The Saddest News

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=140 BGCOLOR="#FF99CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Updates"><U><B>Updates</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biography"><U><B>Biography</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mary In Soaps"><U><B>Mary In Soaps</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Celebrating Soaps"><U><B>Celebrating Soaps</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>The Saddest News</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stars Goodbyes"><U><B>Stars' Goodbyes</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fans Speak Out"><U><B>Fans Speak Out</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LIGHTing The Web"><U><B>LIGHTing The Web</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Win My Award"><U><B>Win  My  Award</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Affiliates"><U><B>Affiliates</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U><B>Contact Me</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=95 BGCOLOR="#FF99CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#993366" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>In  Loving  Memory  Of  Mary  Stuart</B></FONT><B>  </B><B> </B><B>|   </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="In Loving Memory Of Mary Stuart"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Updates"><U><B>Updates</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biography"><U><B>Biography</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mary In Soaps"><U><B>Mary In Soaps</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Celebrating Soaps"><U><B>Celebrating Soaps</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>The Saddest News</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stars Goodbyes"><U><B>Stars' Goodbyes</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fans Speak Out"><U><B>Fans Speak Out</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LIGHTing The Web"><U><B>LIGHTing The Web</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Win My Award"><U><B>Win  My  Award</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Affiliates"><U><B>Affiliates</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U><B>Contact Me</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=385 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FF99CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>The Saddest News</I></div> <div> <B>The  very  sad  news  about  Mary's  passing  spread  around  the  internet  and  soap  magazines. Here  are  some  of  the  sad  announcements:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>THIS  WAS  SENT  TO  MY  INBOX  BY  A  GOOD  FRIEND. IF  YOU  KNOW  WHERE  THIS  WAS  TAKEN  FROM, </U></B><A HREF="mailto:love_soaps@hotmail.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:love_soaps@hotmail.com"><U><B><U>PLEASE  E-MAIL  ME</U></B></U></A><B><U>. THANK  YOU!</U></B></div> <div> <I><B>I am sad to report that </B></I><I><B>GL's</B></I><I><B> Mary Stuart (Meta) passed away at age 75 in her home in New York City on Feb. 28, due to complications from a stroke. Born July 4, 1926, Mary Stuart entered daytime in 1951 by taking the role of Jo Barron on a new soap opera, </B></I><I><B>Search For Tomorrow</B></I><I><B>. She played the heroine until the show?€™s final episode in 1986. While in later years, Jo often would be seen doling out advice to the younger set, in the early days she was just as often seen playing guitar and singing a song. After a brief stint playing Judge Claire Webber on </B></I><I><B>OLTL</B></I><I><B> in 1988, Stuart would not be seen on a soap again until </B></I><I><B>Guiding Light</B></I><I><B> wisely brought her on to play Bauer matriarch, Meta, in 1996; a role she played until her death. Besides a career that spanned over 50 years in daytime, the actress performed in many movies. She was in </B></I><I><B>The Cariboo Trail</B></I><I><B> with Randolph Scott, </B></I><I><B>The Adventures of Don Juan</B></I><I><B> with Errol Flynn and </B></I><I><B>The Big Punch</B></I><I><B> with Gordon MacRae, just to name a few. In 1992, Stuart started BOOK PALS, a reading program that had her reading to school children in New York City.Stuart truly understood the impact she had on fans, having played the same role for so long, knowing many had grown up watching her. She was overheard asking one if she had raised her too. She had become everyone's grandmother figure, the one they wished they had. But she wasn't only beloved by viewers. She will be missed by her colleagues as well. John Aniston (Victor, </B></I><I><B>Days</B></I><I><B>; ex-Martin, </B></I><I><B>SFT</B></I><I><B>) tells us, 'She was a grande dame of the theater. If there is a hall of fame for soap actors, she should be in it.'</B></I><I> </I><I><B>Mary is survived by her husband of more than 20 years, architect Wolfgang Neumann; her two children from a previous marriage, Jeffrey Krolik and Cynthia Stuart; and two grandchildren.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>CBS  SOAPS  IN  DEPTH  </U></B><A HREF="http://cbs.soapsindepth.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://cbs.soapsindepth.com"><U><B><U>ONLINE</U></B></U></A><B><U>:</U></B></div> <div> <I><B>Mary Stuart</B></I><I><B>, who portrayed GUIDING LIGHT's Meta, passed away at her home in NYC on February 28, due to complications from a stroke. "GL, Procter & Gamble Productions and the entire daytime world has lost a woman, an actress, and a friend who showed us how to do daytime with grace, class and humor for over 50 years," </B></I><I><B>Mary Alice Dwyer-Dobbin</B></I><I><B>, executive-in-charge of P&G Productions, said in a statement. "We mourn her passing."</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Added GL executive producer </B></I><I><B>Paul Rauch</B></I><I><B>, who first met Stuart on the set of SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, where she played Jo Tourneur: "What struck me most about Mary then — and now — is what a consummate professional she was. Her infectious spirit pulled her cast together... and provided them with a sense of purpose.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>"I never saw Mary give less than her total commitment from the day I met her until her last [GL] performance on February 26."</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Stuart is survived by her husband, Wolfgang Neumann; two children from a previous marriage; and two grandchildren. Donations in her memory can be made to Screen Actors Guild Foundation/Mary Stuart Book Fund, 5757 Wilshire Bldv., Los Angeles, CA 90036.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.soapcity.