Viewers Respond To Roger's Death

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DID ROGER THORPE DESERVE TO DIE?
From DAYTIME TV, June 1980

If Michael Zaslow wanted to leave Guiding Light, why didn't the producers simply find a new actor to play Roger? Why did they have to make Roger so evil that his death was unavoidable? What Roger did was criminal, but what the writers did to his character was even worse. They should be tarred and feathered!

Mike Zaslow's final scenes on Guiding Light were extraordinarily well-acted. He deserves an Emmy next year for his performance, and so does Guiding Light for showing us a real man for a change -- someone who's violent and tender, good and evil, all at the same time. He makes most other soap opera men look like cardboard midgets!

The change in Roger Thorpe over the years was too incredible to believe! When Roger was married to Peggy, he was such a tender husband, such a loving father to his stepson, Billy. I remember the show where Roger and Peggy separated. Roger wept openly, tormented over the wife and little boy he was losing. The idea that this man could later become a rapist and a sadist -- a brutalizer of women -- is just plain idiotic.

What a terrific actor Mike Zaslow is. He'll really be missed as Roger on Guiding Light. I wish Roger had reformed (a little bit), settled down and made Holly happy, at least for a little while. Many years ago, their love story was really a good part of the show. Roger was so handsome, no one could blame Holly for falling in love with him. (He wasn't always so bad). He simply didn't love her like she loved him. It could have been a storybook ending for those two. I was hoping they'd write a good storyline around Roger and Holly's married life -- but viewers don't always get their wish.

Comments or questions?
ThorpeRenaldi@michaelzaslow.com