50 Greatest Soap Couples: #50 Mark & Laura From LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING

COUPLE: Mark Elliott & Laura Donnelly
SHOW: LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING
RANK: 50
PLAYED BY:
Mark: Sam Wade, David Birney, Michael Hawkins, Vince Cannon and Tom Fuccello
Laura: Donna Mills, Barbara Stanger and Veleka Gray
YEARS: 1967-1973

STORY:
Mark (most memorably played by Birney) was in a love triangle with free-spirited Iris Donnelly (Leslie Charleson, Bibi Besh) and her fragile younger sister, Laura (originally and best played by Mills), whose hidden love for Mark prevented her from taking her final vows to become a nun.

CLASSIC CLIP: LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING 1969

In this 1969 episode of LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING, a blind and dying Iris Garrison (Leslie Charleson) attempts to convince her husband Spence and brother-in-law Mark Elliott (David Birney) that Mark and his wife Laura (Donna Mills) should adopt Iris' baby. Mark and Laura's neighbor Kim Hale (Beatrice Ballance) is convinced that the couple will reconcile, but Laura and Iris' brother Tom (Albert Stratton) has his doubts about the situation.