Almost fifteen years ago, on March 24, 1962, Ann Flood appeared on "The Edge of Night" for the first time, originating the character of Nancy Pollock Karr. She had already acquired a reputation as a soap opera heroine from her three-year appearance as Liz Fraser on the now defunct show "From These Roots." But as Nancy Pollock Karr, she has become one of the biggest soap opera queens and super heroines on afternoon TV. The delicate and ladylike features which make her look so fragile, and the strength that has allowed her to undergo a series of trials, tribulations, and perils, and emerge triumphant have certainly made her one of TV's most enduring heroines.

And yet, Ann had no idea, when she first joined "Edge," that she would be in Monticello for very long, and still says, "Every thirteen weeks is a bonus. (At the end of every thirteen weeks, a show's management has the option of dropping anyone they feel is not right for the program.) Anybody who says that and means it," she adds, "has absolutely the right attitude."

She began on the show shortly after the death of Mike Karr's first wife Sara, which Ann says, caused a terrible storm among fans who loved the relationship between the Karrs.

"So when Nancy came on the scene," Ann continued, "Mike was widowed and working very heavily with the crime commission. He still is by the way, and it became a bone of contention in the current storyline. When Nancy met Mike, she handled the interviews and questions very capably. It was strictly a client-lawyer relationship. Then a little spark-- the chemistry started to flow-- and the dating, the courtship began. Even during the courtship, there was some jeopardy because Mike's life was always under surveilance by this underworld character or that operator. Nancy became a victim of scrutiny, too. But there was a gay abandon about that situation-- the unknown jeopardy-- that made it fun to play."

"I think Mike and Nancy had a courtship that the audiences liked. It was full and beautiful in all the romantic senses-- and it also had the drumbeat of danger. It was very nice. There were lovely moments of delightful teasing and confrontations-- pseudoconfrontations. There were many levels that we were able to play."

"Edge's" first Mike Karr was played by John Larkin, followed by Laurence Hugo who had the role when Ann joined the show. And it was Larry Hugo who played Mike Karr through the courtship and wedding of Nancy and Mike. Then Larry left the show and was replaced by Forrest Compton.

Ann "was rather stunned by the change! I felt as though I'd been divorced and hadn't even wanted the divorce-- hadn't ever made the next choice, so to speak." Larry, in fact, had originally left the show-- for a year!-- to go on tour doing "Hamlet."

During that time Ann said, "the Karrs had essentially a year's hiatus. Mike was off somewhere working with the crime commission, and Nancy's life was in jeopardy every now and then because of certain information she had-- or was thought to have, though you didn't see her very often."

Then Forrest Compton was brought in to replace Larry Hugo and to bring Mike back to Monticello. "Forrest is another kind of fellow," Ann explains. "He's an absolutely wonderful man, but a totally different character. He's on a much quieter level, eye-to-eye, and he very seldom gets his feathers ruffled in real life. His quietude is reflected in the way he plays Mike and has caused Nancy to be more opinionated-- a bit outspoken. Before, Nancy had to keep things in, had to bite her tongue more often than not when she was married to the other Mike. Now she has more of a pivotal effect on situations. She throws little stumbling blocks into Mike's thinking."

"In other words, she's become more of an operative in his life. She keeps throwing him these pertinent questions, or gives her own reaction to a particular situation or person. That didn't used to happen. And, within the margins of the storyline, Nancy has suddenly blossomed into an individual that hadn't been evident before. I think the maturity there is also more abandon."

"Recently, there have been some scenes where there is heavy conflict between Mike and Nancy... thank goodness. It's so good to see anger in Mike's eyes-- to be honest and give into real emotions, and the being torn apart inside."

Mike is not the only Karr who's been played by different actors. Only Nancy has remained the same. Laurie Ann-- or Laurie as she's called now, has been played by several different actresses. First there was Kathy Cody. She was followed by Emily Prager, Jeanne Ruskin, and, currently, Linda Cook.

Ann spoke a bit about Emily in that role. "She was wonderful for that portion of Laurie's life she was playing. She was the daughter who argued with her parents. She decided it was time to get out on her own, so she took her turtle and left!"

"Emily had a warm, vulnerable quality that she conveyed, so that even when what she was doing was wrong, it just seemed right for her. In her third incarnation, Laurie was played by Jeanne Ruskin-- and this was the daughter who married happily-- and then ran into problems. This gal brought a very sweet, naieve quality to the role, that was also vulnerable-- but she required direction. Nancy listened, sympathized, empathized, and tolerated all the anguish her daughter was going through. But finally, she said, 'Darling, enough. Put up or shut up. Do something about it and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You've been talking to me-- and you've talked with everybody-- but you have to work it out yourself.' That's what Nancy basically came out saying. It was really directing Laurie to do something about herself, instead of having to worry about what she was actually doing. And it got good reactions. People had been waiting for years for something like that to happen. But it had something to do with the actress playing the role, too. Because of the qualities Jeanne brought to the role, I think the writer decided that Nancy should tell Laurie to stop feeling sorry for herself."

There have been a lot of other changes on "The Edge of Night" since Nancy came on the scene in Monticello-- since Ann Flood joined the show. One of those changes was going from "live" performances to video-tapings, which Ann seems to regret. Says she, when the show first went to tape, everyone seemed to get a little careless-- probably because of the feeling that if it were wrong they could do it agai n. So Ann finally went to the director and asked him if they could treat it as if it were still a live show with no stopping.

"And, son of a gun, it worked!" said Ann.

But even in the old days of "live" performing-- when silly things happened to lots of actors-- Ann never slipped or got careless. As she puts it, "Gawd, I'm so uninteresting. I'm very efficient-- and so to avoid the embarrassment, shame, and derisiveness of being unprofessional, I usually cover all my bases first." And there are lots of bases to cover on a daily show-- when no two days are ever the same! "As a peformer," says Ann, "it's very seldom that there's a boring work day-- because there is always a challenge. No day is a rubber stamp of any other day, and you have the challenge of making old news brand-new and important. That's part of it certainly."

"There were times when I lived the life of a vagabond. I've toured. I've covered just about every state in the country, and I loved it. It was great. But I have a family. And as far as my appetite for work, for the business, is concerned-- I've done everything but star in a legitimate motion picture. Frankly, I love working on this show. I love the people in it and I love working in the medium."

"I'm not marking time until I can leave the show and go off and do other things. I hope to always be involved in the daytime area, and eventually do other things too-- as soon as my life here has straightened out to the point where the children are well on their own. I think daytime drama is a great form. I'm not marking out any others, but afternoon TV has been great for me."