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CELEBRITY EDGE FANS
Tallulah Bankhead (actress)
Joan Crawford (actress)
Bette Davis (actress)
The Kennedy family (yes, THOSE Kennedy's)
Rich Little (comedian)
Shirley MacLaine (actress/author)
Mary Martin (actress)
Ethel Merman (actress/singer)
Agnes Moorehead (actress)
Cole Porter (lyricist/composer)
Eleanor Roosevelt (First Lady)
Quentin Tarantino (actor/writer/director)
P.G. Wodehouse (humorist)
FAN STORIES
In 1968, Minneapolis' CBS affiliate Channel 4 announced on a Friday afternoon that "The Edge of Night" would be pre-empted on Monday for live coverage of an interstate highway opening ceremony. The scheduled pre-emption happened to occur the day innocent Julie Jamison was to be hanged for the murder of Harry Constable. Furious Edge fans immediately swamped the station with phone calls, letters, and threats of a station picket. One disgruntled fan even suggested hanging the responsible officials. As a result of viewer outrage, Channel 4 taped the Monday episode of Edge and aired it after the opening ceremony.
Philadelphia Edge fans were among the show's most faithful followers. When "The Edge of Night" moved to ABC in December 1975, Philadelphia's ABC affiliate WPVI-TV elected not to carry the show. The first day WPVI failed to air Edge, the station received over 2,500 phone calls. Likewise, Philadelphia's CBS affilate WCAU-TV logged 1,678 calls, prompting a feature story on that evening's newscast, which referred angry viewers back to WPVI. Despite continued fan protest, WPVI stood by its decision. Finally, independent station WKBS-TV emerged as a soap savior for Philly fans by airing Edge on a two-week delay beginning December 22, 1975. WKBS' general manager later admitted that the station was carrying Edge purely as a public service to fans. Even if WKBS sold all local advertising spots, breaking even was the best the station could hope for.
Vis-a-vis Philly viewers, Boston Edge fans reacted violently when ABC affiliate WCVB-TV failed to air Edge on December 1, 1975. Depsite on-air announcements that Edge would be seen on a one-week delay beginning December 8, furious fans jammed the station's switchboards with more than 2,000 phone calls. CBS affiliate WNAC-TV, as well as Boston newspapers The Globe and Herald-American, were also innundated with vehement complaints. Due to the unprecented reaction of viewers, WCVB signed Donald May and Lois Kibbee as special guests on the January 6th telecast of its newly syndicated morning talk show "Good Morning".
Actress Tallulah Bankhead was perhaps Edge's most ardent admirer. Bankhead went out of her way to never miss an episode, insisting to family and friends that she not be disturbed between 4:30 and 5pm (Edge's original timeslot). When work and other commitments prevented her from seeing Edge, Tallulah simply paid someone to watch the show for her and write detailed summaries of the action. Once, Tallulah became so frustrated over a beleagured heroine who was being stalked that she sent a telegram to Edge's producer exclaiming, "Why doesn't she just shoot the bastard?" Bankhead became so engrossed in the storylines that she couldn't wait for the denouement and had a reputation for inviting directors and producers to her home, getting them drunk, and with the promise of secrecy, would convince her guests to divulge future story outcomes. After her guest left, Bankhead would run to the phone and give away plot secrets to anyone who would listen. However, the true depth of Tallulah's devotion was realized when President Harry Truman telephoned one afternoon in the middle of Edge. Tallulah refused to take his call declaring, "he knows not to call between 4:30 and 5:00." When Bankhead's assistant Ted informed Truman that she couldn't come to the phone, Truman growled that he knew she was watching "that damned soap opera" and agreed to call back later.
Joan Crawford once called producer Eriwn Nicholson to point out a plot-point she feared the writers were overlooking. Nicholson reassured her that they would address the plot-point at a later date.
CBS producer Mary Harris was watching the show one day and realized that actor Jackson Beck, who played Leo Higdon, was about to be killed-off. Spotting Beck in a crowded elevator later that day, Harris asked matter-of-factly, "So when are you going to die, Jack?" Equally matter-of-fact, Beck replied, "On Friday". After Harris exited, she noticed the ashen look of shock and disbelief on the faces of several elevator passengers.
