Rachel Welles
Encyclopedia
Rachel Welles is a fictional character
on the television drama Peyton Place
. She was portrayed by actress Leigh Taylor-Young
, between 1966 and 1967.
, a young woman who has been missing for a while, they take her along to the Doctor's Hospital. There, the doctors soon notice that she reacts violently when people want to talk with her. They are unable to get information from her, which distresses Allison's father Elliot Carson, who is still heavily searching for his daughter.
Dr. Michael Rossi seems to be the only person she trusts. She confides in him that she was named Rachel, after the 'beautiful and well favoured' girl from Genesis 29:16,17. Despite giving him some facts from her life, including the fact that she has no parents and her birth date, she claims she doesn't remember last name and her exact age, guessing it is either eighteen or nineteen years old. However, when he forces her to remember where she got Allison's bracelet, she blames him for being just as confrontational as anyone else. Not much later, she fully recovers from the sprained ankle she got during her struggle in the cabin. Dr. Rossi explains she can't stay at the hospital and will be given over to juvenile authorities unless she tells him where she is from. She refuses to leave the hospital however, and accepts a job as a nurse. Dr. Rossi soon notices she is uncontrolable and therefor inaquipt to work there. Upon confronting her she will be turned into the authorities, she locks herself into a room. Rita is able to win her trust and with her help, she is allowed to stay.
It is eventually revealed that Rachel's parents died at a fire when she was eight years old, while she at school. She was immediately taken home and witnessed the fire, which traumatized her. She went to live with her mother Georgine's sister Lucy and her newlywed Jack Chandler in Hastings Valley. A neighbor visits Peyton Place to warn Dr. Rossi not to send her back to her uncle, claiming that he is abusive. She reveals that Rachel was beaten up by Jack several times.
was released from her American Broadcasting Company
contract. Desperate, Fox, the show's studio, wrote the character of Rachel Welles into the show, who served as her replacement. Only on her third day in Los Angeles
, Leigh Taylor-Young
was arranged a meeting with producers for the part by her agent. She was asked to come back for an audition, during which she performed a scene of the play The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams
.
Shortly after, she was called back for a screen test
. Taylor-Young hesitated to take the opportunity, because if she got the part, she would have to sign a seven year contract. As her original plan was to go into the theatre, she was reluctant to commit herself to a TV series. Taylor-Young's mother finally convinced her to do the screen test, explaining that it would financially secure her and that it would be a good experience. She took the screen test on set during a shooting day, which meant that all the cast members were present when she started acting. The next day, she was given the part. She had a month to prepare and started shooting in August 1966.
Although Peyton Place's golden years were over, Taylor-Young became a nationwide television star. She described that she lost all her anonymity and privacy.
Although having signed a seven year contract, Taylor-Young left the show in July 1967, when she was five months pregnant. Just like Farrow, she was abruptly written out of the series.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the television drama Peyton Place
Peyton Place (TV series)
Peyton Place is an American prime-time soap opera which aired on ABC in half-hour episodes from September 15, 1964 to June 2, 1969.Based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious, the series was preceded by a 1957 film adaptation. A total of 514 episodes were broadcast, in...
. She was portrayed by actress Leigh Taylor-Young
Leigh Taylor-Young
Leigh Taylor-Young is an American actress who has appeared on stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Leigh Taylor-Young was born on January 25, 1945 in Washington, D.C. Her last name is an amalgamation of the last names of her father, a diplomat, and her stepfather, a successful Detroit executive...
, between 1966 and 1967.
Character history
Rachel is introduced as a mysterious and wild girl hiding in an abandoned cabin in the woods near Peyton Place. Norman Harrington en Rita Jacks find her and want to talk with her, but she is too afraid and struggles. When they notice that she is wearing a bracelet belonging to Allison MacKenzieAllison MacKenzie
Allison MacKenzie is a fictional character and one of the protagonists in the novel Peyton Place, its sequel Return to Peyton Place, the subsequent film adaptations of both, and the primetime television series and daytime soap opera they inspired....
, a young woman who has been missing for a while, they take her along to the Doctor's Hospital. There, the doctors soon notice that she reacts violently when people want to talk with her. They are unable to get information from her, which distresses Allison's father Elliot Carson, who is still heavily searching for his daughter.
Dr. Michael Rossi seems to be the only person she trusts. She confides in him that she was named Rachel, after the 'beautiful and well favoured' girl from Genesis 29:16,17. Despite giving him some facts from her life, including the fact that she has no parents and her birth date, she claims she doesn't remember last name and her exact age, guessing it is either eighteen or nineteen years old. However, when he forces her to remember where she got Allison's bracelet, she blames him for being just as confrontational as anyone else. Not much later, she fully recovers from the sprained ankle she got during her struggle in the cabin. Dr. Rossi explains she can't stay at the hospital and will be given over to juvenile authorities unless she tells him where she is from. She refuses to leave the hospital however, and accepts a job as a nurse. Dr. Rossi soon notices she is uncontrolable and therefor inaquipt to work there. Upon confronting her she will be turned into the authorities, she locks herself into a room. Rita is able to win her trust and with her help, she is allowed to stay.
It is eventually revealed that Rachel's parents died at a fire when she was eight years old, while she at school. She was immediately taken home and witnessed the fire, which traumatized her. She went to live with her mother Georgine's sister Lucy and her newlywed Jack Chandler in Hastings Valley. A neighbor visits Peyton Place to warn Dr. Rossi not to send her back to her uncle, claiming that he is abusive. She reveals that Rachel was beaten up by Jack several times.
Production
In the summer of 1966, Mia FarrowMia Farrow
Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...
was released from her American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
contract. Desperate, Fox, the show's studio, wrote the character of Rachel Welles into the show, who served as her replacement. Only on her third day in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Leigh Taylor-Young
Leigh Taylor-Young
Leigh Taylor-Young is an American actress who has appeared on stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Leigh Taylor-Young was born on January 25, 1945 in Washington, D.C. Her last name is an amalgamation of the last names of her father, a diplomat, and her stepfather, a successful Detroit executive...
was arranged a meeting with producers for the part by her agent. She was asked to come back for an audition, during which she performed a scene of the play The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
.
Shortly after, she was called back for a screen test
Screen test
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...
. Taylor-Young hesitated to take the opportunity, because if she got the part, she would have to sign a seven year contract. As her original plan was to go into the theatre, she was reluctant to commit herself to a TV series. Taylor-Young's mother finally convinced her to do the screen test, explaining that it would financially secure her and that it would be a good experience. She took the screen test on set during a shooting day, which meant that all the cast members were present when she started acting. The next day, she was given the part. She had a month to prepare and started shooting in August 1966.
Although Peyton Place's golden years were over, Taylor-Young became a nationwide television star. She described that she lost all her anonymity and privacy.
Although having signed a seven year contract, Taylor-Young left the show in July 1967, when she was five months pregnant. Just like Farrow, she was abruptly written out of the series.