Author Topic: betsy and alexandra and kathryn (Read 6719 times)

michael c · « **on:** November 26, 2007, 05:31:51 PM »

i've been looking at besty durkin in this week's slide show...

i never saw her episodes.i skipped ahead because i just couldn't handle a "fake-vicki" and i hated the adam storyline and didn't care about it's conclusion.

however i've come to understand that she proved an unworthy successor to alexandra and thus she,and subsequently the character of victoria,were written out of the show entirely(enter kathryn leigh scott in the role of collinwood governess).

so just how bad was she to prompt this drastic move?

did the producers know that the character was going to be written out anyways and thus just hired miss durkin to finish out the vicki/jeff storyline?was she just intended to "fill in" for alexandra during her maternity leave with the thought that she was going to return?if the writers decided to write the character out anyways couldn't they have persueded alexandra(who was under contract after all)to stick around for a couple more weeks and play out this storyline(those a-lines would more than cover up a growing tummy)?

also,if the character of vicki never left than kathryn leigh scott's maggie would never have taken over as collinwood governess.what kind of storyline would have been in store for maggie?

Nancy · « **Reply #1 on:** November 26, 2007, 05:38:44 PM »

At the 1993 Dark Shadows Festival during a Q&A, Lara Parker said that Alexandra "hated" being on the show at that point and at times even refused to put on makeup, that's how badly she wanted out of her contract. Based on that revelation, it's doubtful that Alexandra could have been persuaded to stay on the show once she was released from her contract.

nancy

Quote from: mscbryk on November 26, 2007, 05:31:51 PM

did the producers know that the character was going to be written out anyways and thus just hired miss durkin to finish out the vicki/jeff storyline?was she just intended to "fill in" for alexandra during her maternity leave with the thought that she was going to return?if the writers decided to write the character out anyways couldn't they have persueded alexandra(who was under contract after all)to stick around for a couple more weeks and play out this storyline(those a-lines would more than cover up a growing tummy)?

Gothick · « **Reply #2 on:** November 26, 2007, 07:04:07 PM »

I wonder whether Alexandra started having bouts of morning sickness? It just may not have been physically possible for her to continue doing the show if she was having a rough time of it.

Either that or she had had about all she could take of being mauled by Roger Davis and phoned DC and announced "That's it, Bob, you ain't seeing me again, I'll look for my severance in the post."

I actually thought Durkin was competent in the role of VW. It was just very jarring to have somebody with such a different temperament in the role. Fans "hated" her interpretation but I think what they "hated" was the fact that she wasn't Alexandra, hardly something she could rightly be blamed for.

I imagine you also missed the two episodes with Carolyn Groves, who I thought had more of the temperament and feel for the character of Vicki. Again, by the time she appeared on the scene, fans simply threw their hands up in the air.

I remember Lara Parker's comments about Alexandra's final months in the show and how she kept repeating that AM "refused to wear makeup!!!" She repeated that again at another festival two years later. For some reason I found that comment VERY entertaining.

G.

michael c · « **Reply #3 on:** November 26, 2007, 07:26:45 PM »

i did once read an interview with alexandra where she said that she was having a "difficult" time with her pregnancy...so maybe that meant morning sickness.

as far as alexandra "refusing" to wear make-up i think that lara parker was probably just spinning a yarn.the producers probably would not have stood for such childish nonsense and i can't recall ever seeing her onscreen looking un-made-up.

b.t.w. on dvd collection 23 they interview sam hall who goes on to say that jaclyn smith...roger davis' then wife...auditioned for the part of vicki when alexandra left but that dan curtis did not like her readings.that would have been interesting.

Nancy · « **Reply #4 on:** November 26, 2007, 11:41:18 PM »

Quote from: mscbryk on November 26, 2007, 07:26:45 PM

as far as alexandra "refusing" to wear make-up i think that lara parker was probably just spinning a yarn.the producers probably would not have stood for such childish nonsense and i can't recall ever seeing her onscreen looking un-made-up.

If it was only Lara Parker saying that, I would tend to agree with you but other actors also stated by that point in the show Alexandra was doing whatever she could to get out of her contract and that was before it was known she was pregnant. As for not wearing make-up - there are women who can get away with not wearing a lot of makeup for the camera and look perfectly fine. Besides, what can the producers do if someone refuses to wear make-up? Tie them down and have it applied? Fire the person? That's what Alexandra wanted apparently . . .

