Saturday, September 8, 2012

The Many Loves of... Cass Winthrop From ANOTHER WORLD

Some beloved characters just missed our 50 Greatest Soap Couples list.  Were critics and fans torn about who was really the love of someone's life, or the most interesting, or fun, or exciting, or relatable?  Whatever each person enjoyed most when watching a soap opera couple, there were years of memorable stories and couples that just missed our countdown. One of them was an ANOTHER WORLD favorite.  Below is a quick look at "The Many Loves of" Cass Winthrop, played for more than two decades by Stephen Schnetzer on three different soaps.

Who was the love of Cass's life?

THE CONTENDERS

Kathleen McKinnon (Julie Osburn) and womanizing Cass met when she was Felicia's personal assistant.  Cass was still getting over Cecile DePoulignac and Kathleen helped him track her down in Majorca.  Back in Bay City, Cass borrowed money from loan shark Tony the Tuna and couldn't pay it back.  So he went in hiding, dressing as a woman named Krystal Lake.  Unfortunately Tony became smitten with Krystal and started dating "her".   Cass finally got out of it by agreeing to turn Tony's niece, Dee, into a high society girl.  Through all of this Cass and Kathleen fell in love.  She became paralyzed, thanks to Carl Hutchins, but worked hard to regain the use of her legs for her wedding to Cass.  On their wedding day, Cecile kidnapped Cass and took him to an island.  Eventually Cass and Kathleen were reunited and got married but soon left town.  Cass returned seven months later and revealed Kathleen had died. She would turn up alive in 1991.

Admission: Cass and Kathleen are my all-time favorite soap opera couple. 

Frankie Frame (Alice Barrett) was a quirky annoyance to Cass at first while she was investigating the murder of her uncle, Jason.  She eventually was the person who discovered that Cass's girlfriend, Nicole Love, was the killer.  Eventually Cass fell for Frankie while they were investigating Lucas, former lover of Cass's best friend, Felicia.   Cass and Frankie planned to marry but Ryan Harrison kidnapped her on their wedding day.  They married the following week but soon Cass's ex-wife, Kathleen, turned up alive and Cass was torn between the two women.  Cass eventually chose Kathleen unaware Frankie was pregnant with his child.  But Cass couldn't stay away from Frankie and Kathleen left town.   Cass and Frankie eventually married again in 1993, and honeymooned on the Orient Express.  In 1996, Frankie was brutally murdered by Fax Newman, leaving a more mature Cass to raise their daughter, Charlie, alone.

Lila Roberts (Lisa Peluso) had a complicated life and needed the legal services Cass provided very often.   By this point, schemer Lila thought Cass was too moralistic (if she'd only known him years earlier!) and she was determined to marry Matt Cory no matter what Cass said or did.  Cass managed to stop her wedding to Matt, infuriating Lila.  Cass helped deliver her baby, Jasmine, but soon Jordan Stark kidnapped the baby.  He then brain-washed Matt (don't ask) into marrying Lila.  Once married, Lila realized life as a Cory wasn't all she dreamed of and was unhappy once again.   Once the brain-washing wore off, Matt and Lila split and Cass and Lila decided to be together. But soon a Frankie look-a-like, Anne, showed up.  On the last day of ANOTHER WORLD, Frankie's ghost appeared and gave her blessing as Cass and Lila married (after he was rescued from a gorilla kidnapping).

OTHER WOMEN
Felicia Gallant (Linda Dano) and Cass were lovers years before either came to town and resumed their relationship early on after their arrivals in Bay City, but soon realized they were better off as best friends.  They helped each other through numerous struggles over the years and had many fun adventures together as well, along with their friend, Wallingford.

Cecile DePoulignac (Nancy Frangione) and Cass were lovers but he was two-timing her with Felicia.  By that point in her life, Cecile wanted to marry Peter Love and almost did which made Cass want her even more.  On her many return visits Cecile was always involved with Cass from kidnapping him to claiming her daughter, Maggie, was his.  She stirred up trouble like no one else.

Cass was with other women, most notably Nicole Love.  But their chemistry never compared to the women above.

Which couple that Cass was involved in was your favorite?

16 comments:

  1. Loved Cass and Felicia though they were only meant to be friends!! Couple wise, huge fan of Cass and Lila!

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  2. I've always loved Cass and Kathleen. I enjoyed him with everyone except Nicole. When Kathleen returned in 1991 the writers had changed and a lot of the fans had changed and viewers mostly wanted him with Frankie, and that's how they wrote it. But it was still a pretty well-done triangle. Always loved Lisa Peluso so it didn't take much for me to get on board with Lila.

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  3. The gorilla (wasn't it a gorilla?)

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  4. I think he had the most chemistry with Lila.

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  5. I loved him with Lila, there chemistry was great together.

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  6. 1. Frankie - the best of the best
    2. Kathleen - adored her and her family
    3. Lila - how I loved Lila
    4. Felicia (though they were best as friends - in fact, the best platonic male/female friendship in the history of soaps)
    5. Cecile - always have a special place in my heart for this vixen.
    6. Nicole - no chemistry, boring

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  7. Okay. Let me see if I got this straight. . . Cass was kidnapped on his and Kathleen's wedding day. Frankie was kidnapped on her and Cass's wedding day. Then Cass was kidnapped -- by a gorilla -- on his and Lila's wedding day.

    If I was Cass, I would've gotten the message and either lived in sin with these women or eloped. The clichéd elopement, with Cass using a ladder to sneak in the second-floor window of his betrothed – and with the help of Felicia in one of her elaborate getups -- would have been fun.

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  8. Frankie, followed by Cecille, and Kathleen. Felicia was his BFF! ;-)

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  9. Cass and Lila! Cass and Frankie!

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  10. Cass & Kathleen were DYNAMITE! My favorite Cass coupling by far. I liked Frankie and just never got into Ava with a terrible Southern accent, ahem, Lila ;-)

    Side-note: In 2001, I bumped into Stephen Schnetzer on the street and was completely star-struck! I stopped him and babbled on about how much I loved him. He was gracious but probably freaked out a little. His voice is INCREDIBLE. Seriously, one of my all-time favorite voices. Loved, loved, loved Cass Winthrop (and Felicia Gallant, Donna Love, Vicky/Marly...where is the SoapClassic's Another World DVD set?)

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  11. Cass and Franke hands down - but I also liked Lila - I was hoping that anne would somehow turn out to be frankie...but then stupid NBC cancelled the show and the story had to be wrapped up quickly. Love the comment - brainwashing - don't ask - that story was terrible -

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  12. Wow, I'm late getting to this, but.....

    Cass and Kathleen, far and away! The others don't come close, not even Frankie. There was something not 'right' about that relationship, I never could put my finger on it, but it was very noticeable to me. Couldn't stand Lila, and she was all wrong for Cass. Loved the friendship with Felicia, though! Cecille was just bad news....
    Nope, for romance with Cass, it's Kathleen all the way for me!

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  13. Cass & Kathleen for me all the way Summer 1986 was the best when Cass got kidnapped on his wedding day. That summer did it for me non stop action ,romance, comedy and international intrigue!

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  14. Loved Cass and Lila! Great chemistry! And loved him and Felicia as friends.

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  15. Cass and Kathleen were the best. But he and Frankie were a close second. I wasn't watching when he and Lila got together. Nicole and Cass were given one obstacle after another and it made it harder for me to root for this couple.

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