Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Elinor Karpf-Hager Dead at 73

Elinor Karpf-Hager, who created the CBS daytime soap opera CAPITOL with husband-writing partner Stephen Karpf penned, died on October 21 in Moorpark, California. She was 73.

"I think the soap opera's time has come," she told the Associated Press in 1982 when CAPITOL premiered. "It is the true realization of the novel, and we're happy to be in it. This is a true American art form.

"We have a very strong story to tell in CAPITOL. It didn't become a feature film. It didn't become a miniseries. It didn't become a novel. It became a soap opera because it needs the time to unfold. And you have a more responsive audience out there during the day than you do at night."

episodes of “The Name of the Game” and Kung Fu,” as well as the theatrical film “Adam at 6 A.M.,” died Oct. 21 in Moorpark, Calif. She was 73.

During a career that spanned the late 1960s to the early 1990s, Karpf-Hager wrote episodes of DYNASTY, THE NAME OF THE GAME and KUNG FU, as well as the theatrical film Adam at 6 A.M. She also co-penned the TV movies Marriage: Year One, Rolling Man, Gargoyles, Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell and Letters From Frank and the 1976 miniseries Captains and the Kings.

Karpf-Hager earned bachelor's and master's degrees in radio/TV/film from Northwestern U.

She is survived by husband Robert Hager Jr.; two sons and a daughter; and eight grandchildren.

RELATED:
- FLASHBACK: Writers Stephen, Elinor Karpf Believe Time For Soaps Is Now (1982)

5 comments:

  1. This makes me sad to hear.

    Due to my youth, I didn't get into Capitol until several weeks before it went off the air but I was surprised at how quickly I became hooked onto the show, that I'd only really paid attention to when Dan Region used to announce "...stay tuned for Capitol..." during the closing credits of As The World Turns.

    Recently, I began to believe that given all the mess happening in Washington, Capitol would have been a fantastic candidate for a reboot.

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    1. If they could have kept the CAPITOL taping schedule not too far away from the airdates, the show could have really stayed topical and probably gotten a lot of press by doing takes on real-life stories and situations.

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    2. A couple years ago, there was a Josh Schwartz pilot for ABC primetime called GEORGETOWN. It didn't make it on the schedule, but I thought it sounded like a great idea for a new daytime soap.

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  2. Capitol also gave us an introduction to alot of good actors such as the great Jess Walton, Debrah Farentino, Catherine Hickland, Nicolas Walker and also gave veterans like Carolyn Jones, Marj Dusay and Julia Adams a place to shine.

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    1. I did watch long enough to see memorable performances by Jess Walton. Her characterizations made it easy for me to love and accept her when she took over the role of Jill Abbott on Y&R.
      I also distinctly remember Debrah Farentino and Catherine Hickland

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