Jerry verDorn

ON SOAP OPERA DIGEST AND WEEKLY ONLINE

SOAP STAR STATS

Jerry verDorn (Clint, OLTL)

Vital Statistics

The 411

Jerry VerDorn was born in Sioux Falls, SD, but due to his father's job as a salesman, his family relocated often, settling in various parts of North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. VerDorn attended Moorhead State University in Minnesota with intentions of becoming an English teacher. However, fate redirected him to the theater department and eventually to London, where he studied for a year at Studio 68, an acting academy founded by a group of British actors, including Sean Connery.

After graduation, verDorn was cast in a play called Black Elk Speaks. While performing in Washington, D.C., he was spotted by a manager who tried to talk him into moving to New York. The actor married his college sweetheart, Beth, on June 4, 1977, and the two made the move together.

Later in 1977, verDorn was invited to appear at Rutgers University in a production of Eric Bentley's play Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? After 11 weeks, the play moved, first to the off-Broadway Promenade Theater, and then to Broadway. At the same time, verDorn understudied George Grizzard in the lead role of George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman at Circle in the Square and played matinee performances for three months. In 1979, GUIDING LIGHT casting directors discovered the actor and got him to join the show as Ross.

After 26 years as Ross and winning two Outstanding Supporting actor Emmys, GL bumped the actor to recurring status in the summer of 2005. Within a few days of being taken off-contract, verDorn was hired to play Clint on ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

The verDorns live in Northern New Jersey, a short drive from New York City and about a four-hour drive from their two sons, Jake and Peter, who both attend Ithaca College in upstate New York.

Et Cetera

—In 1993, verDorn was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Clean living and regular medical examinations enable him to report that he is healthy today.
—VerDorn is an avid bicyclist, clocking in more than 2,000 miles a year.
—The actor's friendship with Mark Derwin (ex-Ben, OLTL; ex-Mallet, GL) helped open the door for him to audition for the part of Clint.
—He is nicknamed "Jerr The Bear" by Jane Elliot (Tracy, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Carrie, GL].

Memorable Quotes

"The nature of this business makes some actors a little abnormal. But for the most part, I think they're quite normal. They're a little more quickly sensitive to other people's joys and sufferings — they're on the lookout for it. Yet they can also be equally insensitive." — Soap Opera Digest, 1/6/81

"You have to keep this in perspective. Sometimes it can become so all-consuming if you're working a lot. World peace doesn't hang in the balance here. When the red light goes on, you do it as well as you can and then go home." — Digest, 4/4/89

"The power of television is kind of spooky. Every time I looked at Ronald Reagan from an actor standpoint, I was always thinking he was acting the role of president. In a way, he was." — Digest, 3/3/93

"My master plan was to stay about a decade or so and get college paid for for my two boys, then go back to the theater. Then, I got cancer. Then, I got a recurrence of cancer. My sons were young. I hate to use the word trapped, but I didn't wish to gamble if I were to leave and run out of insurance. So I just stayed." — Digest, 6/1/04

"I didn't need a rock to fall on my head to realize that this was an opportunity that few actors in daytime or nighttime get to have. To go from one character and show with a great history to another, that doesn't happen very often, so I just couldn't pass this up." — Digest, 1/17/06

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

www.jerryverdorn.com

Jerry verDorn's Actor's Page>>>

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