Harding Lemay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harding Lemay (born March 16, 1922 in North Bangor, New York) is an American screenwriter and playwright. Born near the Mohawk Indian reservation, where his mother grew up, he ran away to New York City at age 17, where he has lived ever since.

Sometimes credited as Pete Lemay, he is best known for his stint as Head Writer of the soap opera Another World, from 1971 to 1979. Many family situations and characters were modeled after his own family, such as the Frame brothers and sisters.

He was credited with ratings surges that pushed viewing figures to ten million households, as well as material that earned the series a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 1976. It was his writing that made the characters of Mac Cory (played by Douglass Watson), Rachel Cory (Victoria Wyndham), and Iris Cory Carrington (Beverlee McKinsey) household names. However, by 1979, Lemay decided not to continue writing the series for a ninth straight calendar year, and first handed over the reins to a new writer before exiting for good later that year. He also engendered some criticism for writing out three of the show's most popular actors George Reinholt (Steve Frame), Jacqueline Courtney (Alice Matthews Frame), and Virginia Dwyer (Mary Matthews), in 1975.

One of his reasons for leaving was that, first and foremost, writing a serial that aired five times a week proved to be too taxing. In a 1981 interview with PBS, Lemay stated that even mundane occurrences would be ruled by his job. "If I saw a nice dress in the window, my first thought wouldn't be that it would be a nice gift for my wife. I would think, 'That dress would look great on Pat," Pat Randolph being a character on Another World.^{[citation needed]}

Another reason for his exit was that the sponsor of the show, Procter & Gamble Productions Inc., refused to allow Lemay to write controversial storylines. In the late 1970s, Lemay asked the sponsor for clearance on a storyline he was writing, in which the teenage son of a very prominent character was to become a homosexual. According to Lemay, he had already written the story, ostensibly with the sponsor's support, until he was asked to pull the story mere days before the scenes were to be taped. Lemay's 1981 memoir, Eight Years In Another World, indicates that the same-sex story centered around Michael Randolph (Lionel Johnston), son of Pat Matthews Randolph (Beverly Penberthy) and John Randolph (Michael M. Ryan).

[[Procter & Gamble's animosity toward Lemay softened, and he was even asked to return as Head Writer of Another World in 1988. The plan was for Lemay to begin writing the show again after the end of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike. The strike lasted from March to September and the entire time Donna M. Swajeski was responsible for the storytelling. Swajeski had previously worked for the programming division at NBC, the network that aired Another World, but after writing the show for six months, she wanted to continue writing the series on a full-time basis. When the strike finally ended and Lemay began work as planned, Swajeski and Lemay clashed over Another World's direction and Lemay abruptly quit after writing Another World for only a few weeks.^{[citation needed]} His storyline choices, however, such as the glamorous wedding of Felicia Gallant (Linda Dano) to Mitch Blake (William Gray Espy), and the return of Mac Cory's daughter Iris (Carmen Duncan) set the stage for engrossing story in the years to come.

With Lemay completely gone from AW, Swajeski became head writer, a position she held until 1992. It has been argued that much of her critically acclaimed storylines came from Lemay's storyline projections.

Coming off his creative zenith in the 1970s, Lemay co-created Lovers and Friends with Paul Rauch, later retooled and referred to as For Richer, For Poorer.

Lemay is also a successful playwright, whose works have been produced both Off Broadway and on Broadway. He was also a friend and mentor to Douglas Marland, who served as his subwriter on Another World and later became one of daytime's most prolific writers, serving as head writer for Guiding Light, General Hospital and As The World Turns.

[edit] Positions Held

Another World

Story Consultant (1995)
Head Writer (1971-1979; 1988)

As the World Turns

Story Consultant

The Doctors

Head Writer (1980s)

Guiding Light

Writer (1980-1981)

Lovers And Friends/For Richer, For Poorer

Co-Creator

One Life To Live

Story Consultant (1998)

[edit] Awards & Nominations

Daytime Emmy NOMINATION (1977, 1996; Best Writing; Another World)
Daytime Emmy WIN (1981; Best Writing; Guiding Light)
Daytime Emmy WIN (1975; Best Writing; Another World)

Preceded by Robert Cenedella	Head Writer of Another World August 1971-May 1979	Succeeded by Tom King
Preceded by Donna M. Swajeski (de facto)	Head Writer of Another World September 12, 1988-November 10, 1988	Succeeded by Donna M. Swajeski