Josh Hall is a
fictional character on the American soap opera ''
One Life to Live
''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...
'', originated by actor
Laurence Fishburne from 1973 until 1976.
Todd Davis assumed the role in 1977.
Josh reappeared in fictional
Llanview, Pennsylvania in 1985 as a doctor, played by
Guy Davis from 1985 until 1986.
Background and reception
''One Life to Live'' creator
Agnes Nixon created Joshua West, adopted as Joshua "Josh" Hall, as the first television or film role for eleven-year-old
child actor Laurence Fishburne (credited as "Larry Fishburne") in 1973, first appearing in April.
Fishburne was cast for his premiere television role with Nixon by
casting director Joan D'Incecco.
Fishburne's 1973–74 portrayal of troubled teenaged youth Joshua West adopted by newly-married couple
Ed Hall (
Al Freeman Jr.) and
Carla Gray (
Ellen Holly) earned him the "Best Juvenile Actor" honor at the 1974 "Afternoon TV Writers and Editors Awards."
The family unit of Freeman's Ed, Holly's Carla and Fishburne's Josh was heralded as "daytime television's first
African American family."
While a castmember of ''One Life to Live'', Fishburne starred in the 1975 film, ''
Cornbread, Earl and Me''. He left the series in 1976 at 14-year-old
to accept a role in the
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...
film, ''
Apocalypse Now''.
Fishburne lied to Coppola about his age to win the ''Apocalypse Now'' role of 17-year-old
Vietnam War Navy PBR crewmember Tyrone "Mr. Clean" Miller.
Todd Davis took over the role from Fishburne briefly in 1977. The character became a friend of Samantha Vernon.
Guy Davis played the character, who had become a medical doctor, from 1985 until its last appearance in 1986.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Josh
One Life to Live characters
Television characters introduced in 1973
Fictional medical specialists
Fictional African-American people
Fictional physicians
Male characters in television
Adoptee characters in television