Guiding Light
Beverlee McKinsey Tribute On Tap Featuring Guiding Light Notables

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This gives me LIFE! Loved her!!!
She was the best. Daytime sorely could use an actress with her presence. I liked Marla Adams a lot as Dina Abbott Mergeron on Y&R. However, I’ve wondered what a missed opportunity there was when Bill Bell didn’t snap up McKinsey to play her when she left GL in the early 90s. Dina hadn’t really been used that much during that period. Bell was still in his prime writing for Y&R. Imagine McKinsey’s Dina taking on Victor in defense of favorite child, Jack. It could have been something fantastic.
That would indeed have made for some phenomenal viewing, Barbara. I think Beverlee said in her exit interview when she left GL that she didn’t want to do another soap (and only did the short-term role a few years later on General Hospital for some reason related to insurance, if I remember correctly). She basically said that after X years, she was done with soaps, so I wonder if she would have taken the part even if Bell offered it to her. But it’s wonderful to imagine. She would have been utterly wasted otherwise, but I always thought it would… Read more »
Thanks for the reply. B&B really could have benefitted from McKinsey’s presence as well. Of all of the remaining soaps, I’ve always been frustrated by B&B. There was massive potential for this show. It had the very strong Susan Flannery leading the show but not much else. Other than Darlene Connelly (Sally) and Kimberlin Brown (Sheila), it really never had any actor who could hold their ground against Flannery. Meanwhile, the writers have seemed obsessed with rehashing the same love “triangles” over and over again. A LOT could have been done to improve the show but the producer and writers… Read more »
“How it remains on the air is a mystery to me.”
Pretty sure it has to do with its international following, which I still don’t understand how it has the viewership overseas it does.
It gets good ratings (comparatively, anyway), which I guess accounts for its staying on the air. I don’t know how many times one can watch the same story with Liam, Steffy, and Hope (which is in turn a repeat of two decades of Ridge, Brooke, and Taylor), but apparently some people can do it. I agree with you about giving up on it post-Flannery. It isn’t just that her acting prowess (and powerful screen presence) is missed, but Stephanie was the closest thing we had to a moral voice on the show (sort of outrageous in itself, since Stephanie was… Read more »
By the time she left Guiding Light in 1992 and did her short stint on General Hospital, acting had become not fun for herself, stating the hours made her crazy, and too long for her. Do I think she would have done well at a Bell-produced soap? Sure, but only for a brief moment in time, before deciding to exit once again. Not to mention, if The Young and the Restless genuinely wanted to write for Dina, then they would have with Marla Adams. However, they did not.
I remember she said she’d like to do a sitcom. Now, the writing for sitcoms has really taken a nosedive, in my opinion, over the last few decades, sort of comparable to the decline in soap writing (hmmm, what could the common thread be? too much interference from TPTB, maybe?), but on a well-written sitcom, she would have been glorious. I’m sorry she never got the chance.
Michael (not Fairman)…I so agree there has been a decline in the writing of network sitcoms and soaps that parallel each other. And even good music. I’m not so sure it’s because of TPTB like the stupid AMC and OLTL decisions, but the competition from all the streaming services who are willing to invest the money in attracting good writers from network. Also I wonder if there is as much imagination anymore or if the world of “entertainment” is becoming more and more manufactured and internet-likes driven.
I first remembered Beverlee Mc
on Love is a Many Splendid Thing as Martha/Julie back in the mid 1960’s. Then the magnificent Iris on AW and followed her to Texas. So imagine my delight when she appeared on GL I still imitate some of her lines when she’d speak nails when angry. She was pure entertainment . What a talent. You’ve left your mark and are solely missed by all.
Oh for sure, Jab. I recall vividly (and this is just one example of many) the scenes where Alex eviscerated Roger at the country club and then the ones in her bedroom shortly thereafter in which she confronts him one on one. It was masterful. We don’t get writing like that anymore, and Beverlee’s acting is in a class by itself.
Oh, she was the best. I loved her as Iris on AW the best but I also liked her on GL and her interactions with Alan, her son, Roger to just name a few. She was wonderful!
She was Alexandra ! Bring back guiding light
My favorite was by far Iris Carrington. She played her role so well as a spoiled little rich princess spoiled by her daddy played by (Doug Watson-Mac Cory). She was the beautiful lady we loved to hate and cried when she was gone. She will never be forgotten.
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