. The name also connotes sartorial splendor and, coincidentally, so does Tony Craig, who plays the part." 'Steve Guthrie's masculine, with a western sound, while 'Brandy Henderson' was to be a memorable woman, feminine yet strong. Since she was an attorney, Slesar named her after Justice Brandies.

FLASHBACK: Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets (Part 2)

Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets

The Soap Box
Vol. V No. 9 September 1979
by Linda Susman

(continued from Part 1)

Labine and Mayer's "long-term" projection is from three or four months to a year, since Mayer says, "you have to know where the characters will be a year from now. It's like a Victorian novel. The stories have to intertwine." He says that at the beginning, "we were much more cerebral. We were taking everything apart to find out why, how. Now, we're a little less formal. We talk story, plan together, throw ideas back and forth. We're always looking for good scenes, not mechanical ones, but dramatic scenes between people. Some scenes, of course, are obligatory, but we work for a certain kind of structure. Each segment is a little one-act play," he adds.

In addition to interview sessions with female viewers--to get a pulse on reaction to storylines and characters--Mayer says the show's actors are encouraged to have input. "One of our major players called up," he recalls as an example, "and he didn't like something in the story. He was right. We tore up 40 scripts--wrote 10 or 15 scenes--and got our script writers to do the same."

Remembering Michael Zaslow as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Sweeps the Nation

Michael Zaslow
Photo Credit: Jessica Burstein/NBC/NBCU

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've undoubtedly seen The Ice Bucket Challenge, the latest viral meme, splash across social media pages. It's all over TV news, newspapers and magazines.

Everyone from your next door neighbor to Oprah Winfrey is being showered with cold water and ice in an effort to raise awareness about ALS - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (or as it's also known, Lou Gehrig's disease).

It's also raising money -- as of today, over $40 million has been raised. (The ALS Association usually raises less than a tenth of that in an entire year.)

I'm really glad that ALS is getting some well-deserved attention and awareness. But for many of us soap fans, the person who shone a spotlight on ALS, and its horrible impacts, was the late Michael Zaslow.

For those that may not know him or his work, Zaslow was a New York based actor, and for many of us, he was Roger Thorpe, Guiding Light's most memorable villain, a man both dastardly and dashing. Roger was a passionate fighter, but his tormented relationship with ex-wife Holly, a woman he'd raped while they were married, was as much a battle of intellect as it was of heart.

Claire Labine To Be Honored, Kate Mulgrew Presenting At 64th WGA Awards

The 64th Writers Guild of America Awards will take place on Sunday, February 19 hosted by Rachel Dratch. The WGA East has also selected daytime TV writer Claire Labine as winner of the Ian McLellan Hunter Award. Judd Apatow will receive the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence.

WGA East president Michael Winship said: "With this year's Sargent and Hunter Awards, we honor one of the most important aspects of membership in the guild: collegiality. Both Judd Apatow and Claire Labine not only have created notable and entertaining bodies of work; they have gone out of their way to encourage and mentor new young writers, offering constant and solid support to those just starting out in the business."

Presenters include Kate Mulgrew, Jonathan Ames, Jon Benjamin, Shari Springer Berman, Jimmy Fallon, Geoffrey Fletcher, Nancy Giles, Steve Kroft, Seth Meyers, Robert Pulcini, James Schamus, Kristen Wiig and Terence Winter.

RELATED:
- NOMINATIONS: 2012 Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards -- ALL MY CHILDREN, GENERAL HOSPITAL, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
- WLS Interview Archive: Claire Labine (7-Part Series)
- WLS Interview Archive: Claire Labine Answered YOUR Questions (6-Part Series)
- 50 Greatest Soap Actresses: #38 Kate Mulgrew

Claire Labine Answers YOUR Questions, Part Six

In Parts One and Two of our follow up interview with writer Claire Labine, the Emmy winner answered your questions about her writing career.  In Part Three, she answered your questions specific to RYAN HOPE'S, in Part Four about GENERAL HOSPITAL, and Part Five about ONE LIFE TO LIVE. In this final part, she answers YOUR questions about GUIDING LIGHT and LOVE OF LIFE.

