USA
/ CBS / x30m-e / September 18, 1967-March 23, 1973
Love is a Many Splendored Thing was a sequel to, not a
re-creation of, the 1955 movie of the same name starring
William Holden, which was in turn based on the 1952
autobiography A Many Splendored Thing by an anonymous
author. The TV adaptation was a pet project of CBS
daytime president Fred Silverman, who saw to it that
the show got to use the movie's Oscar-winning title theme
by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, and have
accompaniment by 12 musicians rather than the stock-in-trade organ used for dramatic bridges at the time. It
was his bid to reclaim the 2 p.m. time period after The
Newlywed Game on ABC and Days of Our Lives on NBC
overtook Password.
The soap featured two eyebrow-raising stories for that
period, the first being that of Mia Elliott, the Eurasian
daughter of a dead Korean War soldier, who emigrated to
San Francisco from Hong Kong and fell in love with Paul
Bradley and then Dr. Jim Abbott. The other major story
involved Laura Donnelly, a nun who fought romantic
feelings for her sister Iris's boyfriend Mark Elliott, the son
of Mia's Aunt Helen and Uncle Philip Elliott. Interracial
romance and a tug-of-war between spiritual and carnal
desires were not what viewers wanted to see, CBS daytime
president Fred Silverman told creator Irna Phillips. She
disagreed, and, in a harsh reaction typical of Phillips during
such arguments, left the show.
Mia's story line ended messily by having her find that
Dr. Abbott had performed an illegal abortion which killed
a woman. That knowledge repelled Mia and made her leave
town, while Dr. Abbott found himself facing a criminal
investigation into his work. He ended up taking a job out of
town. Lauras story continued, albeit without her nuns habit.
She and Iris fought vigorously for the love of Mark, much
to the displeasure of their father Dr. Will Donnelly. Mark's
mom Helen had no fondness for Iris, finding her too flighty,
and was no doubt gratified when Mark wed Laura instead.
Iris made a play for Dr. Abbott, of all people, then started
seeing a candidate for the Senate named Spence Garrison,
whose only drawback was that he had a manipulative wife
named Nancy who refused to divorce him. Complicating
matters further was that when Spence and Iris went on a
plane to Lake Tahoe for a romantic getaway, it crashed,
leaving Iris blind.
Iris, despite (perhaps because of) her new condition,
proved to be a noble sort in 1969, urging Laura and Mark
to stay married when Mark cheated during their marriage.
Their situation took on a whole new dynamic when Iris,
cured of her blindness by Dr.
Chernak, found herself
pregnant by Mark after he had forced himself on her in a
drunken stupor one night, believing her to be Laura. Iris
eventually confessed to her now-husband Spence that their
daughter was not his, a fact which crushed him initially
but didn't destroy his campaign for Senate against incumbent
Alfred E. Preston.
Preston, incidentally, was a puppet for
the rich Walter Travis, and Walter s ex-employee Joe Taylor
was the one who tried to embarrass Spence about the
latter's situation.
Laura and Mark had reunited by 1971, but, learning
they could not conceive children, argued over whether
to adopt a baby or a troubled 6-year-old girl that Laura
favored. Then Laura tried to adopt Iris's child by Mark, and
she even worked with the newly returned Dr. Jim Abbott
to prove that Iris was unfit as a mother. Eventually, Laura
and Mark adopted a different child, and Iris and Spence
stayed together. Meanwhile Mark's mother Helen and
Laura's brother Tom had remarried, Helen's husband Philip
having died years before. Tom, who had a son named
Ricky, had faced considerable grief the year before when
his believed-to-be-deceased wife Martha, now called Julie
Richards, popped up alive with a boyfriend, Jim Whitman.
Jim was murdered and Tom was believed the culprit until it
was found that Martha/Julie had done the deed accidentally.
Also in 1971, Dr. Sanford Hiller, married to Marion
Hiller, fell in love with Betsy, Dr. Peter Chernak's sister.
However, Betsy loved paraplegic Vietnam War veteran Sam
Watson, then moved in with Joe Taylor. Lily, Betsy and
Peters mom, married Dr. Will Donnelly the following year.
Love is a Many Splendored Thing fared decently in the
ratings until Procter & Gamble, in a questionable move,
forced CBS to air all its soaps in one continuous block and
moved this entry back an hour, where it flopped against
Another World on NBC and General Hospitalon ABC.
Surprisingly, it managed to wrap up almost all of its story
lines during the final two weeks on the air despite being
notified of the cancellation in early February. The final
sequence had Betsy Chernak marry Joe Taylor, followed by
actor Judson Laire stepping out of character as Dr. Donnelly
to thank the audience for their support over the years.
Would that more shows would end that way ....
cast
Mia Elliott (1967-68).... Nancy Hsueh
Paul Bradley (1967).... Nicholas Pryor
Dr. Jim Abbott (1967-68).... Robert Milli
Dr. Jim Abbott (1972-73).... Ron Hale
Helen Elliott Donnelly (1967).... Grace Albertson
Helen Elliott Donnelly (1968-73).... Gloria Hoye
Iris Donnelly Garrison (1967—70).... Leslie Charleson
Iris Donnelly Garrison (1971-73).... Bibi Besch
Laura Donnelly (1967-70).... Donna Mills
Laura Donnelly (1970-71).... Veleka Gray
Laura Donnelly (1972—73).... Barbara Stanger
Lt. Tom Donnelly (1967-69).... Robert Burr
Lt. Tom Donnelly (1969-73).... Albert Stratton
Ricky Donnelly..... Shown Campbell
Phillip Elliott (1967).... Len Wayland
Mark Elliott (1968).... Sam Wade
Mark Elliott (1969-70).... David Birney
Mark Elliott (1970-71).... Michael Hawkins
Mark Elliott (1972-73).... Tom Fuccello
Dr. Will Donnelly (1968-73).... Judson Loire
Spence Garrison (1968)..... Michael Hanrahan
Spence Garrison (1968-72).... Ed Power
Spence Garrison (1973)..... Brett Halsey
Dr. Peter Chernak (1969-70).... Paul Michael Closer
Dr. Peter Chernak (1970).... Michael Zas low
Dr. Peter Chernak (1970-73).... Vincent Bagetta
Angel Allison Chernak (1969-73).... Suzie Kay Stone
Dr. Ellis, psychiatrist (1969,1971-72).... Robert Drew
Nancy Garrison (1969).... Susan Browning
Dr. Betsy Chernak Taylor (1970-73).... Andrea Marcovicci
Lily Chernak Donnelly (1970-73).... Diana Douglas
Martha Donelly (a.k.a. Julie Richards; 1970-71).... Beverlee McKinsey
Jim Whitman (1970).... Berkeley Harris
Sen. Alfred Preston (1971-72).... Don Gantry
Marion Hiller (1971—72).... Constance Towers
Dr. Sanford Hiller (at least 1971).... Stephen Joyce
Jean Garrison (at least 1971).... Jane Manning
Sam Watson (at least 1971).... James Bruge
Celia Winter (1972-73).... Abigail Kellogg
Joe Taylor (1972-73).... Leon Russom