Nancy

Midnite · « **Reply #5 on:** November 27, 2007, 01:08:23 AM »

That comment by Lara Parker was also published as part of an interview in the early 90s in a book on American TV. In it, she says that Alexandra already wished to leave by the time she (LP) made her first appearance, but didn't succeed until she became pregnant. She went on to say more, including the part about not combing her hair or wearing makeup, yet Alexandra still looked beautiful. In print, anyway, I thought I detected a degree of bitterness in her assessment, but that's my opinion.

michael c · « **Reply #6 on:** November 27, 2007, 02:10:00 AM »

hmmm...

alexandra was never as heavily made up(unbecoming perhaps on a demure governess)as some of the other actresses on the show(and as perhaps the world's chief alexandra moltke aficionado i notice such things)but this business of refusing to wear make-up and not brushing her hair just isn't backed-up with on-screen evidence.

in her final episodes she's wearing plenty of eye make-up and her hair is as lustrous and ribbon be-decked as usual.

be that as it may ironically she didn't do the one thing she could have to ensure she'd be ousted and that's flubbing her lines and stopping tape.as "bland" as her delivery is during her final months on the show she took the trouble to learn her lines.she never screwed up...and on this show that's saying something.

Gerard · « **Reply #7 on:** November 27, 2007, 02:24:25 AM »

I got the feeling that they did want to - at least originally - continue with Vicki's character even in the persona of Betsy Durkin. They were probably hoping the audience would accept her; after all, they did have a different Burke (who had a completely different approach to the character) and things moved on after the audience "adjusted." They also had changing actors for the same characters (albeit the changes did occur far earlier) and they got away with it. Maybe they were hoping they still had the charm. This time it didn't work, so - it appears to me- that they had no choice but to change the plot and dump Vicki, period. The one, in my opinion, who did clean up was TLATKLS. If she didn't become the new governess, just what was left for her character? Pop was gone; she didn't return to slinging hash at the diner, her boyfriend was history, she just sat at home doing what? Watching As the World Turns? Couldn't do much with that. I'm just thinking that she might've ended up being the one dumped if New Vicki continued plodding on.

Gerard

Nancy · « **Reply #8 on:** November 27, 2007, 03:46:02 AM »

I'm not sure it's so much bitterness as bewilderment as to why someone would want off a very popular soap. Actors want to work and certainly many actors enjoy fame if they achieve it. As mentioned elsewhere in print, Alexandra wanted out before the pregnancy was an issue. Some actors (and fans) might not get why the do anything necessary to get off a soap. I'm not saying the pregnancy was a ruse to get off the soap; it became a factor where the producers were given a viable reason to allow the actor out of the contract.

Parker's attitude toward the situation isn't unlike how some other DS actors reacted to Jonathan Frid's having no desire to be in the second DS movie but seemingly choose to disappear altogether at a point in his career where he could have capitalized on his fame. John Karlen didnt understand that and said so in several interviews and Fest Q&As and others implied the same. A funny moment came at this last DS event in Tarrytown when Parker got up at the banquet to speak about Jonathan's contribution saying she was glad he came to this and noted in a mock indignite tone "And we've been here! . . . ."

Nancy

Quote from: Midnite on November 27, 2007, 01:08:23 AM

That comment by Lara Parker was also published as part of an interview in the early 90s in a book on American TV. In it, she says that Alexandra already wished to leave by the time she (LP) made her first appearance, but didn't succeed until she became pregnant. She went on to say more, including the part about not combing her hair or wearing makeup, yet Alexandra still looked beautiful. In print, anyway, I thought I detected a degree of bitterness in her assessment, but that's my opinion.

Nancy · « **Reply #9 on:** November 27, 2007, 03:51:15 AM »

Quote from: mscbryk on November 27, 2007, 02:10:00 AM

hmmm...

alexandra was never as heavily made up(unbecoming perhaps on a demure governess)as some of the other actresses on the show(and as perhaps the world's chief alexandra moltke aficionado i notice such things)but this business of refusing to wear make-up and not brushing her hair just isn't backed-up with on-screen evidence.

Well, maybe so . . I have to admit I've never looked that closely.

Maybe she stated she refused to wear make-up but did anyway when the time actually came to tape, who knows?

I think the main point here is that Alexandra hated doing the show at that point and wanted out of her contract - and being difficult was one avenue she was willing to take towards achieving her goal. Whether she actually went through with all of her threats we don't know. The comments about her attitude at the time have been made by people who were there to hear her and know what was going on and being said behind the scenes.

