Douglas Marland

Douglas Marland (born Marland Messner, May 5, 1934 – March 6, 1993) was an American actor and writer of soap operas.

He began his soap opera career as an actor, appearing on the Irna Phillips series The Brighter Day and As the World Turns. He also did odd jobs on the side as a director for small theatre groups. On one such job, staging the DeSylva, Brown, and Henderson musical Good News!, he worked with Broadway dancer Edie Cowan and pianist Ethan Mordden, both of whom went on to professional careers as, respectively, choreographer and writer.

Marland began his writing career by authoring some Nick Carter mysteries, under one of the publisher's standard pseudonyms. He first started writing scripts for soap operas in the 1970s, as a script writer for Harding Lemay on Another World.

He was hired by NBC Daytime in 1975 after then head writer, Margaret DePriest, left The Doctors. Despite receiving Daytime Emmys, ratings plummeted. But Marland's writing received critical acclaim and it proved positive for the show.

During his tenure on The Doctors, a variety of new acting talent were added to the canvas: Armand Assante (Mike Powers), Lois Smith (Eleanor Conrad), Jada Rowland (Carolee Simpson Aldrich), Robert Frank Telfer (Luke Dancy), Kathy Bates (Phyllis), Glenn Corbett (Jason Aldrich), Elizabeth Lawrence (Virginia Dancy), Carol Potter (Betsy Match), Ted Danson (Mitch Pierson), and Jonathan Frakes (Tom Carroll), among other actors. Marland also expanded the Aldrich family and created a new family for the show: the Dancy family.

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