He becomes supervisor and mentor to Llanview Hospital resident physicians Larry Wolek (Paul Tulley, Michael Storm after 1969) and Price Trainor (Peter DeAnda).

[10][12][8] Actor Nat Polen played the role for 12 years,[3][9][13][14] working and taping episodes for the show until days before his death from undisclosed pancreatic cancer May 3, 1981, aged 66.

The plot gained a following and a controversial reception,[7][8] and prompted an ABC affiliate in Texas to temporarily drop One Life to Live from its ABC Daytime lineup due to uproar at "white" Carla engaging in a romantic relationship with Dr. Trainor, a story that revealed Carla to actually be black and her actual interracial romance being with Dr.

[15] The long-running pairing of Dr. Craig (Nolen) with Anna Wolek (Belack) was popularly received as familial patriarch and matriarch figures in early episodes of the series.

[12] The raising of Jim's daughter and Anna's stepdaughter Cathy Craig and their insistence that she seek treatment for drug addiction at the real-life Odyssey House in New York City brought the show critical acclaim.