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.soapcity.com"><U><B><U>SOAPCITY</U></B></U></A><B><U>: </U></B><A HREF="http://www.guidinglighttv.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.guidinglighttv.com"><U><B><U>GUIDING  LIGHT</U></B></U></A><B><U>:</U></B></div> <div> <I><B>Mary Stuart (Meta) passed away at age 75 in her home in New York City on Feb. 28, due to complications from a stroke.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Mary, who was inducted into the Soap Opera Hall of Fame in 1995, was the first daytime performer to be nominated for an Emmy in 1962. The recipient of four Daytime Emmy nominations, she was awarded special lifetime achievement recognition for her popular role as Joanne Tate on </B></I><I><B>Search For Tomorrow</B></I><I><B>. Last October, Procter & Gamble Productions celebrated Stuart and her </B></I><I><B>50-year-contribution to daytime television</B></I><I><B>.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>"</B></I><I><B>Guiding Light</B></I><I><B>, Procter & Gamble Productions and the entire daytime world has lost a woman, an actress and a friend who showed us how to do daytime with grace, class and humor for over 50 years," said Mary Alice Dwyer-Dobbin, Executive-in-Charge of Procter & Gamble Productions. "We mourn her passing."</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Added </B></I><I><B>Guiding Light</B></I><I><B> Executive Producer Paul Rauch, "I first met Mary when I was a young stage manager on </B></I><I><B>Search for Tomorrow</B></I><I><B>. What struck me most about Mary then -- and now -- is what a consummate professional she was. Her infectious spirit pulled her cast together as a unified group and provided them with a sense of purpose. I never saw Mary give less than her total commitment from the day I met her until her last performance on </B></I><I><B>Guiding Light</B></I><I><B> on Tuesday, Feb. 26."</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Born on July 4, 1926 in Miami, Florida, Mary was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma where, at the age of 12, she started her career by singing with local bands. During high school, she worked with the USO at area military bases and after graduation, worked briefly as a photojournalist in order to pay her way, at age 18, to New York to pursue her acting career.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>While working as a camera girl at the Hotel Roosevelt ballroom in Manhattan, photographing those who came to dance to the tunes of Guy Lombardo's orchestra, Mary was "discovered" by movie producer Joe Pasternak. Three days after they met, she had her first screen test; a contract with MGM soon followed. In Hollywood, Stuart appeared in over 20 films, performing in movies with Ronald Reagan (</B></I><I><B>The Girl from Jones Beach</B></I><I><B>), Errol Flynn (</B></I><I><B>The Adventures of Don Juan</B></I><I><B>), Clark Gable (</B></I><I><B>The Hucksters</B></I><I><B>), Esther Williams (</B></I><I><B>This Time for Keeps</B></I><I><B>) and Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball (</B></I><I><B>The Big Street</B></I><I><B>). </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Back in New York City, at a lunch with advertising executive Roy Winsor (who, unbeknownst to Mary, was developing a serial tentatively titled </B></I><I><B>Search for Happiness</B></I><I><B>), Mary complained that there were no female characters on television with whom women could identify. Shortly afterwards, she was cast as the leading lady in </B></I><I><B>Search for Tomorrow</B></I><I><B>, which debuted on Sept. 3, 1951. Until the show's cancellation 35 years later, on Dec. 26, 1986, Mary served as the heart and soul of the show in her role as heroine Joanne (Jo) Gardner Barron Tate Vincente Tourneur. A groundbreaker on many fronts, Mary was the first actress to have a pregnancy written into the storyline of a live daytime drama; the first soap opera performer to sing on air; and in 1962, the first daytime performer to be nominated for an Emmy, in the same category as prime-time actresses Mary Tyler Moore and Donna Reed. The apron she wore as Jo on </B></I><I><B>Search for Tomorrow</B></I><I><B> resides in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Mary also acted in the live television dramas of the 1950s, narrated the NBC news documentary </B></I><I><B>Determining Force</B></I><I><B> in 1977 and performed on stage in </B></I><I><B>Marriage Go Round</B></I><I><B>. A writer, singer and composer, her autobiography, </B></I><I><B>Both of Me</B></I><I><B>, was a Literary Guild selection when it was published in 1980; she released two albums, </B></I><I><B>Joanne Sings</B></I><I><B> and </B></I><I><B>Mary Stuart</B></I><I><B>; and an article she wrote for New York Magazine about her relationship with a homeless woman became the basis of a TV movie entitled </B></I><I><B>Face of a Stranger</B></I><I><B>, starring Tyne Daly and Gena Rowlands, who won an Emmy for the role in 1991.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Off-screen, Mary was the chairperson and founder of the New York chapter of </B></I><I><B>BOOK PALS</B></I><I><B>, an organization of working actors who donate time to read books to New York City public school children, in the fall of 1992.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Mary's co-star, GL's longest running cast-member Jerry ver Dorn (Ross) had this to say on the morning of March 1:</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>"There's quite a bit of shock on the set. It's very difficult to take. Her last taping day was only about ten days ago, and her last air day was yesterday. When Mary joined our show, she brought a lot of emotional weight and whimsy. She'd been close with (the late) Charita Bauer (Bert), so this part meant a great deal to her. She was a great addition to the show. You need an older generation. Mary was also very nurturing. A couple of week ago, I thought I was coming down with the flu, and Mary told me I looked awful. So she went to her dressing room and came back with this gnarly ginseng root. She taught me how to boil it and drink it. I felt better right away, it was a major rush -- I think it had caffeine in it. Mary was a plucky lady. She could take a joke and boy, could she give one!"</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Mary is survived by her husband of more than twenty years, architect Wolfgang Neumann; her two children from a previous marriage, Jeffrey Krolik and Cynthia Stuart; and two grandchildren.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Mary Stuart's memorial service will be held on Friday, April 5 at 10:45AM at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. The church is located at 921 Madison Avenue at 73rd Street. Open to the public.</B></I></div> </td> </tr></table></body>