Lime Street

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Lime Street cast photo

This article is about Lime Street, an American television series. For The railway station in Liverpool, see Liverpool Lime Street railway station.

Lime Street was a short-lived television series that aired on the ABC television network in the United States during the 1985 television season.

Lime Street was conceived of as a vehicle to use the talents of 13-year-old Samantha Smith, a Maine schoolgirl who had written a letter to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov asking him whether he was truly desirous of a nuclear war with the United States, as she had heard suggested by some. He wrote her a reply stating that he was not, and inviting her to visit the U.S.S.R., and the event was picked up by media in both countries and elsewhere around the world. In her ensuing fame following the visit, she hosted a special on international politics for young people produced by the Disney organization, and became seen by some in the television industry as a potential child star should the right vehicle be developed for her.

The result was Lime Street, which cast her as the elder daughter of international insurance investigator James Greyson Culver, played by veteran Hollywood star Robert Wagner, a character very similar to previous international sophisticates he had portrayed earlier in his career. Only a handful of episodes had been shot, however, when young Miss Smith was killed on August 25, 1985, in an airplane crash on a small plane belonging to Bar Harbor Airlines. Ironically, Smith's death occurred prior to any of the programs having aired, the premiere being on September 21. Critical reviews were mixed at best although there was genuine praise for Smith's talents and acting ability in the few episodes she had completed; however the program had trouble finding much of an audience. Her part was never recast and no further episodes were ever produced. The last program aired on October 26, 1985.