Joan Bennett, the First Lady of Soap Opera

[Brian]

I am re-watching (for the umpteenth time) the last few episodes of 1795, and I have to marvel at Joan Bennett’s mastery of the soap opera acting style, especially when it comes to “holding”—and with dramatic purpose—just before commercial breaks.

Of course, back in the 60s (as a pre-teen), I had no idea about Joan Bennett as a big Hollywood star in the late 1930s and 1940s.  She was just “and Joan Bennett as...” to me.

I know MacDonald Carey appeared on DAY OF OUR LIVES, but I don’t think he was quite the star that Joan Bennett was.  Are there any other big stars from the Hollywood days who appeared on daytime soaps AFTER they had been stars (even as their star were somewhat fading)?  Or was Joan Bennett the first?

She truly is a star on DS!

[michael c]

starting in the 1960s, and lasting well into the 1980s, there was a time honored tradition of casting, shall we say "fading", actresses from Hollywood's "golden age" on soap operas as a series of matriarchs and dowagers.

the characters were generally not really "front burner" in terms of actually driving plot. they were more a decorous "presence" that lent the often low budget productions cache. the pay scale was probably peanuts compared to what they had been earning at their peak in film. but dented egos could be salved by way of special "above the title" billing and lavish wardrobe. in many ways it was a "win win". the program was added prestige. and for the actress it was regular work at a time when film roles had largely dried up and there was not the constant revenue stream of "residuals" there is today with cable, streaming, dvd sales and so forth.

i'm not sure of Joan was officially the "first" in this particular brand of casting. but she was certainly a pioneer and one of the most distinctive.

[Uncle Roger]

Ann Sheridan, who is sadly largely forgotten today, preceded Joan by about a year. She joined the cast of Another World at some point in 1965, as Kathryn Carmody, who was the long lost mother of the town waif. She didn't stay with Another World all that long, leaving to star in the also largely forgotten series Pistols and Petticoats.
Joan may not have gotten there first. There may have been others as well. But her tenure on DS is certainly more enduring.

[michael c]

General Hospital-Anna Lee
All My Children-Ruth Warrick
Santa Barbara-Dame Judith Anderson
Falcon Crest-Jane Wyman
The Colbys-Barbara Stanwyck
Hotel-Bette Davis/Anne Baxter

i'm sure there's more i'm not recalling. Lee and Warrick were in particular cut from the same brocaded cloth as Joan as Liz. "imperious" dowagers done up in caftans, gems and stiff, towering updos. regal to the last.

[Gerard]

Growing up watching DS, I had no idea who Joan Bennett was.  I never had heard of her or knew of her Hollywood background.  I was puzzled when my mom kept saying she couldn't believe Joan Bennett was on "that spooky crap" but would sit and watch whenever she was on.  Only later did I learn of her thespian heritage.  In the early seventies, at my first job as a page in our library, I found the book, just published, The Bennett Playbill, that chronicled the family.  It was long and epic and I read it.  Then I finally was able to fully appreciate her.

Gerard

[Uncle Roger]

It looks as though Ruth Warrick may have gotten there first. She was cast as a nurse on The Guiding Light in 1953/54. Ruth was also an original cast member of As The World Turns, playing the trampy Edith Hughes from 1956 to 1960. To say nothing of Peyton Place.

[michael c]

interesting on Warrick...

i grew up with her as the frothy but imperious Phoebe Wallingford on AMC. paired opposite of course our own Louis Edmonds.


of course one mustn't forget about Joan Crawford's legendary turn as understudy for her 25 year old daughter on The Secret Storm. 

[Uncle Roger]

I do remember watching Crawford on Secret Storm back then. I had never seen the show before and I had no idea who any of those characters were or what the story was all about. But I knew it was a television event. Even my father expressed an interest in seeing it. Ordinarily, the only thing on afternoon TV that caught his interest was a World Series game.