New York State of Mind

GL's Phillip & Beth - Soap Opera Weekly: 1/94

This week in 1984, Guiding Light's Phillip Spaulding and Beth Raines were hiding in New York. The star-crossed couple had fled from Springfield to escape the evil Bradley Raines, Beth's stepfather, who had raped her. "Phillip was starting to catch on that there was some abuse going on, and was willing to do anything to get her away from the situation," says Grant Aleksander (Phillip), explaining why the duo ended up in New York. Phillip and Beth hid out in a prop room underneath the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, where they donned medieval costumes, quoted Shakespeare, and performed mime shows. They weren't even recognized by best friends Rick & Mindy, who rounded out the popular foursome (a.k.a. the Four Musketeers) and followed them to the city. When Phillip was pressuring her into marriage, Beth finally broke down and told him what Bradley had done. "I can't marry you," she began. "I can't marry anyone. Don't you understand? He raped me Phillip." Instead of keeping them apart, Beth's admission brought the couple closer. "More than anything," Aleksander says, "Phillip felt pain that she had to go through that, and that he didn't prevent it." There was drama behind the scenes too. Shooting on location turned into a nightmare when it began to rain and snow. Scenes that had been taped previously had to be redone to match the ones that had been shot when the weatehr turned nasty. But ALeksander didn't mind, because "it was a good story. People cared about the characters and wanted to see them have that special time together," he says. "It's a story that's been told often--the rich kid who falls for the poor girl, and the love they share that suceeds against all odds. Viewers will still fall for that. It's almost a fairy tale." It took almost a decade, but Phillip and Beth finally got their fairy-tale ending. In 1984, Bradley caught up with them and tried to push Phillip off a cliff. Instead, Bradley almost fell but was saved by Beth. He promised to stay away from them, and when he didn't Beth filed charges. Bradley confessed, and was jailed. Fast forward to the present--after being confronted by myriad other obstacles--(and a new Beth, played by Beth Chamberlin): Phillip and Beth are married, presumably living happily ever after in another town with their baby daugher, Lizzie. Will they ever return to Springfield? Aleksander laughs. "You never know. They may bring on a new Phillip and Beth who become more popular than we were." Return to Press Index