ALLAN CHASE: THE FACTS REVEALED ABOUT THE THIRD "DAYS" CREATOR
In all my years of research, I could never connect a novelist named Allan Chase, who donated his papers to a library in Illinois, to be THE Allan Chase who helped create "Days of Our Lives." Although the library catalogue lists many books and even TV projects worked on by Chase, nothing is mentioned about "Days" in that catalogue. Thanks to a re-filing of a lawsuit filed by the executors of co-creator Irna Phillips' estate after her death, the identity of Chase became even more mysterious, when the lawsuit stated his whereabouts were no longer known as of 1976. But, now, after all these years, the 1964 "Days" proposal I recently got mentions that Chase was the novelist I had thought him to be (but could never prove).
Allan Chase led quite an interesting life. He was born in New York City on April 19, 1913. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in the early 1930's. In the 1940's, he started writing novels. Several of the books he wrote, including "Falange: The Axis Secret Army in the Americas" and "The Five Arrows", made U.S. authorities think he was a Communist, and he was brought in for official questioning on the matter on July 2, 1953, appearing before Joseph McCarthy, the famous senator who tried to out many people in the entertainment industry and elsewhere as being Communists.
In Chase's testimony, which was unsealed and released to the public 50 years after the fact in 2003, we learn a few facts about the man himself. Chase's full name is Allan Chase (he had no middle name); he was born in, as he states, "the city of New York, borough of Manhattan" and resided at the time at 725 West End Avenue in New York City. Chase was then questioned directly by Dr. J.B. Matthews: "Mr. Chase, do you believe that the FBI fakes evidence against people?" Chase replied: "No, sir." Chase then confirmed that he was a secretary of the American Committee for Spanish Freedom and stated that the organization was cited as a Communist front by the attorney general after he left the organization. He then stated he knew that he left that organization by September 12, 1945, because that was the date his daughter (Deborah) was born. Chase then admitted he was a Communist for a mere two weeks in 1934. He said "I felt like the Rabbi who wandered into a house of burlesque in Boston without knowing what he had wandered into. I saw and heard and by the time I realized what I had gotten into, I picked up my hat and feet and ran." Chase went on to state that in 1934, he was 20 years old, the US had 20 million unemployed, and he was vitally concerned with one issue at that time: the Spanish War. After Chase told the committee that he was writing an anti-Communist book, and that if he were called to testify in public session that it would ruin the book, the committee decided to not call Chase to testify publicly, and even told Chase that the testimony he gave today will not be made public. That promise, of course, was held for 50 years, until these documents (as with many government documents) were released 50 years after the fact.
After Chase's committee questioning, he became involved in the television and motion picture business and worked off-and-on in the industry from around 1953-1965. Some sources list him as the creator of the CBS soap "Valiant Lady" (which ran from 1953-1957, and in which Ted Corday directed; however other sources state that Adrian Spies was the show's creator). IMDB also lists Chase as writing episodes of "77 Sunset Strip" in 1960 and "The Defenders" in 1964. After he was named as one of the creators of "Days" in the show's proposal in late 1964, Chase seems to have then left the entertainment industry behind and went on to his next love: researching and writing books about medicine.
In his later years, Chase became focused on researching and writing about medicine. He reported and commented about medicine and public health for "Medical Tribune" from 1976-1981. He also wrote three books dealing with the subject: "The Legacy of Malthus", about scientific racism, in 1977; "Magic Shots", a history of vaccines, in 1982; and "The Truth About STD", about sexually transmitted diseases, in 1983. He was also a visiting lecturer at the University of Illinois in 1979. Near the end of his life, Chase was working on books about the history of nutrition, tuberculosis, AIDS and the legalization of drugs, and was also writing his memoir (called "The Summer of 1941"), but he passed away on June 22, 1993 before having a chance to publish any of those books. Chase was married for many years to his wife, Martha.
As Maureen Russell's 1995 book, "Days of Our Lives: A Complete History of the Long-Running Soap Opera", stated: "Allan Chase worked with Ted Corday on a number of projects in New York. He was credited in the early years of the show because he had been in on the initial planning. His input was minimal, and he is no longer credited with the show's creation." However minimal Chase's input was, it's nice to finally confirm who he was and to finally have some facts for "Days" fans to learn about this no-longer mysterious figure in "Days" history!