John asks: Were there any other GL characters you wished you could have written for, either who were on the canvas at the time but not utilized very much or who were already gone from the show by then?
Claire Labine: Yes indeed.  I can’t go into it because there isn’t any point.  In the end the network and the production entity called the shots.  That’s the way it is.  You take a deep breath and wish you could have been more eloquent in persuading them this would have been a good thing to do.  If you can’t do it, you can’t do it. 

We Love Soaps: We spoke about the triangle that so many enjoyed of Buzz, Holly, and Billy.  Who could you have seen Holly ending up with.
Claire Labine: I don’t know!  We would have to have played it out.  They were both so viable.  The chemistry with the three of them was gangbusters.  I don’t know who she would have ended up with.  Maybe a third party.

Claire Labine Answers YOUR Questions, Part Five

In Parts One and Two of our follow up interview with writer Claire Labine, the Emmy winner answered your questions about her writing career.  In Part Three, she answered your questions specific to RYAN HOPE'S, then in Part Four about GENERAL HOSPITAL.  Now in Part Five, she answers your questions about ONE LIFE TO LIVE.  Please read on to learn how she helped Ron Carlivati, her fascination with Todd and Tea, plus her secret about Wendi Mercury.

John asks: Do you see yourself as having been a mentor to Ron Carlivati?
Claire Labine: What happened was, somebody I knew suggested he call me.  And this very personable person called me up, explained he had been a lawyer, and what he really really really wanted to do was to be a writer on ONE LIFE TO LIVE.   He knew he couldn’t start as a writer, but he would do anything, and did I have any suggestions?  I said, “My first suggestion is that I put down the phone and call Jean Passanante because I happen to know they are looking for a writer’s assistant.”  So I called Jean.  She said, “We haven’t hired anybody and we’re desperate.”  I said, “I have a lively candidate for you.”  She said, “Send him over.”

So off he went, and they hired him in about two minutes.  He’s very smart, he’s very personable, and he’s obviously very dedicated to the show.  Then after we arrived, there he was, he was our writer’s assistant.  He began writing spec scenes (scenes from the current outlines), and handing them to me and saying, “If you have a chance, tell me what you think of it.”  Several scenes into this I thought, “Holy moly, we can get another writer’s assistant, why not see what he can do as a dialogue writer?”

Claire Labine Answers YOUR Questions, Part Four

In Parts One and Two, Claire Labine answered your questions about her career as a writer and insights into the daytime genre.  In Part Three, she answered your questions specifically pertaining to RYAN'S HOPE.  In Part Four, the Divine Ms. Labine answers your questions about GENERAL HOSPITAL.  Enjoy!
  
GGmaire asks: With Jonathan Jackson's recent return to GENERAL HOSPITAL as Lucky, I was just wondering how you envisioned Lucky's character originally. What role did you think he would play in Luke and Laura's life? Did you envision them being good parents?
Claire Labine: I didn’t know that he was back! I think that kid was really smart, and I think both of his parents really loved him.  So he was not going to get into too much terrible trouble in my book.  I think he would push the edge of the envelope.  I giggled over the concept of Luke handling Lucky as an adolescent.  Because what can the kid pull that Luke doesn’t know?  How can he expect to get away with anything with Luke as his daddy? He’s not going to! I think it was the fun of that, the fun of him pushing the envelope, and then in his 20’s settled in.  I can see him as a second almost Luke.  Not the wild and desperate Luke that Tony [Geary] loved to be, and which he deplored my not writing.  He felt I didn’t understand him, but I really did.  I knew what [he wanted] but he played that a lot and we wanted to see Luke in another light.  Then as it worked out, he and Sonny’s partnership was good fun, at least in the beginning.  I don’t know what’s going on now.  So don’t tell me what Lucky is now, I don’t want to know.

Claire Labine Answers YOUR Questions, Part Three

In Parts One and Two of the We Love Soaps follow up interview with Claire Labine, the Emmy winning writer answered our reader's questions and comments about her illustrious career, her reflections on the state of daytime, and her non-developed projects.  In Part Three, she answers your questions specifically about RYAN'S HOPE.  Enjoy!

