From These Roots
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From These Roots was an American soap opera which ran from 1958 to 1961. It was created and written by Frank Provo and John Pickard. The show was seen on NBC, and was the first successful soap opera vehicle for Ann Flood who would later become well-known for, and spend the better part of two decades as, Nancy Pollock Karr on The Edge of Night.
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[edit] Storyline
Ms. Flood starred as Elizabeth "Liz" Fraser Allen, a successful writer who had returned to her New England hometown of Strathfield to run her family's newspaper, the Strathfield Record. Her father, Ben Fraser, Sr. had suffered a heart attack, thus causing Liz, who, until she returned to Strathfield, had lived and worked in Washington, DC, to come home, leaving her DC fiance, Bruce Crawford. Another former beau, from her earlier days in Strathfield, Dr. Buck Weaver, eventually married his secretary, Maggie Barker.
Her family included a brother Ben, Jr. who worked a family farm, was married to italian Rose Corelli; had three children, including a son, named Dan, and didn't have much to do with the newspaper; and a sister Emily, who was married to Jim Benson and, after Jim's death, to Frank Teton.
Liz's first adversary was wealthy Enid Chambers, who was the first wife of the man she would eventually marry, David Allen. Her later adversary was alcoholic actress, Lynn Franklin, who, despite her own marriage to Tom Jennings, was very much in love with David and wanted him for herself.
[edit] Famous actors
Several actors featured on From These Roots found fame in later shows. These include Henderson Forsythe, who went on to fame as Dr. David Stewart in As the World Turns; Charlotte Rae, forever known as Edna Garrett on Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life; Vera Allen, later known as Grandma Matthews on Another World; Billie Lou Watt who played Stu Bergman's second wife, Ellie Harper, on Search for Tomorrow; Audra Lindley, best known as the eternally frustrated (with her husband, mainly) landlady, Helen Roper from Three's Company and its spin-off The Ropers; Richard Thomas, well-known as John-Boy Walton from The Waltons; Craig Huebing, later of General Hospital; Joseph Mascolo, known for his roles as Stefano DiMera on Days of Our Lives and Massimo Marone on The Bold and the Beautiful; John Karlen, later known as Harvey Lacey of Cagney and Lacey; and John Colenback who played Henderson Forsythe's son, Dan Stewart, on As the World Turns. See Trivia for other famous alumni.
The show was directed by Don Wallace and Paul Lammers, who were producers as well, along with Eugene Barr. It was also known for a storyline dealing with the show-within-a-show performance of Madame Bovary, which heavily featured the show's villainess, Lynn Franklin.
[edit] Cancellation
Unfortunately, despite this interesting storyline, and how well written it was, the show was cancelled in 1961 because not many people felt at home with this kind of drama, which was admittedly unusual for soaps of that time. This soap was more literary than most that were on the air at that time.
As such, all the stories were wrapped up and ended happily. Ben, Sr. who had become Strathfield's mayor, had cleaned up the town of organized crime; Kass, the Fraser's lovable maid, had received a great big settlement from her husband's estate; Lyddy Benson, (Liz's niece, her mother was Emily) had announced she was engaged; and Liz and her husband, David had achieved mutual success as writers.
[edit] Trivia
- Millette Alexander, who played gun moll Gloria Saxon, later worked with former From These Roots co-star Ann Flood, not once, but three separate times on The Edge of Night. She has the rare distinction of playing three separate roles on that show; her first was as Gail Armstrong, a commercial artist involved with Dr. Hugh Campbell, played by Wesley Addy; socialite Laura Hillyer, married to Orin Hillyer; and her look-alike cousin, Julie Jamison. Julie was related to the evil Elly Jo Jamison, played by Dorothy Lyman. In between, she was also on As the World Turns playing Sylvia Hill, a nurse with the disease lupus. In December 1968, she joined Guiding Light playing Dr. Sarah McIntyre Gantry Werner Blackford Thorpe. This role lasted until June 1983, when Millette retired from acting altogether, and became a concert pianist.
- A disagreement between producers and actress Julie Bovasso who played Rose Corelli, Ben Fraser, Jr's wife, led up to her being fired. After a squabble over a line's meaning, Ms. Bovasso walked off the set. A line producer stepped in and did Rose's lines that day. Not surprisingly, Ms. Bovasso was fired. The role was then taken over by another actress, Tresa Hughes who played the role up to the show's end in 1961. Julie Bovasso later became famous for her role as Flo Manero, the mother of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever and its sequel, Staying Alive.
- Robert Mandan, who played Liz Fraser's husband, David Allen, later found fame on Search for Tomorrow as businessman Sam Reynolds; and much later, became known for his more comical roles on Soap, where he played Chester Tate, Jessica's husband; and the TV adaptation of the movie Private Benjamin in which he played the bumbling, officious, but well-meaning Colonel Fielding.
- Barbara Berjer, who portrayed the wonderful alcoholic villainess, actress Lynn Franklin, worked on several soaps in her life. After From These Roots, she joined As the World Turns as the last Claire English Lowell Cassen Shea, lasting from 1965-1971; then joining Guiding Light as Barbara Norris Thorpe, which lasted until 1981, marking ten years in that role. She returned to Springfield two more times in 1995 and 1996, mostly having to do with her daughter, Holly Norris. Her last soap role was as Bridget Connell on Another World beginning in 1985 and ending in 1996, three years before the show itself ended.
