Original issue date: January 25, 2000Cheers To 30 Years!
Three decades ago, Ruth Warrick brought Phoebe Tyler — and Pine Valley — to life, and the town has been bubbling with excitement ever since!
The 12 months of 1970 were portentous for pop culture. In January, the Beatles recorded together for the last time, cutting "I Me Mine" just weeks before their breakup. The eye-opening Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask topped the book charts, tapping into America’s undercover awakening. And as the ribald ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN ruled primetime TV, Midnight Cowboy sparked controversy by becoming the first X-rated film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
It was also the year that daytime television gave birth to one of its favorite children…
Small Town, Big Plans
ALL MY CHILDREN, a daytime drama about the quiet suburban community of Pine Valley, was very near and dear to the heart of its creator, Agnes Nixon, who just two years prior had blessed ABC with the intricately-woven ONE LIFE TO LIFE. And there alongside Nixon for Pine Valley’s premiere were Mary Fickett and Ray MacDonnell as Martin family heads Ruth and Joe; Susan Lucci as the increasingly irrepressible Erica Kane, and silver screen legend Ruth Warrick as society queen Phoebe Tyler.
As hard to believe as it may be, the veteran actress might have missed out on her 50 years of film, stage and TV fame had she heeded the advice offered to her by others as she contemplated an acting career as a young lady. "I have to laugh," she declares, "because my family and friends used to say, 'You can’t go into show business! There's no security there!’"
Now, noting AMC’s milestone, Warrick appreciates the irony of those warnings. "I'm 80 years old, and I've worked for the same people for 30 years — that's pretty secure to me!"
A Master Praises Daytime
At the point when daytime, in the form of AS THE WORLD TURNS, first beckoned Warrick in 1956 (an original cast member, she played saucy Edith Hughes), she already had an established film and stage career to her credit. So, as she eyed the new opportunity, she took to heart the encouragement of the legendary Orson Welles, who had directed her and played her leading man in the critically-revered Citizen Kane. "When I started to do soaps," she recalls, "people said, 'Oh my goodness, how could 'Mrs. Citizen Kane' lower herself to that?' But Orson, fortunately, said, 'I don't understand it — people try to put down soap operas because they are not on nighttime, but that's ridiculous. The best acting is on daytime.'"
When Welles spoke, Warrick listened, trusting the judgment of the juggernaut who had cast the then-25-year-old actress in what would be his 1941 masterpiece. Indeed, her adoration of the filmmaker who delivered her first big break has no bounds. "I will be forever grateful that I was included in that wonderful film," she attests. "I was amazed it happened then, and I am still amazed! It was a wonderful way to begin a career, I can tell you, and I really loved Orson so much. It didn't matter to me what happened with the film. Just working with Orson was the prize as far as I'm concerned. He's the only person I have ever met, except for maybe Walt Disney, that I would say really was a genius."
Fantastically Phoebe
After introducing herself to small-screen audiences with four years on ATWT, Warrick took the role of the mother in the 1961 FATHER OF THE BRIDE television series. Following its brief run, she revisited the format of serialized drama with primetime's PEYTON PLACE, on which she portrayed Hannah Cord until 1967.
Then, at the turn of the decade, AMC and the plum role of Phoebe entered Warrick's world, providing her with what would become one of her top two calling cards. That Warrick has called Pine Valley home all this time is a tribute to the close-knit atmosphere which is AMC's widely-known hallmark.
"My fondest memories are of the great feeling of family that we have had here," she pronounces, "and all the really excellent actors and actresses that have walked these halls."
The Times To Come
Looking to the future on the occasion of AMC's anniversary, Warrick sees a show — and a Phoebe — that still are going strong and have a lot more fire left in them. "I know daytime has lost some viewers — ever since the O.J. Simpson trial, which seemed to be the turning point — but we still have very, very good friends," she points out, "and I predict [AMC] will never go off the air. It's too important to too many people."
As for her alter ego's presence in the Valley, the actress says that Agnes Nixon has resurrected an old favorite close to her heart. "Now that Agnes is back, she is writing real scenes for me. For a time there, I'd have four lines and they'd cut two," she laments. "I just hope they can bring back Langley [Wallingford, the husband whom neither Phoebe nor viewers have seen on-screen in five years]. His absence has sort of kept me on the sidelines.
"Louis Edmonds [Langley’s portrayer] has said he'd like to come back," she adds, "so I hope they can solve that." [Ed. note: Edmonds passed away in 2001.]
Alas, to turn an adage on its ear, the more things stay the same — Joe and Ruth still fret over their children, Erica still is playing with men — the more they change. And a kinder, gentler Phoebe is proof of that. "I worked more when I was meaner," Warrick observes. "But it's nice to be pleasant for a change, too!" — Matt Webb Mitovich
- - - FYI sidebar - - -
Born: June 29, 1916, in St. Joseph, MO.
Her story: Warrick's biography, The Confessions Of Phoebe Tyler, was published in 1980.
Her third most favorite role (after Citizen Kane and AMC): "Playing Anna in The King & I on the stage."
Metaphysical fitness: In 1991, Warrick received her certification as a licensed metaphysics teacher.
All her children: "My daughter Karen works for NASA, my older son, Jon, is a clinical and research psychologist for the National Institute Of Mental Health, and my youngest son, Tim, is a writer and part-time paralegal. I also have two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren — that really is the extra bonus for me. I love them to death, they're so darling and sweet!"
Ruth Warrick
