The Young Marrieds
Scrapbook

Between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m., EST, Monday thru Friday, three married couples washed their dirty linen in the front yards of their suburban community of Queens Point. The show was produced by Selmur Television Productions on the ABC television network. It premiered Monday, October 5, 1964.


The Young Marrieds centered on three (although there are others who would say four) couples; Walter and Ann Reynolds, Dr. Dan and Susan Garrett, Matt and Liz Stevens, and Lena and Roy Gilroy. Walter and Ann were married for eight years and were in the process of breaking up. Ann once modeled for Walter, a commercial artist, but, because of his wandering interests, Ann tried to prove herself still desirable by establishing a relationship with a young pianist, Paul Stevens.

Susan Garrett was plagued with the problems of a childless marriage with Dr. Dan and the impending disclosure that she had to make of the existence of an illegitimate son whose identity she had thus far kept hidden from her husband.

Matt and Liz Stevens were the about-to-be-marrieds when the show premiered. Shortly after they married, their roles were eliminated and the show primarily centered on the lives of Walter and Ann & Dan and Susan.


For those of you too young to remember The Young Marrieds or were not viewers, and those of you who were and will hopefully enjoy the recollection, the following is a recap of Susan’s role as Ann Reynolds and that of her husband Walter (played by Mike Mikler). When the show opened in October of 1964, Ann, known to the advertising industry as The Reynolds Girl, was, and had been for some time, husband Walter’s successful model. However, as time had progressed, so had the industry’s ideas, and, Empire Textiles, Walter’s about-to-be account, wanted a fresh new look and approach to advertising. The new approach did not include Ann. Although Ann made a gallant attempt to accept the news, in reality she was devastated. What made matters still worse for her was that Walter’s studio was in their home, and she faced, day after day, not only Walter’s work (what had been her lifelong work), but Carol West, Walter’s new and beautiful model.

As Walter’s advertising campaign progressed, Empire Textiles began demanding more and more from Walter and Carol. Before very long, their workdays began to carry over into evenings and weekends. Wrapped up in his work, Walter neglected to see Ann’s loneliness.


Ann soon began to share her loneliness and fears with friend Irene Forsythe (Liz Stevens’ mother), a very successful business tyrant who ran Halstead’s, Queens Point’s answer to Macy’s. In an effort to relieve Ann’s fears of her desirability, Irene set up a chance meeting between Ann and Paul Stevens (the brother of Irene’s son-in-law Matt). Their acquaintance seemed like a glide in the wind, and, in an effort to fill the giant hole that loneliness created, Ann took on a full time job decorating Paul’s newly acquired apartment.


Before either of them realized, their friendship had matured and love had taken hold. Walter, meanwhile, realizing where the relationship was headed, made several demands for Ann to stop seeing Paul. Her first loyalty being to Walter, Ann did stop seeing Paul, but the roots were already too deep. Once apart, Ann and Paul realized they were in love. Several months into his successful ad campaign for Empire Textiles, Walter was handed a goldmine. He, and the new Reynolds Girl, Carol, were picked up to work exclusively for Halsteads. The irony was that Walter had finally achieved his lifelong goal, but at the price of his marriage.

This time Walter is in need for a friend. Someone to offer a sympathetic ear. Carol is always present and fully understands the trauma. She consistently tries to remain objective, even though she and Ann are not, shall we say, the best of friends. Carol is careful not to take advantage of Walter’s vulnerability. Walter and Ann’s situation has by now deteriorated to the point where nothing but arguments fill the air they share. Ann spends as little time as possible at home to insure that she and Walter refrain from argument and recrimination. Since Paul works evenings, she spends most of her days with him at his apartment. Meanwhile, not being able to cope with a fiery situation at home with their father, Ann’s young sister Jill comes to live with her and Walter. Jill is very much involved with the situation at hand, and, in an effort not to take sides, develops outside interests and friends at the beach. Jill, strong willed Jimmy, and mild mannered Buzz, are all suffering their own personal disappointments with life during this summer of 1965. In an effort to liven things up, the trio plan an all day, all evening outing on the beach with the rest of the gang. Their plans go smoothly and attendance proves nearly overwhelming. But the day of the party arrives with a most unwelcome guest. Rain. The day becomes a disaster for the many teens who had worked so hard for their reward, until, after endless crying and pleading from Jill, Walter offers the use of the house based on the condition that they remain out of his studio. All agree to the condition and the party is on!

