After four years of playing Maureen Reardon Bauer on the soap opera, guide light, Ellen Dolan decided that she should go to Los Angeles to further her acting career. This is what happened next:
Ellen Dolan: So, I quit and went out and immediately did the ‘do two national commercials a year and then do a lot of regional theater’ standard. What did I do.
Until one night I went to buy dinner, which consisted of a can of cat food for my cats or some peanut butter for myself. And you had to feed the cats. And he couldn’t call home for money. So it was like, oh dear.
So I went up to my agents and said, “get me out, get me out.” And they did. And I started doing all these pilots and everything. and testing. And that’s how we ended up thinking that he should go to Los Angeles.
And that’s when I got the call from Doug Marland saying “Would you do Margo again?” And I thought… yes. I want to go home. I want to be in New York. And I want to do the kind of roles that women can do during the day. Yes.
And the same thing happened when I quit while the world spins In ’92 I think. And I came back to LA thinking I really have to try again. I have to give it a good chance, because I was almost 30 by then, 36? And by Hollywood standards, that’s…
Susan Dansby: On the hill.
Ellen Dolan: That’s over the hill.
So I went there and booked a pilot again, right away. I did all the good and right things. And I was living in a nice place. And I was working on different things.
You know, I got to the point where I was doing two episodes on Walker, Texas Ranger. I was in Texas and I looked at it all and thought, this isn’t nearly as fun as the character he was doing back in the day.
So when I found out that Margo was going to be traded, I called my agent and said, I want to go back to New York.
And they told me, are you sure? Are you absolutely sure? Because if we call Vince and upset him, it’s going to be hell to pay. And I said, yes, I’m sure. I have never made a character that is as interesting as Margo.