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LET'S HEAR IT FOR: Grant Aleksander
GL's Tragic Hero Phillip
Soap Opera Update
1990

The dramatic build-up to the confrontation between GUIDING LIGHT's Phillip Spaulding and Beth Raines had been excruciating, exacting some of the most intense and emotional scenes from the actors bringing this story to life. This build-up, however, was merely prelude to the pleasure and satisfaction to come, because when the scene finally arrived, when Phillip and Beth actually touched once more, the impact of Grant Aleksander's performance was a tour de force.

In the weeks prior to Beth and Phillip's reunion, Grant was given the opportunity to enact a fantastic story. His character--the complex, conniving, controlling Phillip Spaulding--was slowly drifting to the brink of madness. Obsessed with the memory of his first, dearest love, Beth Raines, Phillip was certain she was still alive. His belief in her existence and his commitment to find her, led the character into an emotional spiral. He created a shrine to Beth in the attic. He signed away his power-of-attorney to his wife. He abandoned his post as president of Spaulding Enterprises. He tried to persuade Beth's mother, Lillian, and Judge Collier to give their go-ahead to exhume Beth's body. When they refused, he took a shovel and began digging up the coffin himself. As Rick and Blake tried in vain to stop him, Phillip's desperation overwhelmed him and he turned the shovel on Blake, threatening to kill her. The intensity and depth of Grant Aleksander's performance throughout this trauma was superb.

But like a great fighter setting his opponent up for a knock-out punch, Grant measured his moments. When the final confrontation with Beth came at the sanitarium, Grant knocked us out. Holding Beth in his arms, clinging to her with all his might, tears falling down his cheeks as he whispered that he knew she'd come back to him, Grant Aleksander touched us deeply, allowing us to experience the scene with the character. Whether a long-time devotee of GL or merely an occasional viewer, this was a day you will long remember and Grant Aleksander an actor you will never forget. -AJW