My deepest condolences to you and all who loved her.  I feel from your words that she was a truly shining soul.

My prayer for you is that your memories of her in happier times will bring you comfort and strength.

Best wishes,

Steve

Thanks, Midnite, for those photographs.  Excellent!

G.

I'm so sorry, Teresalita.  I hope she can manage to get better, no matter what the doctors say.

Best wishes,

Steve

A few fans have asked me how the panel at the Festival on the new biography of Grayson Hall went.  I'm very pleased to report that the panel was exceptionally well-run, kicking off with some great opening remarks by author RJ Jamison.  RJ asked "Are there any Grayson Hall fans in the audience?" and the wild and lusty cheering that ensued left no doubt she was, as it were, "preaching to the choir."  After explaining some background to the publication of the biography and thanking those who had assisted her, RJ introduced a wonderful video montage showcasing a wide range of Grayson's non-DS work.  Fans enjoyed clips from the 1951 "Lights out!" episode, Satan in High Heels (filmed 1960), Night of the Iguana (1964), That Darn Cat (1965), The Man from UNCLE (1966), Who are you, Polly Magoo? (also 1966), End of the Road (filmed 1968), Adam at 6 AM (filmed during Grayson's hiatus from the 1897 storyline in September of '69), Kojak (1974), and One Life to Live (1982).

After the video, Nancy Barrett took the stage and read excerpts from the book.  I was impressed by Nancy's fluid command of correct Spanish and French pronunciation--she's clearly as well educated linguistically as Grayson herself.  After the reading, Nancy generously stayed on board for a short Q & A.  Nancy shared that nearly everyone adored Grayson because she was so "odd" and such a unique character that she disarmed just about everyone.  She also noted that for Grayson, "family always, always came first," and that one of the reasons Grayson cherished being on DS is that it kept her family in New York City.

The half hour allotted to the program flew by all too quickly.  Among other topics covered in the Q & A was the fact that Mike Nichols intended for quite some time to cast Grayson as Mrs Robinson in "The Graduate."  A fascinating possibility, which almost certainly would have kept her out of "the shadows" forever.  Since I personally cannot imagine Collinwood without Dr. Hoffman (world's record-holding houseguest), I'm personally glad "The Graduate" fell through for her.  Grayson herself apparently regarded it as the greatest loss in her career.

"Grayson Hall: a hard act to follow" by R J Jamison is available at www.graysonhall.net and through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

G.

Just a line to report how impressed I was by Alec Newman's performance as Barnabas in the WB "Dark Shadows 2004" pilot.  While I found the 40 minute episode to be very much a mixed bag, Newman was startlingly good as our favorite vampire.  His courtly manners, quietly seething sensuality and aloof, subtly dangerous body language were right on target.  I could imagine tuning in just to watch Newman unfold the character over the weeks.

Matt Czuchny (I hope I have his name right) also showed promise in the role of Willie, although the character's actions were left seeming barely coherent because of the insane amount of story they covered in the one episode.  I wonder whether one reason for nixing the series was that it was obvious they would have had to reshoot (or perhaps re-edit with new footage) some of this--for one thing, the scene where Vicki arrives at Collinwood was directed in this bizarre manner, as if it were an episode of the Gilmore Girls?

I don't feel up to writing a full review at the moment, but overall I'd describe it as having occasional good moments mixed up with a LOT that seemed jerky, out of left field, or WAY over the top.  Vicki's nightmare on the train and every scene involving Roger and David being two examples.  Blair Brown was good in her breakfast scene with Vicki.  The actress who played Vicki did not work AT ALL for me in the role, although she was perfectly competent--just a case of not the right casting as far as I was concerned.  I saw Dan Curtis' interview on one of the discs where he described seeing so many young actresses for Vicki and the day Alexandra walked in to read and the moment he saw her, he knew she was the one.  I don't think they cast that rigorously for such an important role on the WB pilot and they really needed to do that.

For the Julia fans, I thought Kelly Hu's appearances were too brief to really say anything about.  Again, she seemed competent, but there just wasn't enough there to get a handle on how she would have played the character.

The Mario Bava/Dario Argento color stuff seemed more distracting to me than anything else. Dark Shadows should not have the aesthetic of a splatter movie. Also, the grainy screening disc seemed a poor vehicle for the aesthetic vision the director was seeking to foster.

As for the episode ending, it was laughably over the top, but seemed pretty much par for the course for a WB series.  I'm presuming it would have turned out to be another of Vicki's nightmares.

More later, possibly--I don't know that I have anything more to say on this subject.  Oh, somebody asked about the Old House sets--I thought it was far too grand for a mid 18th century New England manor house--they made it look more like Versailles.  Even rich people did not live on that scale in colonial America.  Just my two drachmae.

G.

Weren't Clarice Blackburn and Humbert Astredo also on Edge of Night at one point?

I recall inquiring about the 1960s and 1970s episodes of this series and being told by more than one confident authority that the tapes had been wiped back in the day.  But I always suspected that complete runs did exist for this, and other shows, in the studio vaults.

G.

Groovy!  Thanks for all the help!

For some reason I thought that hotel was in Park Slope and that Bklyn Heights was a major schlep away.  And I've actually been to Bklyn a few times--last time was about 5 years ago, I guess.

G.