LOUISE GODDARD BROOKS

First Appearance: December 6, 1972
Last Appearance: August 31, 1982
Portrayer: Anne Meacham, December 6, 1972 - May 28, 1980; April 16, 1981 - August 31, 1982.
Arrival: (1972) Moved with the Carrington family as their servant.
(1981) Returned to resume her duties as a Cory servant.
Departure: (1980) Accompanied Brooks when he left to care for his ill father in Ireland.
(1982) Left the Cory household because she was scared of Alma Rudder.
Introduction Scenes: (1972) In the Carrington residence, to Alice Matthews Frame, "Good afternoon."
(Reintro, 1981) The Cory Mansion living room, to Rachel Cory and Ada Hobson about Brooks returning, "Well no, at least not for right now."
Exit Scene: (1982) In the Cory Mansion begging Rachel to protect her family from Alma Rudder.
Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri.
Other Aliases: Louise Bronson, maiden name. Louise Goddard. [Named after the mother of a family friend of headwriter Harding Lemay.]
Other Whereabouts: Louisville, Kentucky, New York City.
Relatives: Agnes, sister.
Ready to visit her plants Louise and Brooks Spouses: Richard Goddard (RIP).
Leonard Brooks (married in June 1980).
Flirtations: Rocky Olsen (1976).
Former Occupation: Servant to the Carrington and Cory families, first hired after Dennis was born.
Notes: (November 1999) The following are email extracts from a friend of Anne Meacham, but not all clarifications should be considered completely accurate.

"I printed out and shared with Anne your page on her character, as well as the Seniority list. She was especially pleased with the list: "I know most of the people named here. I shall read through it with much pleasure!" She asked me to pass along to you some minor corrections on the dates you have listed for her appearance on the show:

She says the December 1972 start date is correct, and that she left in "late May or early June" 1980, to retire to her upstate home because "I was in traction for many weeks." She is uncertain of your April 1981 date for her return to the show, she thinks it was "earlier, but I'm not sure exactly when I got a call saying the writers had written me back in."

She saw you had Rocky Olsen listed as a flirtation and thought that was humorous. She said her character thought Rocky was contemptible and would never have "flirted" with him.

She seemed impressed with what I had printed out from your website, and seemed surprised to see all that information. She gave me permission to pass on the above.

I am afraid I don't know much about her Another World history, but she is much better known for her work on the stage. Anne originated many of Tennessee Williams' roles in New York, and is credited with saving his life during his breakdown. She won two Best Actress Obie awards, one for WIlliams' Suddenly Last Summer and another for Hedda Gabler.

...

I saw Anne yesterday, and discussed your [new] notes with her. I gave her copies of the 1981 and 1982 synopses and she seemed pleased. I also gave her the copy of the TV Guide cast photo from 1975. She said she remembered that day and quickly named each of the actors.

Anne said to tell you that she does not think John Horton ever played Brooks, but the other two actors you mentioned did. She also said that Louise never married Brooks, as is mentioned on your character pages.

She mentioned again that she was very impressed with the level of research on your site. She asked me to tell you that the section on plant names, and the quotes, contain many errors, probably because you have not seen the tapes of the show. Apparently the idea of the plant names was Ira's creation, and all were based solely on Greek mythology. Whenever the plants were named, there was some parallel to stories from Greek mythology. Anne says she carried a copy of Bullfinch's Mythology with her to familiarize herself with the stories before performing the scenes. According to Anne, there were some intern writers who were "precocious" and thought the plant names were funny, gave them names in the script (such as Mr. Belvedere). Those names (and all of the humorous lines you sent me to show her) never made it to the final show because Ira or Anne cut them out or altered them.

Anne also told me that while she knew she was biased, she felt that the AW ensemble was unique, because the producers went to off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway shows to recruit actors. This gave the company more of a "stage" personality. Most of the actors, she said, would often stay the whole day to watch their fellow cast members perform and give them audiences. This was very unique to AW among soaps, according to Anne."