At this time in the breakup of Walter and Ann’s marriage, their lawyers have entered and forced demands upon Walter and Ann that neither would have ordinarily agreed to. Because a crisis had developed between Ann, Walter and Paul over an investigator Walter’s lawyer had following Ann, Walter leaves the house and responsibility in the hands of Jill, Jimmy and Buzz. He immediately rushes to his lawyers office, fires him, then heads to Paul’s apartment for a truce. To the contrary, Walter, Ann and Paul have a nasty and stormy argument and lots of angry words are spilled in the moment of heat. It is Walter and Ann’s most vicious argument causing total devastation. Walter, although not physically hurt, leave’s Paul’s apartment in pain. Moments later, Ann takes time to reassess the argument and recalls the insensitive words that she knows cannot be recalled. To Paul’s dismay, she flees his apartment after Walter. She must see him. She must apologize.

Walter returns home only to find his pain had only just begun. Everyone is gone and the interior of the house has all but been destroyed. The party, having gotten totally out of control when his supply of alcohol had been discovered, turned into a free for all. The living room in shambles, everything breakable broken, walls marred, draperies torn from the rods, sofa cushions torn and pillows ripped open. Feathers everywhere. He enters his studio to find all of his art boards are destroyed. Weeks of work and deadlines are gone. He breaks down.

Days later their friends urge them to press charges against the kids who were responsible. Following a battle of conscience, Walter, too, decides he must. In the courtroom Walter pleads his case; it is quite different, however, from what most are expecting. In lieu of pressing charges, Walter requests Jimmy and Buzz be placed on probation in his custody for as long as the court deems necessary. The court agrees to Walter’s request with one modification. Jill must be included in the custody arrangement. A new shadow has been cast upon Ann’s plans to leave the house and move into an apartment of her own. Because Jill has been included in the custody arrangement, she feels she cannot leave the house at this time. Paul is upset but Ann feels she must do what she must do. She holds much admiration for Walter and his noble experiment.

As the months pass, Jimmy and Buzz agree that they have had their fill of the custody arrangement and plan to end the situation by busting out and leaving town. Since their monetary situation leave something to be desires, they plan to increase their capital gain by relieving Buzz’s boss of his daily receipts at the beach refreshment stand. An unexpected chain of events the moment of the planned robbery leaves Mr. Spencer injured and bleeding. Following the capture of Jimmy and Buzz, the court removes them from Walter’s custody.

Now free of the custody arrangement, Ann finds an apartment in, of all places, Paul Steven’s building and moves out of the house. Several weeks later, Jill feels the pressure of living with Walter and moves in with Ann. In order to support herself, Ann takes on a full time position with Halstead’s as Irene Forsythe’s assistant. Because of the loneliness of being alone, Walter sees more and more of Carol, both in and out of the studio. Carol, very much aware of Walter’s ongoing and deep-rooted love for Ann, finds this an intolerable situation for her.

Shortly after the New Year, as a result of the insane Christmas rush and Halstead’s impending expansion plans, Irene is stricken with a heart attack and Ann must assume her responsibilities. These same intense responsibilities are diverted to Ann and make more and more demands on her’s and Paul’s time alone. A war in two camps begins to escalate. Ann and Paul argue more and more over her job, and, Walter and Ann argue more and more over her now being his boss.

