You've Taken Away, Another World: Memories From Bay City, Part 2

In Part 1, former cast and crew members reflected on the show's early decades, sharing memories of legendary performers, life behind the cameras, and the creative process that kept the drama unfolding day after day.

For Part 2, we move into the final years of Another World's remarkable 35-year run. The memories are funny, heartfelt, and occasionally bittersweet. They reveal the demanding pace of daytime television, the friendships that endured long after the cameras stopped rolling, and the emotional impact of saying goodbye to a show that meant so much to so many.

Here are a few more memories from the people who called Bay City home.

Michelle Hurd: (Dana Kramer, 1991-1994):
Another World… It does date me a bit though, doesn't it? Wasn't that back in the 1900s horse and buggy days? I really enjoyed playing Dana Kramer. And actually a little odd trivia that you might not know is that Alicia Coppola, who played Lorna, she and I are still dear friends and I'm actually the godmother of her youngest child.

So that's a nice little connection. As well as Christina Tucci [who played Amanda]. We all sort of still hang together and see each other. So that's kind of a beautiful thing because I feel like it's can we actually say is it 20, 25 years ago? Isn't that crazy?!

Kim Rhodes (Cindy Brooke, 1996-1999):
I’m going to tell you something a little weird. I learned to cuss on Another World. Another World would move so fast that if you make a little mistake or even a big mistake, they would just they'd just take it. They'd just keep going. Just keep going. There were actors that would hide their scripts all over. Like if you ever saw an actor open a door at drawer and then just close it again, it's because their script was in there and they were checking their lines, you know, looking at furniture, things like that just to get lines.

I learned to cuss because otherwise they wouldn't cut. But the thing I remember, knocking over a lamp once and they were like, "Cut, print, moving on." I said, "But I knocked over the…." 

They're like, "It's okay. It works. It's fine." But the thing is, you can't just swear a little bit because then they would get mad at me. And I was not a fan of having people mad at me. So the thing is, you didn't say that I couldn't say naughty words. What  I learned, instead of saying, "Oh, damn it." which would just make people I would flub up and I would go, “Oh f**k me an**ly, running with a toothpick,”  or something…  That’s when  everyone would go, “Okay, all right. We’re going back. We got to take it again!”  So that was my takeaway from Another World.  That and Linda Dano and her acting advice. She really took good care of me.

Brian Krause (Matthew Cory, 1997-1998): 
You know, it's been such a while since I was at Another World.  Charles [Keating, who played Carl] and Vicky [Wyndham, who played Rachel] were kind of my mentors. When I first got there and they really taught me so much. You know, I was really nervous about learning 30 pages of dialogue in a day. Here were Charles and Vicky, who were older at the time, they were doing 60, 70, 80 pages in a day. And I remember Charles was very proper and stern. And Vicky kind of took me under her wing and treated me like, I was the son she didn't have. It was a really interesting dynamic between us three.

I just remember them being so gracious especially to me, you know being the new guy coming in. Yeah we had so many people that came in and out of that show that were just incredible actors and actresses. It was such an honor for me to be there and and I learned so much. You know, as I thought, “Oh, it's a soap opera,” but then I saw how hard they all worked. And, you know, what it really took to be on a soap and be able to perform well like Charles and Vicky who were the show.

Really amazing. I wish I could go back to that time.  Yeah, the show ended not long after I left, but they had an amazing run and I was very blessed to be a part of it.

Courtney Simon (writer, 1998-1999. District Attorney June Reiner, 1999): Unfortunately I wasn’t with Another World long enough to have anecdotes. My happiest memory there was getting to play a self-serving DA named June Reiner. Closest I ever got to being able to act the role of beeyatch and, after playing all the upstanding shrinks, it was heaven. 

Rhonda Ross Kendrick (Toni Burrell, 1997-1999):
Those  Another World years are so dear to my heart. I met and worked with some of the most beautiful people, many of whom, I'm still in touch with and still friends with today. But, in answer to your question, the Executive Producer at the time called each of us at home. There had been a lot of rumors that we were going to get canceled, but no one believed them or wanted to believe them.

And then he called each of us at home and gave us the news. It was devastating and terrifying  not knowing what was going to happen next. Then the last day of shooting once they said, “Cut,” we all cried. We cried and yeah, it was a great three years, and it was really sad for it to end, but we we've gone on and we all like I said, we're we're still friends and they're great, great people.

About a year before his death, Lemay graciously answered several of my questions in a letter that I still treasure. Although daytime television had dwindled to just four network soaps by then, he remained optimistic about the genre's relevance. "I don't think soap operas have stopped being current—they deal with the way life is for many people," he wrote.

Despite shrinking budgets and the cancellation of so many daytime dramas, Lemay continued to support the industry's move to hour-long episodes. "I don't think soap operas have lost their identity by being longer."

He also candidly admitted that collaboration wasn't always his greatest strength. "I am a one-man show!" he joked.

That assessment was echoed by one of his Another World writers, Bibi Wein (1974-1975). "Pete's way of working with writers was very rigid," she recalled. "Pete Lemay wanted writers to come to a weekly meeting in Manhattan, which I was rarely able to do." Yet years later, after they served together on PEN America's Prison Writing Committee, she saw another side of him. "I found him to be a wonderful, generous, and compassionate person, sides of him I'd never seen when working for him. We became good friends."

When I asked Lemay about his Emmy-winning friend and former associate writer, Doug Marland, he reflected on their different creative sensibilities. "Douglas saw the world in different terms than I did. His view is much darker, much more psychotic. I am not made of that stuff. I enjoy life. Writing for Douglas Marland on Guiding Light was bizarre!"

Lemay closed his letter with a sentiment that has stayed with me ever since. He regretted not saving any of his Another World material over the years. "I would give it to you, if I had."

For me, there couldn't have been a more fitting way to end his letter—or a more poignant reminder of the generosity of one of daytime television's greatest storytellers.

Thank you to Judith Donato, Sharon Gabet, Michelle Hurd, Brian Krause, Kim Rhodes, Eric Roberts, Rhonda Ross Kendrick, Tim Russ, Courtney Simon, Bibi Wein as well as the late Kathryn Barsky Lance, Kevin Conroy, Harding Lemay and Anne Heche.