MARIANN AALDA

   THEN...

as

"DiDi Bannister"

 

   NOW...

as

"Ginger Peechee-Keane"

WITH A LOT IN BETWEEN!

Click above for IMDB Page

Click below for Classic TV Reel

                                                                                                                      

Click on title card below for a nostalgic blast from the past! 

      

        Thirty-plus years before SCANDAL's "Olivia Pope" or HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER's "Annalise Keating" -- or anybody was even thinking about BEING MARY JANE -- there was "DiDi Bannister," on the ABC soap opera EDGE OF NIGHT -- a smart and spirited young attorney who would become a prototype for Network Television's smart and spirited professional African-American women characters who were to follow. I was told by more than one young woman that DiDi was their inspiration to attend law school...I'd like to think that one of them was a young Michelle Robinson Obama! Click on the photo below for a link to the full article.  There was a certain amount of pressure in trying to live up to the expectations of the folks for whom this character meant so much.  How did I handle it?  You can find out in my motivational memoir, Because You Are a Little Colored Girl.

 

 

EDGE OF NIGHT (ABC) 

        Thanks to EDGE OF NIGHT loyalists, the soap is experiencing a resurgence on the internet, with fans posting their treasured videotapes on YouTube and Facebook.  Thanks to these fans, I am now able to chronicle the love story of "Calvin & Didi," who  -- along with "Angie & Jessie" of ALL MY CHILDREN and "Ed & Carla" of ONE LIFE TO LIVE -- were one of the first Black super-couples on Daytime TV.  The following video tribute to their love story was put together by EON super fan Timmy Faraday.

     

EON Fans are THE BEST!!! A Big shoutout to Norman Fisher, another superfine who edited more than an hour's worth of clips for a two-part compilation of  "THE BEST OF DIDI BANNISTER" -- Click on the photos below of DiDi with her law partner Cliff and her lover Calvin to watch!

     

After Calvin came THIS GUY...whom I played opposite for three seasons on HBO's first hit series, FIRST & 10, as his beat down, broke down, cheated-on wife.  I often wondered how much art imitated life in this show...which I write about in my book! Click on the photo of OJ to see "DiDi" as Ellen Parker on FIRST & 10. Thanks go out, again to, EON, superfan Timmy Farraday for pulling these clips together. 

 

FIRST & 10 (HBO) 

Click below...

             

 

     

 And then there was...

SUNSET BEACH (NBC)

  

 With it's wacky "Martin's Syndrome" storyline, which SOAP OPERA WEEKLY named "Best BAD Storyline of 1998!" For over a year I endured 4 hours of torture of application & removal of prosthetics to create the ghastly appearance above for each of my recurring appearances.  Then, when the show was cancelled, I was "miraculously" cured in the final episode!!!!  Many thanks to he fan who posted this scene and tagged me on FB...and the fan who posted it on YouTube.  I play Lena Hart -- mother to Sherri Saum  and soon-to-be mother-in-law to Jason George.  Wow!   Time flies :-)

 

Continue your walk down memory lane with "CALVIN & DIDI" at the end of this SOAP OPERA DIGEST article.with some of the fans' favorite scenes. There's tons more clips uploaded by fans on YouTube if you want to see more!