Ann, still searching for her sense of work, soon realizes that she has lost Paul. A tap at her door on morning is Paul with the news that he is leaving Queen’s Point. That it’s over. Later that same day, legal notifies Ann that Walter’s option is up for renewal and that he wants to be released from his contract. Ann’s world is shattering. Her lover is gone. And the man she realizes she still loves wants out of her life. Who can she now turn to for support? Irene is in no condition to listen and Susan and Dan, who are always there for her, are embroiled in their own custody battle for Susan’s illegitimate son. Her only confidante now can be Gilly Gillespie, Walter’s personal friend, Halstead’s legal counsel, and Jill’s newly formed love interest. Gilly offers his friendship to Ann with the understanding he remain neutral.

Suffering from sensitivity to light and extreme headaches, Carol demands Walter visit with Dr. Dan Garrett. A quick examination reveals immediate concern for Walter who is devastated when he learns from ophthalmologist Dr. John Myers that he is suffering from an eye condition that will ultimately lead to his blindness. Ann, now caught up in a legal battle between herself and Irene over her position with Halsteads, shares in Walter’s devastation when she learns of his pending blindness. Unaware by Ann or Gilly, Jill drops by Ann’s office and finds them in what appears to be a tender and passionate embrace. In reality, Gilly was comforting Ann over the news about Walter. Disappointed, outraged and feeling betrayed by her sister and lover, Jill tells Walter than Ann and Gilly are having an affair. With Paul out of her life, Walter’s hopes for a reconciliation are once again shattered by Jill’s erroneous news. It is all too much for Walter to face. His pending blindness, the loss of his love to a second man—it’s all too much. Suicide is on his mind.

After releasing Carol as his model, Walter remains secluded much of the time. He refuses to see his friends or those who love him. Dan makes a demanding visit one evening to question Walter about a gun that had been accidentally discovered by Susan’s son Jerry. Walter assures Dan that his intentions are not to use the gun for any reason other than his own safety. Dan fears that he cannot trust Walter’s words as being truthful and confronts Ann with the news. Terrified, Ann gives in to Dan’s request to have Carol see if she can safely remove the gun from the house. During a wonderful and tender scene at Ann’s apartment, she and Carol both reveal their love for Walter. Ann, fearful that Walter hates her, is reassured by Carol that Walter feels nothing but love for Ann. This having been an extremely difficult moment for Carol since she too has fallen deeply in love with Walter. Carol assures Ann that she will do everything in her power to remove the gun from Walter’s house.

Immediately, Carol makes an unexpected call on Walter. He is emotionally drained and does not openly welcome her. He makes it known that her appearance is an intrusion. Carol refuses to leave. While Walter is out of the room, Carol searches desperately for the gun. Finally, she finds it and places it in her handbag. Upon his return, Walter demands Carol turn the gun over to him. He pulls the handbag from her. Carol emotionally reveals her love for Walter in a wrenching moment of embrace. She begs him not to do anything foolish. Walter tenderly returns the embrace but only to push her to the other side of the front door. Sobbing and wrenched with fear, she finds herself outside of Walter’s house and the door locked tight. She screams and pounds on the door aimlessly.

Failing in her efforts, she runs up the street to get Dan. She seizes the doorbell and does not release it until Dan and Susan both arrive at the door. Stricken with Panic, Carol reveals that Walter has possession of the gun and he has locked her out of the house. Dan orders Susan to phone for the police then he and Carol run to Walter’s house.

And that’s the way ABC left us hanging on Friday, March 25, 1966, the day the final episode of The Young Marrieds was broadcast. Talk about a permanent cliffhanger. We never did officially learn the destiny of Walter and Ann Reynolds, or that of the remaining characters and storylines.

But fear not. I got the information first hand from ABC. If you were a viewer or even if you were not, if you have any desire to learn what happened to Ann and Walter Reynolds, just drop me a line and I’ll fill you in with the details.






Note: with the exception of the first two pictures, the rest of the photos were taken directly from the television with a Polaroid camera at the time of the original broadcast. Not bad for 34-year old Polaroids, right?

Please contact
Louis J.
for information.









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