Sam Hall Interview

[Gothick]

Extremely candid--a euphemistic way of saying "gossipy"--interview with Sam Hall, done when he was 85 and Dan Curtis had gone on to that great green room in the sky:

http://www.tvparty.com/70-dark-shadows.html

G.

[Josette]

Thanks, Gothick - fascinating!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

  Sam's interviews always are - mostly because he didn't completely succumb to drinking the DC Kool-Aid. 

[Uncle Roger]

His interview in the One Life to Live retrospective, Llanview in the Afternoon, is also worth reading.

[Gothick]

Thanks for mentioning that, Uncle Roger.  I had never heard of that book. It is most likely long out of print. 

I wish more of Grayson's episodes as Euphemia would be released. Her storyline when she got to Llanview sounds like such a hoot.

G.

[Uncle Roger]

Gothick, the book is still available on Amazon at a pretty reasonable price, $9.00. I don't have the book in front of me but a few things stand out. Sam takes credit for discovering Judith Light, whom he and his wife (never mentioned by name) saw in a play. He also takes credit for creating the part of Dorian Cramer, who drove story on OLTL for decades. He is less than diplomatic when discussing his long term collaborator Gordon Russell. Russell had been an actor at one point and Sam states that Gordon spent the rest of his career playing the part of a writer.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Believe it or not, I think I've seen that OLTL book in a book warehouse here, but I've never looked at it. Hopefully it will still be there the next time I go...

As for Grayson as Euphemia, she was simply sublime. But what else would one expect? 

[Uncle Roger]

The OLTL veterans that I have met, specifically Robert S. Woods (Bo Buchanan) and Robin Strasser (Dorian Cramer Lord etc.) spoke very highly of Grayson. Robin and her first husband Lawrence Luckinbill used to socialize with Sam and Grayson back in the 1960's when the Halls were doing DS and Robin was playing Rachel on Another World. I don't know how close they were or if the friendship continued afterwards.

[Gothick]

It's amazing just how many people knew the Halls socially.  I think they must have entertained a lot.

I've been able to see a couple of the early Euphemia episodes.  Love Grayson in the role.

G.

[Uncle Roger]

The Festival used to show the scene where Grayson, Nancy Barrett and Anthony George run into each other and engage in banter that had to have been written for DS fans. The characters were involved in separate story lines and I think that may have been the only time that the actors shared a scene. The clip hasn't been shown in many years, maybe as far back as Newark. Perhaps the person who owned the clip stopped attending.

[Gothick]

I would LOVE to see that clip.  Maybe someday...

Best, G.