Valiant Lady

Valiant Lady was a CBS network soap opera created by Adrian Spies which aired on CBS TV and radio from October 12, 1953 to August 16, 1957, lasting for five seasons & 1,024 episodes.

Like many early soap operas, the show was broadcast live from CBS Studio 57 in Manhattan, New York.

Plot
The series centered on Helen Emerson, a 40-something-year-old matron whose husband died in the show's first year. Because of her widowhood, she endured financial hardship while continually worrying about the lives of her three children: Mickey, Diane and Kim.

Helen finally found peace and happiness in the show's final year, when she married Governor Lawrence Walker.

Cast

 * Nancy Coleman - Helen Emerson #1 (1953–1954; original cast)
 * Flora Campbell - Helen Emerson #2 (1954–1957)
 * Anne Pearson - Diane Emerson Soames #1 (1953–1954; original cast)
 * Dolores Sutton - Diane Emerson Soames #2 (1954–1955)
 * Sue Randall - Diane Emerson Soames #3 (1955–1956)
 * Lelia Martin - Diane Emerson Soames #4 (1956–1957)
 * Helen Wagner - Jane (1953–1954)
 * Jerome Cowan - Frank Emerson (1953–1957)
 * James Kirkwood Jr. - Mickey Emerson (1953–1957)
 * Lydia Reed - Kim Emerson #1 (1953–1954)
 * Bonnie Sawyer - Kim Emerson #2 (1954–1957)
 * Joan Lorring - Bonnie Withers #1 (1954–1955)
 * Shirley Egleston - Bonnie Withers #2 (1955)
 * Earl Hammond - Hal Soames (1954–1955)
 * Margaret Hamilton - Mrs. Sayre (1955)
 * Frances Helm - Linda Kendall (1955)
 * Terry O'Sullivan - Elliott Norris (1955)
 * Larry Weber - Capt. Chris Kendall (1954–1955)
 * Martin Balsam - Joey Gordon (1955)
 * Katherine Squire - Gertrude Harper (1956–1957)
 * Betty Cakes - Roberta Wilcox (1956–1957)
 * John Graham - Gov. Lawrence Walker (1956–1957)
 * Doro Merande - Ivy Harper (1956–1957)
 * Lilia Skala - Mme. Garstel (1957)
 * Joan Tompkins - Marion Walker (1957)

Production
During the run of the show, two different actresses played Helen Emerson, and two actresses played her daughter Kim.

Helen's son, Mickey was played throughout by James Kirkwood Jr. and he would learn his lines while driving into work with director John Desmond.

Though the wife of the airline pilot was played by four different actresses (one of whom, Sue Randall, became best known as Theodore Cleaver's teacher Miss Landers in the TV series "Leave It To Beaver"), the airline pilot himself, Hal Soames, was played by only one actor throughout, Earl Hammond, who later became well known as the deep bass voice of many television cartoon heroes and villains during the 1980s.

Helen's husband, on the series for only the first year, was played by Jerome Cowan, best known for playing Miles Archer, the private eye partner of Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon.

Martin Balsam appeared late in the series as an undesirable boyfriend of Helen's daughter, Kim who ends up saving the lives of the entire family during a hostage situation.

A minor character was played by Helen Wagner (who would later star on "As the World Turns" as Nancy Hughes, the longest-running character on any television soap opera).

Ratings
In the Nielsen ratings for daytime soaps in the United States, "Valiant Lady" never did better than 4th in its first two seasons (around 10.5%) where it had no competition its first season and than went against the "Tennessee Ernie Ford Show" starting in early 1955.

Even though the show dropped to 6th (9.2%) in its third season, it was able to hold its own against the competition.

In the 1956-57 season, the wildly popular "Tic Tac Dough" was new competition and "Valiant Lady" dropped to 9th (7.0%).

The #1 & #2 soap operas during these years were "Search for Tomorrow and "The Guiding Light" with "Search for Tomorrow" averaging 14.2% and "The Guiding Light" averaging 12.9%.