Ellen Lowell - Development

Development

As The World Turns initially focused on two families: the Hugheses and the Lowells. Ellen's father, Jim Lowell (Les Damon), was one of the soap's original protagonists. An early plot featured an affair between Jim and Edith Hughes (Ruth Warrick). Creator Irna Phillips had intended to contravene the typical format of soap opera storylines by allowing the affair to lead to a happy marriage, however ultimately killed Jim off instead. This resulted in younger members of the Lowell and Hughes families, including Ellen, being brought to the forefront of storylines. Ellen had been horrified by her father's affair, and as Marilyn J. Matelski writes in The Soap Opera Evolution, this, alongside her doubt as to whether her parents truly loved her, set Ellen on a "somewhat reckless love and security from any source". In 1958, Ellen became pregnant by Dr. Tim Cole (William Redfield) and subsequently gave their son up for adoption. According to The Daytime Serials of Television, 1946–1960, she was the first major character in any serial to have an illegitimate child. Lynda Hirsch of the Youngstown Vindicator summarised Ellen's following storylines:

After Tim divorced his wife, he and Ellen married. But Tim died of a blood ailment shortly after the wedding. Meanwhile David and his wife Betty Stewart had adopted Dan and also had a natural son named Paul. Betty died and David hired a housekeeper to raise his boys. Ellen learned where Dan was and tried to win custody but the court denied her motion. Several years later, David fell in love with Ellen and they married, but not before Ellen murdered his house-keeper Franny Brennon.

—Lynda Hirsch, Youngstown Vindicator.

The Stewarts became a prominent family in the serial in the 1960s, and members of the Lowell family were written out in their favor. David and Ellen had two daughters together, Carol Ann and Dawn; the roles of their family unit increased during this period. Over the course of the decade, Ellen's son Dan Stewart was rapidly aged. When Bruder joined the serial in 1960, both she and Ellen were in their early twenties. By 1966, Dan was also in his twenties—his portrayer John Colenback was only a year younger than Bruder. Bruder's costume and in-character appearance were altered to complement Ellen's aging. Copious amounts of grey powder were used, and she began dressing in old fashioned outfits and wearing her hair in a French twist. In 1979, Jon Reed of the Star-Banner described Ellen as "matronly", and reported that Bruder wore little make-up, and applied white powder to her hair. For a brief period in 1980, Bruder tried styling Ellen's hair after her own and wearing it loose. She changed it back, however, after receiving dozens of letters from viewers who felt that the style was inappropriate given the "mother image" which Ellen had gained.