‘Guiding Light’s Frank Dicopoulos Reflects on the Soap’s Most Important Storylines, From Lillian’s Cancer Battle to Harley’s Pregnancy (Exclusive)
On June 30, 1952, The Guiding Light debuted on CBS after 15 years on radio. For the next four years, the cast produced both versions daily — filming a 15-minute TV episode in the morning, then performing the same script for radio in a different studio.
Created by Irna Phillips, the soap originally followed minister Dr. John Ruthledge and his congregation. But by its 1952 TV debut, the focus had shifted to the Bauer family, and the setting moved from California to the Midwestern town of Springfield. The show began airing in color in 1967, expanded to 30 minutes in 1968, dropped ‘The’ from its title in 1975, and became an hour-long program in 1977. Over time, families such as the Spauldings, Lewises, Chamberlains and Reardons were introduced, and in 1987, the Cooper clan made its way to town.
Frank Dicopoulos (Frank Cooper) was living in Los Angeles when the opportunity to read for the soap came his way. He had already appeared on a string of high-profile primetime series and was up for a three-picture deal at a movie studio. “I did Dynasty and I was Joan Collins‘ [Alexis Colby] personal assistant,” he shares. “Every time you saw Joan Collins, I was massaging her from head to toe. I was on Falcon Crest and played a character named David. Katherine Helmond picked me to be the lifeguard on a two-part special for Who’s the Boss? That was a big deal because I had to get approved by Tony Danza. So, I was booking a lot of shows and gaining experience.”
He met with renowned casting director Betty Rea in Los Angeles and auditioned for the role of Will Jeffries. After, he went to New York, where the show was taped, for a screen test with Kristi Ferrell [ex-Roxie Shayne] while battling the flu. “I had 104 fever and all I wanted was to do the test and get back to the hotel,” he recalls. “I couldn’t believe the timing of it.”
He wasn’t cast as Will — that went to Joseph Breen — but the powers-that-be were interested. “They called my agent and said, ‘He’s not right for this role, but we see something in him that we really like, and we want to develop a character just for him,’” the actor relays. “And that’s why Frank was named Frank. That’s why he was a mechanic, because I was a service manager for a Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Houston, Texas. That’s why he had a Greek background, because my background was Greek, and the rest is history.”
Joining the show in 1987 during the heyday of soaps was a heady experience for Dicopoulos. “The timing was just perfect,” he recalls. “Guiding Light was really doing well, we were at the top of our game, and the power of daytime was just unreal. No matter where you went, no matter what you did, somebody knew the show or somebody knew your character, and the perks were just outstanding. It was just awesome.”
Dicopoulos recognized the show’s broad appeal, including a notable following among celebrities. “Everybody from Patrick Ewing [New York Knicks] to Lawrence Taylor [New York Giants] to Artimus Pyle from Lynyrd Skynyrd,” he relays. “Teja [his wife] and I were on a flight to Georgia, and we were about to board a plane, and there was this entourage coming down the escalator. And before I know it, Reverend Jesse Jackson is literally kissing the top of Teja’s hand and says, ‘I know your husband’s work.’ He invited us to lunch at his mother’s, and I was like, ‘Thank you so much for the honor, but we’ve got to catch this flight, but maybe next time.’ ”
Giorgio Palmisano /© CBS /Courtesy Everett Collection
When his on-screen family began expanding, with Beth Ehlers added as Frank’s sister Harley, Jean Carol as their mother Nadine, and Justin Deas rounding out the family as patriarch Buzz, Dicopoulos saw it as a good sign. “I was honored and flattered, and I knew that it meant I had longevity,” he notes.
In 1991, Frank got a love interest, Eleni Andros — played by Melina Kanakaredes, who happened to have a childhood connection to Dicopoulos. “Her mom and dad and my mom and dad were best friends in Akron, Ohio, before any of them were married,” he shares. “I’ve known her my whole life and she walked into the studio one day and I’m like, ‘What are you doing here?’ and she goes, ‘I’m reading for the role of your wife.’ And she just nailed it.” Her success after GL didn’t shock Dicopoulos. “She’s got the ‘it’ factor,” he says. “It didn’t surprise me at all.”
Dicopoulos highlights the long list of former co-stars who found notable fame after leaving GL. “Murray Bartlett‘s [Cyrus Foley] kicking ass,” he points out. “He was a really, really nice guy. I saw him at an event, and he came over and gave me a big hug. It was great reuniting with him. Tom Pelfrey’s [Jonathan Randall] kicking a**. Brittany Snow [Susan “Daisy” Lemay], who played my niece, is kicking a**. Hayden Panettiere [Lizzie Spaulding], Sherry Stringfield [Blake Thorpe], Nia Long [Kat Speakes], Taye Diggs [Adrian “Sugar” Hill], and let’s not forget Matt Bomer [Ben Reade]. I saw him recently and it was big hugs. There’s also Frank Grillo [Hart Jessup] and Wendy Moniz [Dinah Marler] and [Bethany] Joy Lenz [Michelle Bauer]. And Allison Janney [Ginger]! Look how big she is now. So, our alumni are a testimony to the producers and to Betty Rea, P&G and CBS. They really knew what they were doing.”
Dicopoulos is also proud of the impactful storytelling. “Guiding Light was one of the most realistic shows and honest shows that didn’t deal with too much craziness, other than cloning [of Reva Shayne in 1998],” he points out. “The Lillian Raines [Tina Sloan] cancer storyline was important. And when Beth Ehlers came on, her character Harley was pregnant, and we had a decision of keeping the baby or not. She chose to keep the baby and to this day, I can’t tell you the number of people that come up and say that they named their child Daisy after Harley’s baby, or they kept the child because she decided to keep the child. Now, if that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what does.”
David Muller
A fun, full circle moment came in 2002 when a former co-star joined the cast. “There’s a knock on my dressing room door and it opens up and it’s Joan Collins,” he says. “And she goes, ‘Hello, Frank.’ And I’m like, ‘What are you doing here?’ She goes, ‘I’m reading for the role of Alexandra [Spaulding] on your show.’ So we got to play catch up, and it was just so much fun. I just couldn’t believe it. Now she was on my show.”
Guiding Light’s cancellation in 2009 was heartbreaking for the cast and crew, as well as the soap community and its fans. Dicopoulos says he first got an inkling that changes were coming when Another World was axed in 1999. “That really just started sending up some flares and made me uncomfortable,” he recalls. “And then you start hearing about salary cuts and letting some actors go, and that’s never a good sign. And then that fateful day when I was shopping at Costco, and Ellen Wheeler [executive producer] called me and said, ‘Frank, I just want to tell you personally that we got canceled.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, Ellen, I’m so sorry.’ She did everything she could do to save the show.”
Dicopoulos held out hope that GL would go on, and today, his 22-year run still holds a very special place in his heart. “I totally believed that somehow, some way, it was going to be saved,” he sighs. “It was the best thing ever and I never took it for granted. I got to start a brand-new family on the longest-running TV show in radio and television history and the Coopers ended up being the largest family on the show when it went off the air. It was just a wonderful experience and something that I’ll never, ever forget.”
The actor, who is now based in L.A., said if one of the five remaining soaps came calling, “I would do it in a heartbeat.”
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