COUPLE: Joshua Lewis & Reva ShayneSHOW: GUIDING LIGHT
RANK: 8
PLAYED BY:
Josh: Robert Newman
Reva: Kim Zimmer
YEARS: 1983-1984; 1986-1990; 1995-2009
STORY:
When Alan Spaulding wanted to cause trouble between Vanessa Chamberlain and Billy Lewis he tracked down Reva, Billy's ex-wife, and offered her money to come to Springfield to split them up. Reva happily accepted the offer and came to town claiming her divorce from Billy wasn't valid. Though she had married Billy years ago, his younger brother, Josh, was her true love. Reva began having second thoughts and called off her deal with Alan. It wasn't long before Reva and Josh rekindled their relationship, but he found out she had been working for Alan and dumped her. Josh and Billy's father, H.B., stepped in and married Reva. When Josh found out, he was disgusted and recklessly crashed his car resulting in him becoming paralyzed. Reva and H.B. took Josh in as he tried to recover. One night at a country club party, Josh and Reva let their feelings boil over in a confrontation which ended with Reva declaring herself "The Slut of Springfield."
Reva and Josh eventually gave into their passion and made love but Reva turned up pregnant with H.B.'s baby and Josh left town. When he came back they reunited and Reva became pregnant with Marah. Over the next few years they would be torn apart by Sonni/Solita, Will Jeffries, Miss Sally and a host of others, but finally married in 1989. A year later Reva, who had just had their second child, Shayne, began suffering from postpartum depression and drove herself off a bridge in Florida to her "death." Reva would turn up alive five years later in Amish country at a time when Josh had fallen for Annie Dutton (Cynthia Watros). Over the next several years Reva would "die" again, return from the dead again, get cloned, time travel, find a long lost son and divorce Josh a couple of times, among many other dramatic occurrences. When GUIDING LIGHT ended in 2009, Reva had been married to Jeffrey O'Neill who was presumed dead. In the final episode, the show jump forward a year where Josh and Reva met at the lighthouse and drove away, presumably to their happily ever after.
IMPACT:
Aside from being fan favorites, Reva and Josh produced some of the most memorable scenes in soap history including "The Slut of Springfield" episodes. They also were involved in some of the wackiest storylines. But through the many changes in writers and producers, Zimmer and Newman always shined.
Zimmer was nominated for eleven Emmy awards for her work as Reva winning four times. Amazingly, Newman was only nominated twice. Among their many Soap Opera Digest Award nominations was one for Outstanding Super Couple: Daytime in 1990.
"Reva: The Scarlet Years" was released on VHS in 1995 with Zimmer and Newman sharing memories and featuring old clips of Reva's story leading to her driving off the bridge in 1990.
From Patrick Erwin (A THOUSAND OTHER WORLDS): In the early years for this couple, it was hard to ignore the incredibly steamy, sensual energy that came from force-of-nature Reva and her “Bud.” They were like two bolts of lightning crossing paths with sometimes devastating results. (Ask Sonni, Annie, Olivia….)
CLASSIC CLIPS:
- Reva declares herself "The Slut of Springfield" (1984)
- Reva and Josh marry at Cross Creek (1989)
- Robert Newman classic clips
- Kim Zimmer classic clips
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