Leann Hunley (Anna, DAYS) looks back on her non-daytime gigs
Longworth’s Secretary/Lucy Sutherland, HAWAII FIVE-O, 1977 and 1978: “That was my very first television role. I took a quarter off college, moved to Hawaii, and never came back. I stayed for a year. While I was there I participated in the Miss Hawaii USA pageant. The scouts for HAWAII FIVE-O happened to be there. They called me in a week or so later and asked me to read for something. I had never read for anything, I’d never acted before. I just kind of blindly did it, and they hired me. My first scene was with Jean Simmons, a very well-known and beautiful actress from England. I was supposed to greet her in the scene and I looked right into the camera because I didn’t know any better. They said, ‘Cut! You have to look at the actor.’ I was very naive and very fresh, but it was my jump-start. Then I did another episode of the show and played a completely different character several months later. I worked with Jack Lord. I knew the show, so I was a little starstruck, obviously. I went out to dinner with Jimmy MacCarthur [Dano]. He asked me out on a date and I went out with him a few times.”
Jennifer, HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN, 1984: “They actually invited me to join the cast after I did a couple of episodes. There was discussion about how I was going to join the show. Unfortunately, the writers went on strike, and they could not write me in. I was playing Michael Landon’s dead wife. She originally had been played by Dorothy McGuire [ex-Cora, Y&R]. I was the reincarnation of that character. I really loved working on that show. It was a blessed set. Michael Landon was a terrific leader. Everybody loved working with him and for him. Nobody would quit. Nobody would retire. Everybody stayed as long as they could because it was such a wonderful working environment.”
Shannon, Dana, Lydia, MURDER SHE WROTE, 1988, 1990 and 1994: “I worked with Angela [Lansbury] two out of the three times I was there. I’ve always described her as the one I admire in this business. Every week she had to make eight new people feel comfortable on set and work with eight new actors, because there were so many guest stars. She made us all feel part of the whole show and also comfortable in the working environment. She liked to rehearse. I really admired her.”
Lisa, WHO’S THE BOSS?, 1989: “I worked with Tony Danza on that. I played a ski instructor, and I was not a good skier. I will say this: that was acting, because I had to look like I knew what to do and tell other people how to ski. It was shot on white carpet with fake snow on it. It looked real, but it was a studio stage. That was a lot of fun, and I loved Tony. Tony is great. Because my scene was set on a ski hill with just Tony, I didn’t really work with ‘the family’ as such, but that being said, it was a lovely set. Ultimately I did another series with Tony, HUDSON STREET.”
Gaby, DESIGNING WOMEN, 1990: “One of the first series that I did long-term was called THE MISADVENTURES OF SHERIFF LOBO. Delta [Burke] had been on that as a guest star, so it was fun to reconnect with her. I was very impressed with the way they ran that set. Linda Bloodworth-Thomason was writing it, it seemed, virtually as it was being filmed. We would get new pages and boom! It was interwoven so well.”
Bobbi Jo, THE NANNY, 1994: “Fran [Drescher] is very funny in person — dry, droll and all of that. What you see on screen, she’s a lot like that. I got to play off her sense of humor. We were competing beauty queens, and there was a talent show. They gave me a tuba to play. Well, I don’t play the tuba, so I was really acting. Patti LaBelle was there, too. I got to meet her. It was fun to be on set with Charlie Shaughnessy [ex-Shane, DAYS, et al] and Daniel Davis, too, because Daniel had been on DYNASTY [as Harry, while Hunley played Dana].”
Joan, THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR, 1995: “I played a soap opera diva who wanted her co-star fired and liked the looks of Will Smith, so I had him hired to play opposite me and hijinks ensued. I was wearing this giant blonde curly wig. At the end of the episode, Will rips it off my head, so all you see is this skull cap. I think I punched him out. It was a fun little episode. The way they used to do three-camera shows and sitcoms was with a live audience. They’d usually have somebody come out and warm them up. Will did that himself. He went out and warmed up that audience with his rap music, and it was just rocking. Then they’d say, ‘Action,’ and off we went. It made for a very vibrant show.”
Lauren Well, PENSACOLA: WINGS OF GOLD, 1999: “I was kind of brought in to flirt with James Brolin. I played the mother of a young fighter pilot girl. James directed it. It was fun to work with him. He was handsome and fun. It was extraordinary to film on the military base down at Miramar in San Diego. We filmed literally on the flight line where the planes come in and land and take off. They had to re-dub our voices, because the sound guy couldn’t hear anything we said, because the planes were landing and taking off.”
Binnie, JUST SHOOT ME!, 2003: “Wendie Malick was terrific. I’ve always loved her in whatever she’s doing. Her comic timing is spot-on. I’m a big fan of hers. It was a great part, because [Binnie] had been talked about incessantly by [Malick’s character] Nina. I played her longtime best friend, Binnie, who was deceased and had crossed over to the other side, so she was talking to Nina in her dreams. That was fun because it was kind of an iconic character that you’d never seen before.
