That role eventually got passed to Maureen and then occasionally to Henry and HB...maybe Buzz towards the end. But Bert was it in the twilight of her life.
Like many longtime viewers, I grew up looking up to Bert, and the loss of her wonderful portrayer, Charita Bauer, was a major blow to the show. I love this Bert/Phillip scene!
I have been watching these postsover last few days. It seem like many of us agree that if they stayed with the core families they still would be on the air. To me that was the Bauers and the Reardons.----but keep mindy, rick and beth too. Send Reva and the shaynes back to Tulsa. They were the beginning of the end. the crazy story lines (cloning all that stuff)
@Zobinski Yes they were. Looking at these old clips bring back memories. I agree Christopher Beunau was a wonderful villain as was the actor who played Roger. I always missed Bert. I also hated what they did to Beth. She use to be so strong (Evans) and they she became a whiner. The writers didn't stay true to the characters. I didn't like how they updated the camera shots. Looked like amateurs. I still wish the show was still on. I do think it was getting better towards the end.
Pam Long had Jay Hammer's (who was the father of two of her kids) character heavily interact with the Bauer's and Reardon's his first two years on the show. Call me silly, but, I think that, that shows that she actually valued the Bauer's and Reardon's on some level. She used the character of Tony a great deal. Long also developed the personalities of the next generation of Bauer's (Rick and Alan-Michael) and turned them into fan favorites. She created a new Bauer with the birth of Michelle.
Right. She said years later in an interview that most of what happened was not a deliberate attempt to push the Bauers out. The actor playing Ed wanted to leave, so that was out of the show's control. As for Mike and Hope, the actors and the powers that be couldn't agree on a direction for the characters or contract terms, so they had to be written out. The only intentional exit of a Bauer was Hillary and that was a storyline decision.
Marsha who played Hillary was fired. Yup the Texas team decimated the Bauer family. And I agree with the actors who played hope and Mike, the directions of the characters were not going in the right direction
Many of use agee they should have stayed with the core families. TO me that is Reardon and the Bauers---but keep, mindy, phillip, and Beth along with Rick. Rick became an extra on this show in later years. To me ( i know i am a minority) Reva and the Shaynes were the beginning of the end.
Also, one of the things the business side of soaps tends to do is reduce the guarantees of the expensive vets in favor of cheaper newbies. That is something that has happened on various soaps for decades. Pam Long was good at creating and/or developing memorable new characters with many of them turning into fan favorites. P&G simply took advantage of that. There is really no indication that Pam Long had much control over it. After all, Marland quit GL after Jane Elliot was fired.
@416mcp I'm in that same minority. It was Reva and the Shaynes who marked a very real change. The core families of the Bauers, Spauldings, Reardons, Lewises, Chamberlains, Thorpes, Marlers, etc. were wonderful. Another BIG blow was when Christopher Bernau left (and died) ... he was just amazing and he and Grant could/should have been together on GL for many, many years. Losing Bert Bauer too was such an end to "classic" Guiding Light.
