Brian Sturdivant

[ClaudeNorth]

Greetings!

For me, the highlight of today's episodes was the first DS appearance of Brian Sturdivant as the hunkiest bellboy ever to fill out a uniform.  Unfortunately, "The Bellboy" was not a recurring character...

However, Brian Sturdivant does return all too briefly to DS during Parallel Time as Claude North, a dark, brooding, mysterious hottie.  (Sadly, the only similarity between me and that Claude North is our name...)

Anyway, wouldn't Mr. Sturdivant make a great surprise guest at this year's Fest?  Wonder if he can still fit into the uniform...
 

Regards,

John

[Joeytrom]

Contains spoiler...

I thought it was odd that there was so much build up to Claude North and they killed him off so fast!  Usually when a character has a long build up they are usually meant for the long term.

Too bad in real time, they didn't use Brian Sturdivant as Gerard Stiles ghost in the summer of 1970.   This is nothing against James Storm, who was good on his own.

[ClaudeNorth]

Well, I would never argue with using Brian Sturdivant in a major role...

It's interesting to me when a show creates a big build-up for a character and then the character is around only for a short time, or the writers don't pursue the character's full potential.  As was discussed in another thread, Lady Kitty was given a great introduction, but her character was quickly saddled with the umpteenth variation on the Josette theme.  Portia Fitzsimmons, from the pre-Barnabas era, was another who vanished quickly after showing real potential.

My favorite example of this was on GUIDING LIGHT.  The character Vanessa repeatedly announced the impending arrival of her friend, Blanche Bouvier, prompting a variety of dramatic reactions from the residents of Springfield.  Then, on one episode, someone asked Vanessa when Blanche was arriving and she replied, "Oh, she had a change in plans and she's not coming after all."  And that was the end of Blanche Bouvier.

I have never come across a particularly detailed behind-the-scenes account of the writing of a soap opera, but I'm sure it must be as dramatic as the scripts themselves!

Regards,

John

[Gothick]

Thanks, John, for this tribute to the delicious Brian Sturdivant.  I'd certainly enjoy meeting him and finding out what happened to him in his life after he gave up acting (as I presume must have happened).

Thanks too for telling me about his brief appearance in Diary of a Mad Housewife.  It's still on my list of films I look forward to viewing, some day.

Just got back from spending a week in heavenly Sonoma County, Cali.  Heavily jet lagged and sleep deprived, but purring contentedly nonetheless.

Gothick