Ethel Brez obit

Ethel Brez

AUGUST 12, 1937 – AUGUST 25, 2021

 

She was not on the list.

Ethel (“Eddy”) Manuelian Brez passed away on August 25th, 2021 at the age of 84 from melanoma. She was the beloved wife of Melvin Brez, her husband of 61 years prior to his passing late last year. They were forever together, in work, family, love, and life. She was also the incredible and loving mother to Alexandra Brez and Zachary Brez, the wonderful mother-in-law of Matthew Wickware and Jen Kangas, and the very best grandmother to Evan and Scarlett Brez, and William Wickware. She is survived by her dear siblings, Ann Porfilio, Daniel Manuelian, and Alice Sangermano. In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by her parents, Sooren and Baitzar Manuelian.

Eddy was a working mother before that was even a recognized term, predominantly as half of a writing team with her husband, Mel. They wrote many TV films, including the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Scandal, The Miracle of Kathy Miller, and Goldie and the Boxer. They also worked as writers on many soap operas, winning numerous Writers Guild awards and a pair of Daytime Emmys. Eddy was also the author of a novel, Those Dark Eyes (as E.M.Brez), a thriller based in the NYC Armenian community. She was raised in Astoria Queens by parents who had escaped the Armenian Genocide as children. She had a perfect attendance record in grade school, then went on to Bryant High School and Queens College where she met Mel when she was reviewing a play he had written. They both worked as actors in New York and in Summerstock before spending a year in Paris on a Fulbright scholarship.

Lifelong New Yorkers, Eddy and Mel later in life owned homes in Litchfield County CT where they spent their weekends gardening. When in the city, Eddy loved to walk in Central Park and watch the local birds. She loved to learn and took classes in French until the very end. She was a loyal friend, keeping up relationships for fifty plus years with her friends. She loved classic literature and poetry, quoting Shakespeare and Dickinson even in her final days. She knew a song for every bit of dialogue, every name mentioned. Her grandchildren always thought she was making up the lyrics, but rather she just had a great inventory in her mind. She was fun, she was clever, she was loving. And she herself said she had lived a remarkable life.

 

Writer

Passions (1999)

Passions

5.9

TV Series

Writer (1999-2001)

1999–2008

 

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

associate head writer

breakdown writer

written by ...

1985–1998

33 episodes

 

Days of Our Lives (1965)

Days of Our Lives

5.2

TV Series

writer

associate head writer

1992–1995

17 episodes

 

Jane Krakowski, Matthew Ashford, Domini Blythe, Colleen Dion, Terri Eoff, David Forsyth, Lee Godart, Louan Gideon, Marcia McCabe, Jeffrey Meek, Jacqueline Schultz, and Mary Stuart in Search for Tomorrow (1951)

Search for Tomorrow

7.1

TV Series

Writer

1984–1985

124 episodes

 

The Miracle of Kathy Miller (1981)

The Miracle of Kathy Miller

7.1

TV Movie

Writer

1981

 

Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood (1981)

Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood

4.4

TV Movie

Writer

1981

 

O.J. Simpson and Melissa Michaelsen in Goldie and the Boxer (1979)

Goldie and the Boxer

5.7

TV Movie

Writer

1979

 

The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal (1979)

The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal

6.8

TV Movie

Writer

1979

 

James Pritchett in The Doctors (1963)

The Doctors

7.0

TV Series

story by

1977–1978

131 episodes

 

Roxy Page

TV Movie

Writer

1976

 

The Evil Touch (1973)

The Evil Touch

7.7

TV Series

written by

writer

1973–1974

4 episodes