Oh Darlin’

(No joke, I started this blog post the day before the news broke that Quinn Redeker had died. Until then, I had no idea that he was an Oscar-nominated screenwriter! He co-wrote the Deer Hunter, which was nominated in 1978, the year before he started at Days.)

I always liked Alex, and it was a joy rediscovering him on my DVD’s, along with Quinn’s devilish charm. He brought such a zest to his performance, so much so that you couldn’t help rooting for Alex to win, at least sometimes.

But he seldom did. Honestly, I think the fact that he rarely came out on top was part of the secret of his appeal. He was the opposite of the bad guys today who always get away with everything. He was often poor, and he was generally despised by everyone in town. People didn’t forgive him or brush aside the things he did, like they do today with Kate, for example.

He wasn’t a Big Bad like Stefano or Victor. He wasn’t powerful, he didn’t have an empire, he didn’t have anyone at his beck and call. His schemes were small, too. Blackmail, insurance scams, marrying for money — that was his line. He’s got a great line of patter and an eye for his main chance, and he was always sniffing around the other Salemites’ secrets, because there might be some money to be made.

Yes, he’d screw you over in a heartbeat, but it’s nothing personal, darlin.

He didn’t have any illusions about himself, or anyone else either. He was a great one for calling out the other Salemites on their hypocrisy, and he was always great fun paired up with some other baddie: Anna (who he called “Saddle Shoes”), Emma, Linda, Victor. He always seemed to get such a kick out of watching someone else be bad.

His charm and his above-it-all amusement could lull you into underestimating him, but then he could turn on a dime and turn up the baddie within. There’s was one scene that seemed to come out of nowhere and made me sit up and take notice, where he’s menacing a mysterious, always-veiled Madame X, who’s running a prostitution ring in Salem. He wants in on her racket, and when she won’t cooperate, he starts pushing her around and manhandling her, doing his Alex-talk all the while, calling her darlin’ and sweetheart. It was actually genuinely scary and threatening, like the prelude to a rape scene. 

But when he got what he wanted (a peek behind that veil), he drops the act immediately, and on the way out we see his secret, private grin. Oh, you thought those emotions were sincere? Not a chance.

But he had depth too. When Days gave Alex a real love story, like the one he had with Marie Horton, Quinn absolutely nailed that too. I’m telling you, this guy could do it all.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to revisit that particular story, or what I suspect was his heyday on the show, because it predates the VCR era (release the tapes, Ken Corday!). But what I did get to see was a real treat.

He was written out in a very Alex-like way, when he was arrested for trying to burn down the Salem Inn (which he owned) for the insurance money. It’s such a shame that in all the years since we never got a Alex Marshall return. Y&R snapped him up right after he left Days, and he stayed there for the next 17 years.

Their gain, our loss.