David Canary's Departure from All My Children Leaves a Void in Daytime

David Canary, the actor who has played devious mogul Adam Chandler on "All My Children" since 1983, surprised the world of daytime when he recently announced his retirement. His departure caused me to reflect on Pine Valley and Adam's place in that fictional little hamlet in Pennsylvania.

Though I haven't watched soaps regularly in quite some time (save the daily reruns of "Ryan's Hope" on SoapNet) they were a huge part of my life growing up. Though I am a disciple of ABC's classic "Love in the Afternoon" lineup ("Ryan's Hope," "Loving," "All My Children," "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital") I always had a particular fondness for "All My Children." I think it was because I secretly wanted to be Erica Kane. Then again, what girl in the 70's and 80's didn't? I loved everything about that show; the Machiavellian Palmer Cortlandt and his obsession with ex-wife, Daisy, star-crossed lovers Cliff and Nina, Tad the Cad, haughty Phoebe Wallingford, the hapless Estelle, forever menaced by her pimp, Billy Clyde Tuggle, Greg and Jenny and of course, Erica Kane. In later years, I fell in love with Nico and Cecily, Tad and Dixie, Hayley and Mateo, Erica and Dimitri (never a fan of her enduring entanglement with Jackson Montgomery) and Edmund and Maria. "All My Children" was like candy to me; I couldn't get enough.

My earliest memories of Adam Chandler were in the mid-80's when he had tricked or blackmailed, I can't remember which, Erica Kane into marriage. What I remember most is him ranting and raving at Erica on a daily basis, likely trying to convince her to stay married to him. David Canary's facial expressions were priceless. The way he would twist his face around, pop his eyes out and roll his mouth kept me in stitches. Whenever Adam was on, my brother and I would pause the tape (this was the 80's - the remote actually plugged into the VCR) just to see what crazy expression Adam's face would be frozen in. We would dissolve into hysterics each and every time, often rewinding the tape multiple times. This was the equivalent of turning on a garden hose and watching it dance around.

Adam would go on to become one of Pine Valley's most reviled characters; constantly manipulating his wives, children and generally anyone who got in the way of what he wanted. What kept Adam from being a total lost cause was the reveal that he had a sweet, yet slow twin brother, Stuart. He was Adam's good side, and often kept his brother in check, though Adam wasn't above pressuring Stuart into impersonating him or pretending to be Stuart when it suited whatever agenda he had that week. Some of "All My Children's" funniest scenes occurred when the gentle Stuart masqueraded as Adam. Priceless. I was saddened to learn that not only did "All My Children" kill off Stuart, Adam was the one who did it. Though I didn't see the storyline, I wonder if it was really necessary.

One of my all-time favorite Adam storylines, and indeed "All My Children" storylines centered around the revenge his longtime nemesis, Palmer Cortlandt extracted against him. The characters hatred of each other stretched back to their humble roots in Pigeon Hollow, Va., when Palmer romanced Adam's sister, Lottie, got her pregnant, then took off. Lottie died of a broken heart and Adam never forgave Palmer. Years later, desperate for a male heir, Adam impregnated Palmer's vulnerable young niece, Dixie,(cheating on his wife, Brooke, in the process) then tried to drive her crazy so he could gain custody of the baby (which he did, by bribing a judge) Palmer found out and staged a secret hostile takeover of Chandler Enterprises. It was a great day in Pine Valley that day, because Adam had it coming.

As the years passed, Adam would continue to resort to the lowest common denominator to get what he wanted, usually alienating his loved ones until he convinced them for another chance, yet always letting them down in the end. Long after his rivalry with Palmer cooled, there were still plenty of adversaries to keep Adam on his toes (Tad Martin being one of the fiercest) and of course you tuned in just to see what he would do next and to whom.

"All My Children" recently relocated its studios from New York to Los Angeles and that move is in part one reason why David Canary has opted to bow out now. Or maybe because Adam has married every woman in Pine Valley and David Canary has won five Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama, so he's got nothing left to prove. Maybe it's all of the above. Whatever sealed the deal for him, Pine Valley will never see another like Adam Chandler. While the Victor Newman's and Luke Spencer's of the world seem to garner all the ink and magazine covers, Adam Chandler and David Canary left an indelible mark on the world of daytime, one we're not likely to see again. Especially if soaps die out as many are predicting.

A few years ago, my brother shared with me that one sunny, Saturday spring afternoon, he was walking down the street of our hometown, Evanston, Ill. (Northwestern University, which David's daughter attended, is located there. It turned out this particular weekend was Commencement). Suddenly, he looked over to see David Canary crossing the street in front of him. Excited, my brother yelled out, "Hey, Adam Chandler!" My brother said David Canary laughed and gave him a thumbs-up sign. My brother said that made his day. Indeed, David Canary made a lot of days for us for a lot of years and he will be missed.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Canary

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/02/david-canary-announces-hes-retiring-from-all-my-children/1