1 9 5 4 – 1 9 7 4 (USA)
5195 x 15/30 minute episodes
Set in the (fictional) community of Woodbridge, New York, the long-running CBS daytime drama The Secret Storm told the story of the long-suffering Ames family and their seemingly endless domestic tragedies.
The series originally revolved around widower Peter Ames (Peter Hobbs), head of Tyrell’s Department Store, his three children – Amy, Jerry and Susan – and his second wife, Myra
Amy Ames (Jada Rowland initially, and then Lynn Adams) was a little girl when the series began. She eventually ended up married to Kevin Kincaid (David Ackroyd) who was paralysed from the waist down after being pushed through a glass door by thugs in the drug racket.
His incapacities drove Amy to have a baby by artificial insemination, handled by nice guy gynaecologist Brian Neeves (Jeff Pomerantz, then Keith Charles).
It turned out that not only did he provide the know-how for the procedure, but also the raw material!
The show gradually moved focus to Valerie Hill Ames Northcote (Lori March).
In 1968, Secret Storm was the first CBS daytime serial to add black actors, in response to an order from the network president, following the assassination of Martin Luther King. The adding of a black person brought a lot of hate mail and the audience rating dipped for four days, then the audience returned to normal.
When ratings began to slip in the 1970s, Catholic priest Mark Reddin (David Gale) fell in love with Laurie Stephens (Stephanie Braxton) and the intimation of high-level, high-voltage sin retrieved the audience, so Laurie’s husband Ken (Joel Crothers) was quickly moved out of the way (run over by a truck in Chicago) to facilitate Mark marrying Laurie and becoming a Secret Storm regular.
Interest dwindled after their marriage so Mark – who had meantime become a parole officer (it’s a long story) – was allowed to kill a jewel thief which provided some alluring moral pangs and recriminations.
When that failed to fuel viewer enthusiasm, Mark began to hit the bottle. An extra added attraction was that he and Laurie moved into an old house that was haunted.
Debuting on 2 February 1954 and initially a 15-minute program, episodes were extended to 30-minutes in June 1962.
After running for 20 years, the series was finally taken off the air in February 1974 to make room for yet another daytime game show.
Amy Ames
Jada Rowland (1)
Lynn Adams (2)
Peter Ames
Peter Hobbs (1)
Cec Linder (2)
Ward Costello (3)
Susan Ames Carver
Jean Mowry (1)
Judy Lewis (2)
Jerry Ames
Robert Morse (1)
Warren Berlinger (2)
Wayne Tippert (3)
Valerie Hill Ames Northcote
Lori March
Pauline Harris/Rysdale
Haila Stoddard
Grace Tyrell
Eleanor Phelps
Mr Tyrell
Russell Hicks
Hugh Clayborn
Peter MacLean
Dan Kincaid
Bernard Barrow
Mickey Potter
Larry Block
Jill Stevens
Barbara Rodell
Kevin Kincaid
David Ackroyd
Belle Clements Britton Kincaid
Marla Adams
Nancy Vallin
Iris Braun
Ursula Winthrope
Jacqueline Brooks
Paul Britton
Nick Coster (1)
Linden Chiles (2)
Ken Stevens
Joel Crothers
Lisa Britton
Judy Safran (1)
Diane Dell (2)
Terri Falis (3)
Bella Britton
Marla Adams
Kitty Styles
Diane Ladd
Wendy Porter
Julie Mannix
Joan Borman Kane
Christina Crawford (1)
Joan Crawford (2)
Nick Kane
Keith Charles
Jonathan Styles
Scott Mefford
Peter Dunbar
Donnie Melvin
Grace Tyrell
Marjorie Gateson (1)
Eleanor Phelps (2)
Dr Ian Northcote
Gordon Rigsby (1)
Alexander Scourby (2)
Doug Winthrope
Bruce Sherwood
Tom Gregory
Richard Venture
Aggie Parsons
Jane Rose
Reilly
Joe Ponazecki
Laurie Stevens
Stephanie Braxton
Polly
Susan Oakes
Phil Forrestor
Patrick Fox
Mike
Devin Goldenberg
Alden
Cliff de’Young
Martha Ann Ashley
Audre Johnson
Freddy
Roberta Royce
Charlotte
Susan Sudert
Mulholland
Mike Galloway
Andrea
Roberta Rickett
Keefer
Troy Donahue
Kip Ripdale
Don Galloway
Ann Wicker
Diane Muldaur
Bob Hill
Roy Scheider
Tim Brannigan
Anthony Herrera (1)
Nicholas Lewis (2)
Irene Simms
Jennifer Darling
Cecilia
Kathleen Cody
Herbie Vail
Noel Craig
Nola Hollister
Rosemary Murphy (1)
Mary K. Wells (2)
Myra Lake
Joan Hotchkis (1)
June Graham (2)
Alan Dunbar
Liam Sullivan (1)
James Vicary (2)
Frank Carver
Jack Ryland (1)
Robert Loggia (2)
Laurence Luckinbill (3)
Cassie
Mildred Clinton
Mark Reddin
David Gale
Dr Brian Neeves
Jeff Pomerantz (1)
Keith Charles (2)
Clay Stevens
Jamie Grover
Jason Ferris
Robert Alda
Robert Landers
Dan Hamilton
Monsignor Quinn
Sidney Walker
Joanna Morrison
Audrey Landers (1)
Ellen Barber (2)