Before Rachel Dolezal, One Life To Live Brought Us Asian Blair

[Primetimer]

Once upon a time, an Asian woman entered the little town of Llanview. By the time she left, she was Caucasian.

Read the story

[AndySmith]

I'm not too miffed about the change, because as you said, Kassie was just awesome in the role, and

 

When Caucasian Blair had her flashback -- to Asian Blair saying "I Do" -- she came out of the memory looking confused and checking herself in the mirror.

 

I have to give credit to the show for knowing and poking fun at itself over the recasting.

[TeeVee329]

Fun article!

 

The face Kassie DePaiva makes when Blair snaps out of the flashback and checks her compact is one of my favorite OLTL moments EVER.

 

And if memory serves, this happened at Asa's "funeral" (he had faked his death to get revenge on Max for pretending to be his son) and, shortly thereafter, Natalie comes storming in wearing her red dress, one of my other favorite OLTL moments EVER.

Edited July 6, 2015 by TeeVee329

[Dandesun]

They poked fun of it again towards the end of OLTL's run where Blair's role was specifically seen on screen in David's movie Vickerman as being played by Mia Korf. And when asked about it on the show KDP's Blair sort of shrugged her shoulders and remarked that sometimes that's how casting went.

Blair always did stand out among the Cramers. First she was the one who was bi-racial and then she was the one who stood about a foot taller than the rest of the clan.

I recall that Michael Malone, who created the character, designed Blair to be something of a Scarlett O'Hara and when Mia Korf was cast she was the best of the auditions they had. They altered her story in order to explain the racial aspects of it. That story ran it's course and Blair went away but returned a year later. I remember feeling a bit perplexed about the change when I first saw KDP in the role but, credit where it is due, she took it and owned it and really worked it. Blair became my absolute favorite and I hated her when Kassie took the role.

Ah soaps.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Dandesun

[TeeVee329]

They poked fun of it again towards the end of OLTL's run where Blair's role was specifically seen on screen in David's movie Vickerman as being played by Mia Korf. And when asked about it on the show KDP's Blair sort of shrugged her shoulders and remarked that sometimes that's how casting went.

 

Heh, I loved that too.

 

There was also a great meta scene where Blair and VicTodd talked about how they were "different people" when they married Asa and Tea, respectively.

[Jeffurry]

I must have stopped watching between Asian Blair and Caucasian Blair (I remember her as Asian and the timing works out). That's hilarious!

[dusang]

Blair Daimler Cramer Buchanan Manning Manning Holden Manning Manning Manning McBain Clarke Manning

Is that literal or figurative?

[Melgaypet]

If you mean, is that the name Blair uses on her legal documents, then probably not. But I do believe that is the proper order of all her married* names, give or take a  Manning. Some of those are probably disqualified due to the marriage(s) being to FakeTodd.

 

*Daimler isn't the name of a husband, but one Blair gave herself when she first appeared. I forget where she got it from - Dandesun would know. Blair's family name is Cramer.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Melgaypet

[Dandesun]

Blair named herself Daimler because she thought it sounded classy. It's actually the name of a car.

 

Yeah, that's a fairly accurate representation of her married names... although I think you could throw a Laurence in there since she married Not!Todd when he was posing as Walker Laurence.

 

When it comes down to it, though, Blair is Blair Cramer Manning. You don't marry a guy that many times (and that's not even counting the attempts!) without it meaning something. And Blair is Todd Manning's true love just as he's hers. (And Todd certainly doesn't count any other married name but his when it comes to her.)

Edited July 6, 2015 by Dandesun

[gpgurl50]

I've always loved this bit of soap opera trivia, maybe because they eventually made fun of themselves. I mean, it was a successful recast because the actress became well liked, in a popular pairing and they could laugh about it later.

[marceline]

Mia Korf was always my Blair. I could never really accept the recast. I often looked at KdP's scenes and wondered how MK would've played them.

[UYI]

I recall that Michael Malone, who created the character, designed Blair to be something of a Scarlett O'Hara and when Mia Korf was cast she was the best of the auditions they had. 

Actually, according to Linda Gottlieb, there was no audition. When she first became EP in 1991, she asked the show's casting director to bring in any particular actors or actresses that interested them, and they would create roles for them. This is not only how Mia got the part of Blair, it's how Susan Batten was cast as Luna, and how Mark Brettschneider was cast as Jason Webb. There may have been a few others, too.

 

They eventually switched back to the regular audition process, though. 

 

I should also point out, re: the article, Mia left the show in early 1993, not 1992. Kassie first aired as Blair that December. 

Edited July 7, 2015 by UYI

[UYI]

Just for fun, here's Mia's Blair and Max having sex before her wedding to Asa, and Kassie's very first scenes as Blair in 1993:

 

 

 

 

[isalicat]

Another remarkable thing is how Kassie DePaiva never seems to age (I don't know what Mia Korf looks like nowadays) and I often wonder if Kassie has a portrait stashed somewhere :)

I watched OLTL to the end and then the Prospect Park version...tried to follow Kassie to whatever the thing is she is on these days but could not bear even ten minutes (so borrrring!) I'm watching RoHo on TFGH and he is pretty much just being Todd some more, but without Blair or even crazy Tea...kinda floundering around. Before OLTL, Guiding Light was "my" soap for 20 years but it went so far downhill (in my estimation) by the mid-1990s I was looking for something else so watched AMC and then OLTL most every day. I always considered OLTL the far superior of the two and abandoned AMC just before Babe showed up (from what I hear...a wise decision).

Love seeing Vicki again! I miss Llanview...sigh.

[Melgaypet]

I always considered OLTL the far superior of the two and abandoned AMC just before Babe showed up (from what I hear...a wise decision)..

 

Wise indeed, to the point where I envy you. It was the endless Babe worship (and Ryan worship) that drove me away from AMC in the end.

[AndySmith]

Aaaarrggghh! Sloane! Did not need to see that so early in the morning...

[jsbt]

I always wanted one scene - just one - of KDP's Blair speaking fluent Japanese, since it was a story point in Mia Korf's era that Blair could speak it. That would've tripped everyone out. That's a Ron moment if ever I heard of one.

[Dandesun]

Oh, I would have loved that. It would have been fun. Either to Dorian just to annoy her or to Todd who liked to throw in a foreign phrase here and there to even the scales.

[UYI]

I think Blair worked as a Japanese interpreter at one point, so when she and Cord went to Jaba City to check on Jake Harrison for Megan (who had just been diagnosed with Lupus), she could use it, since it was in the Far East. 

[sourpickles]

Oh, my. I remember this. I was an ABC girl, mostly GH since it came on after I got out of school, but later on I watched AMC and OLTL. I'm still mad they canceled OLTL on the heels of AMC. Kind of like ATWT got shafted when they put GL (sorry, it got really bad at the end) out of its misery. Anywho, I do remember this, wonder what Mia Korf is up to now. Kassie (Wesley) DePavia to me, took over the role and made it her own after a time, and I figure if a kid born in 2008 is now in college, well, race changing works ok in the world of suspended belief. Right? Though, I swear there was another changeup like this on another show, but it just won't come to me. Eh, maybe I'm old, and the memory is gone.