Sam Hall obit

Sam Hall, Soap Opera Writer for ‘Dark Shadows’ and ‘One Life to Live,’ Dies at 93

His wife was the late Oscar-nominated actress and 'Shadows' star Grayson Hall 

He was not on the list.

Born Allison Samuel Hall in Carrollton, Ohio, he graduated from Dartmouth and Yale. A veteran of the World War II Battle of the Bulge, Hall married actress _Grayson Hall_ in 1952. His first major writing gig was the iconic gothic soap opera Dark Shadows (1966) which he joined in 1967. There he met his writing partner Gordon Russell. They teamed up again after that show's cancellation as head-writers on One Life to Live (1968) taking over the reigns from series creator Agnes Nixon. They received two Daytime Emmy Award-nominations in 1980 and 1981 as they created memorable characters like Clint, Bo and Asa Buchanan, started the Viki/Dorian-feud which would last for decades and wrote the famous Karen Wolek on the witness stand-arc which won actress Judith Light an Emmy as well as a long-running career in prime time television. Hall worked alongside his wife on both Dark Shadows and One Life To Live and his son Matthew Hall also served as script writer under his father's guidance on One Life To Live and the Dark Shadows (1991) revival. In addition to his 10 years as head writer for the Llanview citizens, Hall also wrote for General Hospital (1963) and Santa Barbara (1984).

Sam Hall, who wrote for such soap operas as Dark Shadows, Once Life to Live and Santa Barbara, died Friday after a short bout with pneumonia in Rhinebeck, N.Y., his son, Matt, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 93.

Hall, a five-time Daytime Emmy Award nominee and Peabody Award winner, was married for 33 years to the late Grayson Hall, who received a supporting actress Oscar nomination for playing Judith Fellowes in John Huston’s The Night of the Iguana (1964).

She also portrayed parapsychologist Julia Hoffman, who futilely attempted to cure Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) of his vampire tendencies, on Dark Shadows and appeared on One Life to Live as well. She died in 1985.

Sam Hall joined the ABC gothic soap Dark Shadows in 1967 and penned more than 300 episodes, often collaborating with writer Gordon Russell.

He co-wrote the screenplays for the features House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows, filmed during production of the TV show, and worked on a short-lived Dark Shadows primetime revival for NBC in 1991.

“We stole things right and left from all the horror classics, including the werewolf, which worked for a while, and a lot of the great American short story writer, [H.P.] Lovecraft,” Hall recalled in an interview for a Dark Shadows DVD feature. “I only wish that Stephen King had been [known] then, because he could have kept the show going for a hundred years.”

After the original Dark Shadows was canceled in 1971, Hall segued to ABC’s One Life to Live, taking over as a head writer from series creator Agnes Nixon. Hall initiated a memorable arc in the early 1980s in which an emotional Karen Wolek (Judith Light in an Emmy-winning turn) admitted under cross-examination on the witness stand that she was working for the murdered man, Marco Dane (Gerald Anthony), as a prostitute. He also introduced the archvillain Dorian character (most famously played by Robin Strasser) as well as the Buchanan family.

Recalling the Karen Wolek plotline, Hall said in a 2005 interview with Hudson Valley Magazine that “the woman in charge of the show was very open-minded, and she allowed us to do some very risque things. At one point, I lifted the entire plot of Belle de Jour. One day a woman came up to me and told me my work was gritty. I never thought I’d be gritty.”

In January, Hall sued ABC, claiming he had not been paid the weekly royalties he was owed for the showing of Prospect Park’s online reboot of One Life to Live. His original agreement did not spell out whether “broadcast” was restricted to network television.

Hall joined NBC’s Santa Barbara in 1984 and wrote dozens of installments from 1989-90. Around this time, he also worked for General Hospital before retiring from television in the 1990s.

A native of Carrollton, Ohio, Hall attended Dartmouth and served during World War II in the Battle of the Bulge. Early in his career, he wrote for such anthology series as Studio One in Hollywood and Playhouse 90 and an early TV soap, CBS’ The Brighter Day. Later, he worked on the 13-part 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.

