With Trent Bushey (ex-David, near r.), Paige Turco (ex- Melanie) and Walt Willey (ex-Jackson) at a comedy club, 1990 “This was at one of Walt’s comedy shows. I have a bolo tie on that I believe I bought on a short trip I took to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Walt was a real mentor to me. Like Steve [Burton, Jason, GH] and Bradford [Anderson, Spinelli, GH] do today, he was out there on stage telling jokes and occasionally he would ask me to come out and open for him. Paige left the show and almost instantly got the role of April O’Neil in TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, but I honestly don’t know what happened to Trent! Probably did a MELROSE PLACE and then got out of the business. Walt was sort of this seasoned elder to me, and what really trips me out is to realize that he’s probably considerably younger in this picture than I am now! In my mind, he will always be this older, sage gentleman.”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
Outside of the AMC studio with Robin Christopher (ex-Skye), 1990 “I’m almost certain that I had been running or working out because they had probably said, ‘You and Robin are going to have a love scene.’ I’d never had a love scene before, so I started working out like an insane person. This was spring or summer in New York, so of course, I’m just dripping all over poor Robin Christopher! I remember doing that love scene; I was so uncomfortable, and I’m sure she was, too, and I remember Henry Kaplan, the director, was like, ‘Can you not breathe so heavy? It’s nauseating!’ In those days, the control room at ALL MY CHILDREN, they had this rule where the camera guys had headsets and the talent was never allowed to go near the headsets, because they reserved the right to say the most horrible things behind our backs!”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
With Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley) at an event, 1991 “What I remember about her more than anything is how freaking fearless she was. From, like, day one, it didn’t matter — they’d put her with [guest star] Dom DeLuise, and there were scenes where she worked with Regis Philbin — and she was not intimidated by anybody. She was just like a teacup chihuahua — complete attitude! She was great. In this picture, I clearly didn’t have a clue what to do with myself. I may have borrowed some of Walt Willey’s hairspray, but didn’t know what to do with it. I’m wearing a tie that I’m pretty sure was given to me by James Kiberd [ex-Trevor] and a giant, oversized jacket, who knows where the hell I got it. I’m not really sure I’m a vision for anybody! But it was very nice of Kelly to stand next to me.”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
With the late James Mitchell (ex-Palmer) at an event, 1991 “I don’t remember the event, but I do remember Jimmy Mitchell. He was just a beautiful human being, the kindest guy ever, and he’d been in the business forever and had a million stories and was so unbelievably supportive of me from day one. He used to write his lines on pieces of paper all over Palmer Cortlandt’s desk and library and once I got to know him well enough, I would occasionally mix them up during a lunch break, just to see those big saucer eyes when the camera started rolling!”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
With Rena Sofer (then-Rocky, LOVING; now Quinn, B&B, near r.) and Elizabeth Savage (ex- Gwyn, LOVING) at a benefit for the Manhattan Class Theater Company, 1991 “Rena Sofer! Her daughter [with Wally Kurth, Justin, DAYS; Ned, GH] Rosabel Roslyn Sofer Kurth actually did a lot of the artwork for my Apple Tree album, which is pretty amazing. I borrowed that jacket from the ALL MY CHILDREN wardrobe department and at the event, they made us put name tags on. Now, there is one thing you must never do, and that is put an adhesive piece of paper on a suede jacket. I destroyed that thing! That had to have been an $800 jacket and I gave it back to the wardrobe department wrecked. The things you learn in your early 20s when you don’t have nice stuff!”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
After recording a radio interview with Michael Brainard (ex-Joey) and Liz Vassey (ex-Emily Ann), 1991 “Michael was a great friend to me; we used to hike all over Vermont and we really enjoyed the city together. He was really big on cheap, hole-in-the-wall theaters and he would drag me to plays. I just had a conversation with him a few weeks ago. Liz Vassey and I actually dated each other out in Los Angeles years later. She ended up being a good and important person in my life. She put me back on track and I’ll always be grateful for that.”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
With Cady McClain (ex-Dixie) outside of the AMC studio, 1992 “Look at that gorgeous picture of Cady. Great color for her. When I came to ALL MY CHILDREN, I was immediately thrown into storyline with her and Michael Knight [ex-Tad; Martin, GH], which was pinch-me type stuff. Michael and Cady really took a liking to me and we used to hang out together, we’d go to dinner and clubs and we just became really fast friends. I’ll always remember those days fondly. Cady is a deep, deep soul and has been there for me in ups and downs. I love this picture because it is so celebratory of a friendship that has lasted a lifetime.”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
With James Kiberd (ex-Trevor) outside of the AMC studio, 1992 “This is another picture where I look like I was probably in puberty. I look like I might be in the 7th grade! I’ve got some really acid-washed jeans and I’m wearing a collared shirt for some reason and I’m not really sure what the hair is doing. James Kiberd’s [arched] eyebrow really says a lot! James had a nice tan going! He and I did the OPRAH show together in Chicago in 1991. He said, ‘Oprah reached out, they want to do a Valentine’s Day special where soap stars play Cupid, and who would you hook so-and-so up with? And then they’ll fly that person in.’ James said to them, ‘I don’t want to do it like that, I have a better idea.’ He came up with this idea where he would fly out to Chicago early, go out with a camera crew, and pick out three people at random, strangers, young ladies, and then we would do these quick dates, these 60-second dates onstage so that everybody could see if we had chemistry or not. Kiberd basically invented a reality show in front of Oprah’s face! That’s so James; he was so clever and always creating.”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
With Matt Borlenghi (ex-Brian) in New York City, 1992 “That’s the two Valentins right there, which is kind of funny [Borlenghi was slated to play Valentin on GH back in 2010, but those plans were scrapped]. I think this was taken on or close to Will’s death. We used to go club-hopping. This may have been taken at Planet Hollywood for all I know! What I most remember about Matt is all the time we spent playing Madden Football on the Nintendo waiting for our scenes! He was really good friends with Matt LeBlanc and he had this sort of tribe of Hollywood dudes that were always hanging out with him, coming in and out of the city. He had a Harley-Davidson and a bandana and one of the weird things he used to do is that he carried a ChapStick around on a cord, like a necklace, and the network hated it. He was like, ‘I like it! It’s cool!’ Finally, some major bigwig had to say, ‘It looks like he’s carrying a vial of cocaine — tell him to take that off!’ ”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
With Ricky Paull Goldin (ex-Jake, AMC et al) at Goldin’s concert at the Omni Park Central Hotel, 1993 “I played some keys in that gig, and I played drums in a song or two. He was on ANOTHER WORLD playing a rock star [Dean Frame] in those days. Will had just been crowbarred [that’s how the character died at Janet’s hands], so I was sort of floating around New York, and he went, ‘Meet me at the hotel, we’re playing a gig!’ He is still my very dear friend and the only one I would allow to push me up against a wall and tickle my ribs.”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman