DAYTIME TELEVISION has had some shocking deaths throughout the years, and I'm not talking about the characters; I'm talking about the actors who portray them. For example, Guiding Light lost its original Alan Spaulding when Chris Bernau passed away in 1989 and its other arch-villain Roger Thorpe when Michael Zaslow died of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) in 1998. Perhaps most unexpected of all was the news over the recent 4th of July holiday that Benjamin Hendrickson was found dead in his Long Island home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 55 years old.
Hendrickson was so identifiable with the role of chief detective Hal Munson, which he played on As the World Turns for more than 20 years, that when they tried to replace him in 2005 with another beloved soap actor, Randolph Mantooth, fans wouldn't accept it. Hendrickson was Hal Munson, and within a year he was back on the show, reading his estranged wife Emily the riot act while at the same time consoling his daughter Jennifer over the loss of her baby. As Hal, Hendrickson was both tough as nails and soft as a teddy bear. He also showed us his comedic side as Herman (Munster) Munsonster in a special 50th anniversary episode of ATWT that parodied classic sitcoms.
Since the soap films several weeks in advance, Hendrickson's last scenes played out until July 12, which was 11 days after his death. These scenes were heartbreaking enough in their own right, because Hal's daughter Jennifer was dying of complications from pneumonia. It was especially gut wrenching when Jennifer confessed to Hal that she was scared of dying and he held his head close to hers, choking back tears, and said "I know."
HIGHLY TRAINED AND ACCOMPLISHED
Hendrickson was a highly trained and accomplished actor who was in feature films such as Regarding Henry and was also David Bowie's understudy in the title role of Broadway's The Elephant Man. When he finally won an Emmy for ATWT in 2003, he quipped: "To my mother, who scrimped and saved to send me to Julliard to study the classics ... I'm sorry."
We're sorry we won't get to see this fascinating actor finish his journey as the hard-nosed but lovable father and police chief. We'll miss you, Ben. Oakdale won't be the same without you.
Speaking of irreplaceable characters, Genie Francis' Laura Spencer has been off General Hospital since 2002. She was last seen when Laura was housed in a psychiatric hospital in a catatonic state. Fans had been hoping Francis would return now that several of her colleagues from the 1980s were lured back to boost ratings, including Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) and Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio). Francis had been enjoying life in Maine with her husband, actor/director Jonathan Frakes, and their children, but with the 25th anniversary of Luke and Laura's wedding coming up, Francis is coming back. For how long remains unknown, but her scenes should air in time for November sweeps. Though Luke and Laura's reunion will not generate the record 30 million viewers that their wedding did back in 1981, Francis' return should produce a healthy spike in the ratings for ABC's most popular soap.
