There was a soap creator, Irna Phillips I think, who killed off a popular character by having her fall UP the stairs because she didn't approve of the actress' off camera behavior. Ronboy, do you recall the soap, character and actress? I can't. It is one of the more legendary demises in soapdom.
And since you're an ATWT vet--I know Lucinda is supposed to be a bitch, but destroying her beloved Lily's business as collateral damage to get back at Craig? That's a bit much, isn't it?
Bbjohn, that is one of the more interesting Irna Phillips stories in all soapdom. Irna Phillips, for those who do not know the name, was a Chicago schoolteacher, who was hired by Chicago radio station WGN in 1932 to create and write a daytime radio serial called "Painted Dreams." When the station refused to sell the show to "the network" (presumably NBC, which was a radio powerhouse at that time), she created another show called "Today's Children" later on she created "The Guiding Light" (which later made the successful move to TV, and "The Brighter Day" (a huge radio hit, but a TV flop).
For television, she created:
These Are My Children (1949)
Guiding Light (1952–2009)
The Road of Life (1954)
The Brighter Day (1954–1962)
As the World Turns (1956–2010)
Another World (1964–1999)
Our Private World (1965)
Days of our Lives (1965–)
Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967–1973)
A World Apart (1970–1971)
The incident of which you speak involved As The World Turns, and it was in the early 1970's ( between the end of her stint on A World Apart in 1971, and her firing by Procter and Gamble in 1973) during Irna's last stint as ATWT headwriter.
The story revolved around the Stewart boys, Paul and Dr. Dan (played respectively by Dean Santora and John Colenback) Liz Talbott, a British girl, (played by Jane House) was a friend of Penny Hughes. She started dating Paul Stewart, but also befriended and became attracted to his brother, Dr. Dan Stewart, who was in an unhappy marriage with Dr. Susan Stewart (Marie Masters). Dan and Liz slept together once, and Liz became pregnant. Paul, who loved Liz, offered to marry her without knowing his own brother was the father of her unborn child. The child was born and was Betsy Stewart (played as an adult by Meg Ryan and Lindsey Frost).
Susan Stewart, who was a neurotic bitch back then, wouldn't divorce Dan, but continued to accuse and harrass Liz. In the meantime, Paul Stewart died of a brain tumor, never knowing the true identity of Betsy's father. After getting pregnant with Emily (now played by Kelly Menighan Hensley), Susan finally divorced Dan.
Dan promptly married Liz. but still did not know that he, not Paul, was Betsy's father. But Susan's torment was to continue. Her jealousy was so great, that she looked for a way to have Betsy die "accidentelly." One day, she left the baby gate at the top of the stairs at Dan and Liz's house open, so that Betsy would have a tragic "accident" tumbling down the stairs. Liz saw her toddler child at the top of the stairs, and immediately rushed up them to close the gate. She stumbled and fell, rupturing her spleen. She was rushed to Memorial Hospital, but the good doctors had deemed her injury as fatal. She died a couple of days later, but not before she made a deathbed confession to Dan that Betsy was indeed his daughter.
One thing you have to give Irna credit for, it was a pretty complicated plot!
As for Lucinda, I don't think she quite realizes what the backlash will be like, when Lily finally finds out that her own mother set her up for failure in order to destroy Craig Montgomery. I think she's going to lose not only Lily's love and support, but also Sierra's...
Lucinda says that "It's only business..."
Lily says "My mother would never purposely hurt me."
It's going to be great fun to see what happens when the proverbial shit hits the fan!
Never expected anyone to be so enthusiastic about my thread.