In all my years of research, I could never connect a novelist named Allan Chase, who donated his papers to a library in Illinois, to be THE Allan Chase who helped create "Days of Our Lives." Although the library catalogue lists many books and even TV projects worked on by Chase, nothing is mentioned about "Days" in that catalogue. Thanks to a re-filing of a lawsuit filed by the executors of co-creator Irna Phillips' estate after her death, the identity of Chase became even more mysterious, when the lawsuit stated his whereabouts were no longer known as of 1976. But, now, after all these years, the 1964 "Days" proposal I recently got mentions that Chase was the novelist I had thought him to be (but could never prove).
Allan Chase led quite an interesting life. He was born in New York City on April 19, 1913. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in the early 1930's. In the 1940's, he started writing novels. Several of the books he wrote, including "Falange: The Axis Secret Army in the Americas" and "The Five Arrows", made U.S. authorities think he was a Communist, and he was brought in for official questioning on the matter on July 2, 1953, appearing before Joseph McCarthy, the famous senator who tried to out many people in the entertainment industry and elsewhere as being Communists.
In Chase's testimony, which was unsealed and released to the public 50 years after the fact in 2003, we learn a few facts about the man himself. Chase's full name is Allan Chase (he had no middle name); he was born in, as he states, "the city of New York, borough of Manhattan" and resided at the time at 725 West End Avenue in New York City. Chase was then questioned directly by Dr. J.B. Matthews: "Mr. Chase, do you believe that the FBI fakes evidence against people?" Chase replied: "No, sir." Chase then confirmed that he was a secretary of the American Committee for Spanish Freedom and stated that the organization was cited as a Communist front by the attorney general after he left the organization. He then stated he knew that he left that organization by September 12, 1945, because that was the date his daughter (Deborah) was born. Chase then admitted he was a Communist for a mere two weeks in 1934. He said "I felt like the Rabbi who wandered into a house of burlesque in Boston without knowing what he had wandered into. I saw and heard and by the time I realized what I had gotten into, I picked up my hat and feet and ran." Chase went on to state that in 1934, he was 20 years old, the US had 20 million unemployed, and he was vitally concerned with one issue at that time: the Spanish War. After Chase told the committee that he was writing an anti-Communist book, and that if he were called to testify in public session that it would ruin the book, the committee decided to not call Chase to testify publicly, and even told Chase that the testimony he gave today will not be made public. That promise, of course, was held for 50 years, until these documents (as with many government documents) were released 50 years after the fact.
After Chase's committee questioning, he became involved in the television and motion picture business and worked off-and-on in the industry from around 1953-1965. Some sources list him as the creator of the CBS soap "Valiant Lady" (which ran from 1953-1957, and in which Ted Corday directed; however other sources state that Adrian Spies was the show's creator). IMDB also lists Chase as writing episodes of "77 Sunset Strip" in 1960 and "The Defenders" in 1964. After he was named as one of the creators of "Days" in the show's proposal in late 1964, Chase seems to have then left the entertainment industry behind and went on to his next love: researching and writing books about medicine.
In his later years, Chase became focused on researching and writing about medicine. He reported and commented about medicine and public health for "Medical Tribune" from 1976-1981. He also wrote three books dealing with the subject: "The Legacy of Malthus", about scientific racism, in 1977; "Magic Shots", a history of vaccines, in 1982; and "The Truth About STD", about sexually transmitted diseases, in 1983. He was also a visiting lecturer at the University of Illinois in 1979. Near the end of his life, Chase was working on books about the history of nutrition, tuberculosis, AIDS and the legalization of drugs, and was also writing his memoir (called "The Summer of 1941"), but he passed away on June 22, 1993 before having a chance to publish any of those books. Chase was married for many years to his wife, Martha.
As Maureen Russell's 1995 book, "Days of Our Lives: A Complete History of the Long-Running Soap Opera", stated: "Allan Chase worked with Ted Corday on a number of projects in New York. He was credited in the early years of the show because he had been in on the initial planning. His input was minimal, and he is no longer credited with the show's creation." However minimal Chase's input was, it's nice to finally confirm who he was and to finally have some facts for "Days" fans to learn about this no-longer mysterious figure in "Days" history!