My first episode, circa Oct 1981, as Joshua Lewis on the CBS daytime drama, Guiding Light. With Rebecca Hollen, Jerry VerDorn, the late Don Stewart, Jennifer Cooke, Kathleen Cullen and others.
Who would have guessed at the time that this virtual newcomer in a firmly established TV institution would nearly thirty years later have the privilege of having the last scene of the entire series? Quite an accomplishment.
Wow! It was amazing to see that again! I really miss that show. I started watching in the mid 70's I think. It really broke my heart when they took that show away.
Robert, thank you for your many contributions to GUIDING LIGHT. You were outstanding as Joshua Lewis, and you had a wonderful chemistry with Kim Zimmer, Cynthia Watros, Michelle Forbes, Larry Gates, Jordan Clarke, Rebecca Hollen, Krista Tesreau, and so many others.
Perfectly said-Could not agree with you more..................Guiding Light should have NEVER ended.....And, the fact tat those last years were done with the different film type, it made the show even that much better...........Thee BEST Soap Opera.....Nothing will ever touch the years and all the incredible actors/actresses and characters that they played!
I started watching soaps in the mid 80's , my grandparents would sit and watch Y&R, ATWT, Capitol (they would sit through that show) to get to Guiding LIght. I was about 8-9 years old at the time when I watched the Guiding Light in the 80's , I remember how great Guiding Light was at that time,
As a teen girl back then I watched this soap all the time with my mom. There were so many handsome men of all ages on that show, no wonder I was hooked!
Mr. Lewis, or Robert, if I may call you by your first name. I want to offer my forever thanks for your playing Joshua Lewis for all those years. I am 51 years old and started watching guiding light in my teen years, right up to that moment when you, Kim and that young boy, who played colin, drove down the road and then the "The End"....The ironic thing about the last 10 or so minutes were beautiful of the characters and yet so very sad....You are an incredible actor....playing Joshua Lewis, playing with Crystal Chappell on Venice and I just know any acting you have, do and will do. I came across your very first scene and that you have your own youtube page. I have my own as well. I have done a small amount of my own videos. I plan on doing some more in the near future on different topics. I look very different and my life has changed in one drastic way, that I would never have wished for. I just wanted to come here and tell you what a remarkable actor you are in every sense. Thank you for playing one of Springfield's BEST characters. I look forward to all new videos you decide for your page....GOD Bless You Robert Newman..........Ione (i o w n) Marie
I really miss this show. I first saw it as a 13-year-old on TV after they took Ryan's Hope off. My mom and dad were stationed in the Philippines at Clark AB. I really, really miss this show. It was a huge part of my childhood and adulthood. I wish they would put the episodes on DVD. I'd buy them all.
Great clip of young Josh! I grew up watching this soap with my mom, aunt and grandma. It is always interesting to look at episodes of GL from way back when! :)
Josh was brought in to fill the shoes left by the villainous Andy Norris, his sister Trish's ex-husband, who had terrorized the town with his reign of blackmail and abuse and had just been carted off to prison. Exit Andy, enter Josh Lewis. Ironic that after Trish suffered so much because of her husband Andy that she would welcome with open arms the town's next blackmailer and leach. At the time, there was no difference between sleazy Josh and abusive Andy. A testament to Newman's charisma that succeeding writers would keep him and help him reveal other facets to a maturing Josh.
Over the last year, I've been watching late '70s early '80s episodes. I'm up to Sept. '82. I have to say that Josh Lewis is one of these soap characters that have come full circle. He was such a cad and a womanizer when he first came on, and ended up as this upstanding pillar of the community and family man. It's amazing to think that he was on for four years before Kim Zimmer would blow into Springfield as Reva. I have to admit at first I was put off by all the new people on the show in mid '80s, because they were replacing longtime characters that I had watched for years. But eventually I came around and watched the show until it was filmed entirely on location in New Jersey.
I did not remember that Josh talked a lot about Diane Ballard who had just been murdered on the show. Josh and Diane would have made sparks fly on GL. They never should have killed off her character!
Robert, did Larry Gates ever sing "September Song" a capella on GL? I'm thinking mid-1990s... and Kim was very emotional. I can't find any reference to it online, but feel sure I saw this...
Hey Robert, Have you figured out what the exact date of this episode was? Would love to get your first airdate as Josh exact for places on the internet devoted to the history of the show. I do remember being at 17-years old watching your first week or so on the show. And yes, I remember it looked that were going to pair Josh off with Hope in an affair, but they decided to go a different way when they later introduced Lesley Anne.
Also some videos I was wondering if you have from your early first few months on the show: Do you have video of Josh's date with Nola Reardon (a pregnant Nola Reardon -- although I don't believe Lisa Brown was, at that, there is mention of that date on some other videos of the show on youtube, but not the actual date itself), and the other would be when Derek Colby (Harley Venton) and you got into your argument/fight over you hanging around Hillary Bauer (Marsha Clark), who Derek was involved with at the time, waaaay too much?
That is a young General Hospital legend Tracy Quartermain. aka Jane Elliot who left the room..Wow I didn't know when she left GH for the 1st time that she went to Guiding Light.😌
Doug MarlandsJosh Lewis was great. He was a piece of work. Didn't like him after that he became boring and his relationship with Reva was unbelievable and nauseous! The Dobson's and Marland years were the best.
Both Trish and Josh Lewis were created under the Doug Marland writing and Allan Potter EP regime. The remaining Lewis family members (Billy, HB, Mindy and Reva) were created post Marland/Potter and/or under Pam K. Long Hammer's /Gail Kobe's regime. I so wish that Doug Marland had the opportunity to properly develop the Lewis family under his regime. I truly believe that the Lewis family would have evolved into something other than the "Texas" or "Dallas" of the midwest under Marland's regime. Pam K. Long Hammer and Gail Kobe essentially destroyed the fabric and foundation of Guiding Light by dismantling the Bauer family in favor of the rockabilly Lewis (for which they were never intended to be) and Shayne families.
