The Edge of Night Home Page

MINOR CHARACTERS


http://lavender.fortunecity.com/casino/403/cast.html



This was a site I discovered many years ago when I was doing a search for the theme
song of the show. I remembered the word "lavender city," but it's been a while since I actually did a search of any kind on the subject. This particular page shows a list of the actual actors and actresses that have appeared over the years.

I was the kind of child that was inquisitive. I had to know the answer to everything. Who knows? Maybe the Edge of Night had a hand in it. For every crime, there were questions, and eventually, some answers. If I was old enough to understand all those answers and who-dunnits, I am not totally sure, but for the sake of the blog, let's say it's true.

One of the aspects of the show I loved was that they would feature these adorable minor characters that bounced in and out every once in a while. Usually, they were just there to get killed off, but back then, I already knew about Crime Tv, so that was nothing new in light of common plots. So, when I saw one of these rare
characters, I would sing-song:

"There he is...There she is!" (to no one in particular)

I would watch characters in the background as well as keep up with the main dialogue
in the forefront. Those details in black and white seemed to matter to me for some odd reason.


Winter Austen : Stalking!

When I first tuned in, I didn't realize I was watching the Edge of Night. I thought it was "Charlie's Angels" or another similar show. We had just bought our first black and white television. We had also just arrived to the USA. One afternoon I was home alone and started to flip channels. I was entranced by Winter Austin (how I visualized the name back then as no magazines were available) stalking someone (I think it was Nicole Cavanaugh), and I wanted to know what she was doing. Then I told myself after I watched the scene, I would turn the dial. Instead, I was instantly hooked!

There was something about Winter Austen that made people watch the show. I felt that she was a superb actress. I also wanted to make sure that they were actually saying
"Winter." I thought that maybe I was hearing it incorrectly, because I had never heard Winter used as a first name before. The way she spoke was clear and brilliant. Although, I had heard others talk on television before, there was something about her voice that was entrancing. I could actually understand dialogue! I felt like I was in the room with them, and the voice resounded into our living room. The way they spoke made the viewers feel as if they were talking to them as well as to the parties on the screen. That was eerie, but I didn't quite understand that about the show at the time. Today, I feel it even now.


***Actually, this is something notable about the Edge of Night's actors. Their diction and speech was near to perfect. Being a newcomer to the USA was difficult enough, but discriminating words in the American dialect was especially troublesome, because the words spoken were a little too fast for my comprehension at the time.

Although Winter was actually performing evil acts, I looked past that and tried to understand:

"Why is she doing that?"

"What is she doing?"

"She looks like a nice lady. I wish she wouldn't do that!"

I was willing her to stop in my head, as my heart pounded mercilessly.

I even researched her first name at school. They said to me it's probably a last name. I inquired "last name?" and finally figured out they meant "surname." I retorted that they were using it as a first name. I think I developed the status
of a roving reporter at the time because of the many questions I asked people.

The scene with Winter Austen was also my first exposure to seeing an individual being stalked. I didn't know the word at the time, but the behavior suggested it was a crime, because she was doing something evil to a beloved character that everyone on the show loved. I prayed that the character of Nicole would get away. I watched them running around for quite some time. Then I worried that something bad would happen to Winter if she didn't change.

I think I said a prayer for Winter Austen later that night, because I really took all of it to heart.

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Questions for Viewers:

Who are your favorite minor character(s) on the Edge of Night?
& Why?

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