James asks: Of the several times that you left RYAN'S HOPE, which writer do you think did the best job of following in your footsteps and remaining true to your vision of the show? Why?
Claire Labine: Mary Ryan Munisteri. 

Gwynnega asks:  I was curious about what your original story plans had been following the death of Frank early in RYAN'S HOPE--for example, Delia's path would have been?
Claire Labine: We would have focused immediately on Pat.  There was a story with Faith and Pat and Delia, and Roger interfering in that.  Mary and Jack were much more intense.  Jack was convinced that Frank was being paid off by someone and he was determined to find out about it.  So the initial conflict between Mary and Jack was even more fierce.  There was broken hearted Jill and Seneca, but she couldn’t commit to him because she was still in love with poor dead Frank.  We brought someone in for her but I can’t remember who it was.  It was more out of the Ryans and into the Coleridges.  It had the two sisters [Jill and Faith], with one involved with a Ryan, and the other having been involved with a Ryan.  That was roughly the structure. 

Claire Labine Answers YOUR Questions, Part Two

In Part One of our follow up interview, the Divine Ms. Labine answered YOUR questions pertaining to her influences, the writers she admires, and her history of writing on daytime.  In Part Two she responds to more comments and questions about the current state of soaps.  What role did Claire play in the creation of THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL? Find out below!

Jordan Hudson wrote: I don't know if Claire will ever read my comment but honey, it's not you that is doing anything wrong it's the idiot executives of the shows and network that will not allow you to do what you were hired to do which is write. You have given me so much with your storytelling. As an artist myself you have made me grown but also as a human being with your incredible words. I have watched RH, GH OLTL and GL when you were working on them and you never disappointed me.
Claire Labine: Will you tell Jordan thank you very much? That delighted me and touched me. 

John asks: As a longtime New Yorker - and a writer who has primarily written for shows taped in NY - what do you think about the exodus of NY-based soaps?
Claire Labine: I think it’s tragic.  That’s the word for it, it’s truly tragic.  I hate it.  And I don’t think it’s going to do them any good.

Soap's Hope: The Claire Labine Interview, Part Two

In Part One of our interview with legendary soap writer Claire Labine, Ms. Labine shared her writing process, reflections on her early career, and how mothering contributed to her understanding of soaps

In Part Two, Ms. Labine discusses her battles with ABC, struggles with recasts, and the psychological underpinnings of the Ryan family.

We Love Soaps: You mentioned how strong the cast [of RYAN'S HOPE] was, yet three years into the show [1978] there were many people who left around the same time [Kate Mulgrew, Justin Deas, Ilene Kristen, Malcolm Groome, Catherine Hicks].
Claire Labine: When the first row of contracts were up, they did [leave]. Part of it was the network. Michael Brockman was no longer the vice president of daytime. There was no longer the hands-off policy. It was hard to protect the actors with the kind of pressure we were under, but we did the best we could, not always successfully. If they wanted someone replaced... the Frank situation was just ridiculous. He had to be recast so many times. I loved Andy Robinson as Frank [1976-1978]. He’s a marvelous actor, he can play anything!

We Love Soaps: Did the network want you to replace him?
Claire Labine: Oh yeah, that was a real knockdown, drag-out fight. They really put on as much pressure as they could. I think they were smarting a bit because of our “hands-off” policy. We weren’t very subtle about that. We weren’t good at network management.

FLASHBACK: Labine & Mayer on 'Ryan's Hope' (1976)

From the December 1976 issue of Soap Opera People:

Their greatest creative energies and agonies go into the development of "the long story" - enough plot to take three major situations through an entire year. "Or if we're lucky," says Claire [Labine], "a year and a half." "Or if we're unlucky," says Paul, "we suddenly find out that we're about to run through a year's worth of story in nine months."

"Or," says Claire, "that some tiny little change in one script has shifted everything around and thrown months of work down the drain." They sigh. They shrug, philosophers to the end. "We're always in trouble," they say, "always behind."

There are easy ways out of trouble, of course, but Claire and Paul [Mayer] will have none of them. "We have never consciously filled up time by having one character tell another character what two others did the week before. They talk about each other if the discussion has a real effect on the people doing the talking."