FLASHBACK: Woman Producer For Final Weeks Of LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING 1973

Love is a Many Splendored Thing aired its final episode on March 23, 1973. But before it left the CBS daytime lineup, Linda Fidler Wendell had taken over as executive producer. This article from Daytime TV magazine in 1973 talks about her rise to the top.

"When Linda Fidler Wendell showed up backstage at Love is a Many Splendored Thing in her new capacity as producer in January, there was much excitement. She was the first woman on a daytime serial to start as production assistant, the lowest step of the ladder on the production staff, and rise to the top-producer."

Read the entire article below.

Ron Hale: The We Love Soaps Interview, Part Four

In Parts One, Two, and Three of our interview with Ron Hale, this legendary and outspoken actor shared early aspects of his career, as well as the rise and fall of RYAN'S HOPE.  In this part, we discuss his role as broken Mike Corbin on GENERAL HOSPITAL, as well as his perception of Mike's behaviors toward his son Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). 

We Love Soaps: What’s interesting to me is that characters on soaps do terrible things and are quickly forgiven all the time.  Mike is still on the hook for abandoning Sonny as a child all these years later.  Why is that?
Ron Hale: I can be honest about that.  They haven’t touched on this for a long time.  Mike has really been put in the background which I do understand to a certain extent.

We Love Soaps: How do you understand it?
Ron Hale: I can’t totally go into it.  But it’s the way the show is going, and that’s fine.  It’s fine because I’m getting to the end of my long run in my own mind.  Jill [Farren Phelps] knows this.  I’m going to be moving on.  Not tomorrow or anything.  But I’ve had a great run there, and I’m ready to leave Southern California.  I’ve gotta go find me a farm somewhere. 

We Love Soaps: As a long term viewer of GH I’m sad to hear that.  Mike is just this saddened broken man who I had hoped could move on and find some sort of happiness.
Ron Hale: Like we used to say in New York, “From your mouth to God’s ear.”  I used to walk in the show and literally ask a producer, “I’ve been on the show seven years. Has Mike ever bedded a woman?” They’d say, “Oh yeah!” I’d say, “Oh really? When?” They’d say, “It was off camera.” They wanted the audience to imagine that he and Tammy had gone and done the deed.

Ron Hale: The We Love Soaps Interview, Part Three

In Parts One and Two of our interview with Ron Hale, the wonderful actor discussed his pre-RYAN'S HOPE career in theater and movies, as well as what made RYAN'S HOPE such a magical time for cast, crew, and viewers.  In Part Three below, Hale shares what led to the decline of RYAN'S HOPE, and how his "six month" role on GENERAL HOSPITAL turned into a fifteen year legacy.

We Love Soaps: What, in your mind, led to the decline and ultimate cancellation of RYAN’S HOPE?
Ron Hale: The network.

We Love Soaps: How so?
Ron Hale: I’m not saying anything out of school here, this is common knowledge.  Paul [Avila Mayer] and Claire [Labine] fought tooth and nail from day one to keep the integrity of what they wrote and what they created.  Networks have a habit of people getting paid money to be in executive decisions and making decisions, whether they are right, wrong, or indifferent, just to justify their paychecks.  This is in every business, not just ours.  They’ll say, “You shouldn’t have this” and “You need a little more of this,” when the show was moving along just beautifully.  Everyone had to put in their two cents, and I saw Paul and Claire fight constantly to keep that show the simple and beautiful show that it was.  Ergo, when ABC took over, holy mackrel!  All of a sudden, you took this simple perfect little set-up with these families on the Upper West Side,  that everyone in America could relate to, and they said, “Well, we need some gangsters and stuff.”  It was a formula, that was working on other shows.  That was great for the other shows.  But they didn’t fit on RYAN’S HOPE.

Ron Hale: The We Love Soaps Interview, Part One

Any ABC soap fan worth their bubbles recognizes the names "Roger Coleridge" and "Mike Corbin."  These are two staples of ABC daytime history brought to vivid life by the talented and fascinating actor Ron Hale.  But how does he see the impact of his creations, and what is the next step in his long career?  The answers to all of these are coming up over this series of interviews.  Please enjoy!

In Part One, Hale discusses his pre-RYAN'S HOPE career, including hanging out with Robert Redford.  For what role did he have to gain 40 pounds? Find out below!

We Love Soaps: I am so glad to speak with you Ron and to use this space to celebrate your contributions to daytime.  You recently came in [at #47 on] our Best 50 Soap Actors Ever list.  This was based on rankings by 15 different soap critics and journalists who have covered the genre over the past 35 years. 
Ron Hale: That is quite something.  One of our directors came up to me the other day and said, “Hey, you made the Top 50!”  A lot of people saw that and heard about that. 

We Love Soaps: Let’s go back 41 years ago to when a young actor starting out was cast on SEARCH FOR TOMORROW
Ron Hale: Which I remember basically nothing about.  Honest to God, it was such a short stint.  The main thing I remember was being in awe about how they did this thing with three cameras so quickly.  A lot of the older actors had been for years, it was such a learning experience.  Learning to tone everything down, I remember, because I was not on stage. 

FLASHBACK: Ron Hale 1979

TV Marital Split Almost Like Real Divorce

Tune in Tomorrow
January 25, 1979

NEW YORK - It's 11 a.m. during a typical workday on the set of the ABC soap opera RYAN'S HOPE.

The actors and production staff have been in the studio since before 8 a.m. The actors have already had a pre-rehearsal in a bare room where they ran through the day's episode dialogue with the director, who has "blocked" them in movement directions. The technicians, meanwhile, were busy setting up the day's settings in the studio.