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Characters / Walter Shakespeare

Walter Shakespeare is the faithful assistant of Edwin Blackgaard, the flamboyant actor who owns the Harlequin Dinner Theater in Odyssey. A fellow thespian, Shakespeare serves his demanding employer with patient obedience. While Edwin dreams up grand schemes to draw attention to the theater, Shakespeare quietly does the real work that keeps the place running. Edwin depends on him far more than he cares to admit. Left alone, the great actor can barely find a phone book, work a stopwatch, or make a cup of tea. Shakespeare's steady, uncomplaining service makes him indispensable, and the pairing of the two men - one all bluster, the other all diligence - is at the heart of daily life at the Harlequin.

Appearances

17 episodes Art Text No.

0636 A Class Reenactment A pompous theater impresario is hired to dramatize Odyssey's founding for radio, but his flair for spectacle keeps colliding with the town's true story.

0631 A Capsule Comes to Town When a national radio program asks whether Odyssey is stuck in the past, the search for a century-old time capsule puts the town's memory - and its heart - to the test.

0572 Odyssey Sings! When a cynical TV talent show comes to Odyssey hunting for stars and spectacle, Connie and Tamika learn that the judges' verdicts aren't the ones that matter.

0515 B-TV: Behind the Scenes A behind-the-scenes look at a live TV broadcast about unity that threatens to fall apart because the crew can't stop fighting long enough to save their own struggling station.

0506 For Trying Out Loud When repeated tryouts leave Liz Horton convinced she has no talent, an eccentric mailman's disastrous stage debut helps them both discover that real gifts aren't always found where you're looking.

0501 Inside the Studio On the fifteenth anniversary of the adventures in Odyssey, the cast and crew step out from behind the microphones to reveal the friendships, discoveries, and happy accidents that bring the town's beloved voices to life.

0500 500 Odyssey marks its five hundredth episode with a look behind the microphones at the people, voices, and happy accidents that built the town.

0470 Break a Leg When an accident sidelines the quiet assistant who keeps the Harlequin Theatre running, the pompous Edwin Blackgaard must pull off a children's bicycle race on his own.

1 of 2 0435 A Look Back As the millennium draws to a close, a nostalgic tour of Whit's End revisits the beloved characters and moments that made Odyssey feel like home.

0359 The Merchant of Odyssey Fresh out of community service, Bart Rathbone schemes to reclaim the Electric Palace from Edwin Blackgaard - and finds an unexpected weapon in the tax man.

0342 Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard A disgraced actor is forced by his brother's will to return to the town he abandoned, convinced its people will never forgive the Blackgaard name.

0329 The Return As a recall election shakes Odyssey and strangers insist they've seen Edwin Blackgaard in places he's never been, the town faces the unsettling possibility that its darkest chapter isn't as closed as everyone believed.

0263 When Bad Isn't So Good When a well-behaved kid decides the only way to get noticed is to be bad, his scheme collides with a bitter theater owner whose insult-fueled radio fame is setting the whole town on edge.

0248 Terror from the Skies When a live radio drama about an alien invasion airs in Odyssey, two boys who missed the disclaimer become convinced the invasion is real.

0246 My Fair Bernard When rival Bart Rathbone starts stealing his janitorial customers with slick radio ads, Bernard Walton turns to theatrical impresario Edwin Blackgaard - who has his own hidden reasons for putting the window washer's life story on stage.

0218 A Class Act A financially desperate theater owner agrees to teach an acting class for the people of Odyssey, but an anonymous benefactor's money forces him to choose between flattery and honesty.

0203 Double Trouble A famous actor's arrival in Odyssey sends the town into a panic when he turns out to be the spitting image of its most notorious villain.