Nancy

Midnite · « **Reply #10 on:** November 27, 2007, 04:53:46 AM »

Quote from: Nancy on November 27, 2007, 03:46:02 AM

I'm not sure it's so much bitterness as bewilderment as to why someone would want off a very popular soap. Actors want to work and certainly many actors enjoy fame if they achieve it.

Nancy, I wouldn't call it bewilderment because she explains her unhappiness. Sorry, it's hard to discuss comments that aren't on the board. I should probably look them up and post them.

Nancy · « **Reply #11 on:** November 27, 2007, 04:58:43 AM »

Ok. But you can't call it bitterness either since LP was discussing Alexandra's unhappiness, however, I may have misinterpreted your post in the first place.

Yeah, if you can find the quote on line that would be great. I know the 1993 Frid and Parker Q&A was transcribed but I would have better luck trying to find a transsiberian yak than that Q&A in my files right now.
Nancy

Quote from: Midnite on November 27, 2007, 04:53:46 AM

Quote from: Nancy on November 27, 2007, 03:46:02 AM
I'm not sure it's so much bitterness as bewilderment as to why someone would want off a very popular soap. Actors want to work and certainly many actors enjoy fame if they achieve it.

Nancy, I wouldn't call it bewilderment because she explains her unhappiness. Sorry, it's hard to discuss comments that aren't on the board. I should probably look them up and post them.

Midnite · « **Reply #12 on:** November 27, 2007, 05:20:29 AM »

Nancy, I wouldn't be surprised if the source of this WAS a Fest Q&A! Anyway, it's an excerpt from America on the Rerun: TV Shows that Never Die (David Story, May 1993)

Lara Parker: I didn't think that Victoria Winters should have been as aloof as she was. Alexandra had this distance, this cool, and was just ravishing. When she wanted to get off the show she stopped combing her hair and wearing makeup and she still photographed so beautifully. She didn't need to do anything. She was a socialite basically, that was her posture. She had come from a lot of money. The show was beneath her. Even in the beginning she wanted more-- she did not want to be there. By the time I came on the show she wanted to get off more than anything and she finally did by getting pregnant. She didn't want to be an actress. She had thought she wanted to be an actress but it didn't do for her the things that it really does for people who really want to act. She was a very real actress but she didn't bring a lot of energy to it, but again it worked for her character because Victoria Winters was supposed to be reactive-- she was the protagonist-- she was the one that it was happening to.

She was the audience's eyes. We saw it all through her eyes. She didn't have to be strong-- she just had to be the bridge that carried us into the show. And her lack of energy-- which drove the directors mad-- didn't really do any harm because she seemed so real. The rest of us seemed larger than life but she seemed very placid and natural. I think she did her best at that point but she moped around like a person who had to do this and who didn't want to be there and she hated working with Roger Davis. I sort of always wanted to be her friend and was slightly intimidated by her wealth and her social position. Then she went on to have quite an interesting experience, larger than fiction.

Lydia · « **Reply #13 on:** November 27, 2007, 08:35:35 AM »

I wonder if Alexandra Moltke's refusal to wear makeup – assuming that it occurred – had something to do with unusual skin sensitivity related to pregnancy problems.

I like Betsy Durkin's Victoria Winters. She brought energy to the role. Mine isn't a useful opinion, though, because I rarely have much use for Moltke's Victoria. But to continue anyway...Durkin was dressed in clothes designed for Moltke and she looked bad in them, but that could have been changed. She looked terrible with Jeff Clark, but Jeff Clark was not an indispensable character.

In one of the DVD interviews, I believe that Durkin said she was asked to return as Vicky, but she was doing something else at the time. I assume that that was when Carolyn Groves was hired briefly for the role. Of course I didn't like Groves's Victoria; it was too much like Moltke's.

As for Maggie, I figure that if she hadn't become the governess at Collinwood, she would have been central to some other plot or subplot, because Kathryn Leigh Scott is a go-getter.

Joeytrom · « **Reply #14 on:** November 27, 2007, 03:28:40 PM »

I would agree with this. Maggie really wouldn't have played any part in either the Chris Jennings or Quentin storyline. I think she would have been phased out by 1897 and KLS would have been gone from DS by then.

Quote from: Gerard on November 27, 2007, 02:24:25 AM

The one, in my opinion, who did clean up was TLATKLS. If she didn't become the new governess, just what was left for her character? Pop was gone; she didn't return to slinging hash at the diner, her boyfriend was history, she just sat at home doing what? Watching As the World Turns? Couldn't do much with that. I'm just thinking that she might've ended up being the one dumped if New Vicki continued plodding on.

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