His son Matt, an author and associate vp/editorial for the medical advertising agency Hobart Forte, wrote for One Life to Live and on the return of Dark Shadows in 1991.

Hall’s survivors also include his daughter-in-law Cecilia and grandsons Caleb and Jed.

Twitter: @mikebarnes4

 

Writer

Kristen Alderson, Kassie Wesley DePaiva, Erika Slezak, Trevor St. John, and John-Paul Lavoisier in One Life to Live (1968)

One Life to Live

6.9

TV Series

head writer

writer

story by ...

1971–1993

904 episodes

 

Dark Shadows: Behind the Scenes (1991)

Dark Shadows: Behind the Scenes

9.2

Video

Writer

1991

 

Dark Shadows (1991)

Dark Shadows

7.5

TV Series

written by

1991

1 episode

 

Finola Hughes, Maurice Benard, Genie Francis, Nancy Lee Grahn, Rebecca Herbst, and Laura Wright in General Hospital (1963)

General Hospital

6.6

TV Series

Writer

1990

1 episode

 

Robin Wright, Judith Anderson, Valorie Armstrong, Melissa Reeves, Robert Alan Browne, Paul Burke, Ismael 'East' Carlo, Margarita Cordova, Nicolas Coster, Lane Davies, Richard Eden, Gina Gallego, Linda Gibboney, Andrea Howard, Ava Lazar, A Martinez, Todd McKee, John Allen Nelson, Rupert Ravens, Julie Ronnie, Kerry Sherman, Louise Sorel, Jonna Leigh Stack, Marcy Walker, and Dane Witherspoon in Santa Barbara (1984)

Santa Barbara

5.7

TV Series

writer

head writer

1984–1990

139 episodes

 

Another World (1964)

Another World

7.0

TV Series

head writer

1985–1986

21 episodes

 

The Adams Chronicles (1976)

The Adams Chronicles

8.2

TV Mini Series

written by

teleplay by

1976

2 episodes

 

Polly Bergen, Donna Mills, Paul Burke, Judy Carne, and Barbara Feldon in The Wide World of Mystery (1973)

The Wide World of Mystery

6.8

TV Series

screenplay

adaptation

written by

1973–1975

3 episodes

 

Night of Dark Shadows (1971)

Night of Dark Shadows

5.4

screenplay

story

1971

 

Joel Crothers, Jonathan Frid, and Lara Parker in Dark Shadows (1966)

Dark Shadows

8.1

TV Series

writer

head writer

written by

1967–1971

318 episodes

 

Jonathan Frid in House of Dark Shadows (1970)

House of Dark Shadows

6.2

screenplay

1970

 

Dead of Night: A Darkness at Blaisedon (1969)

Dead of Night: A Darkness at Blaisedon

5.8

TV Movie

Writer

1969

 

Kraft Theatre (1947)

The United States Steel Hour

8.0

TV Series

teleplay

written by

1962–1963

2 episodes

 

Gardner McKay in Adventures in Paradise (1959)

Adventures in Paradise

8.2

TV Series

episode "Who Is Sylovia?" (as Sam M. Hall)

1959–1962

 

Matinee Theatre (1955)

Matinee Theatre

6.8

TV Series

written by

teleplay

1957–1958

2 episodes

 

Playwrights '56 (1955)

Playwrights '56

6.7

TV Series

writer

1956

1 episode

 

The Brighter Day (1954)

The Brighter Day

7.2

TV Series

Writer

1954

1819 episodes

 

Studio One (1948)

Studio One

7.6

TV Series

teleplay

1954

1 episode

 

Kraft Theatre (1947)

The Philco Television Playhouse

7.6

TV Series

writer

1954

1 episode

 

Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950)

Armstrong Circle Theatre

7.7

TV Series

writer

1952

1 episode

 

Additional Crew

Dark Shadows (1991)

Dark Shadows

7.5

TV Series

creative consultant

1991

1 episode