Idol Chatter
David Ackroyd (ex-Gary, DALLAS; ex-Dave, ANOTHER WORLD; ex-Kevin, THE SECRET STORM): Fans may not remember, but Ted Shackelford (ex-Gary, KL; ex-Charles, SAVANNAH; ex-Ray, AW) was not the first actor to play the role of Ewing black sheep and Val’s true love. “We didn’t have a Gary at that time [of KL’s launch] because David Ackroyd, who had done it [on DALLAS], was doing LITTLE WOMEN, a miniseries at Universal. An actor has to take a deep breath and really contemplate…. Maybe he could have done both, but he felt the one-girlfriend syndrome, where he felt he could only do justice to one [project at a time].”Alec Baldwin (ex-Joshua, KL; ex-Billy, THE DOCTORS): “Alec was in my INTIMATE PORTRAIT [for Lifetime], and I did his BIOGRAPHY on A&E. The producer [of that] said to me, ‘I want you to know something. I [asked Baldwin to] tell me who he wanted to have us talk to for interviews. He wrote a list, and the first name was Joan Van Ark.’ Julie Harris, James Woods, Ed Begley, Jr., Anthony Hopkins, that was his list! I enjoy that billing and that company.”Ed Begley, Jr.: “We played brother and sister on another CBS show, TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL. Ed has set savvy, and set savvy is worth gold to a director, crew and cast because it keeps it loose.”Corbin Bernsen (ex-John, GH; ex-Todd, Y&R): “I want Corbin Bernsen to be Michael’s father [on Y&R]. If I could make a priest throw away the robes…. I’m working on that. I mentioned it to [Supervising Producer] Ed Scott, and he went white [laughs].”Richard Chamberlain: “I did Cyrano downtown at the Ahmanson [Theatre in L.A.] with Richard Chamberlain. I was Roxanne and during the day — I guess I have done the two-boyfriend thing [laughs] — I was recording a cartoon version [of CYRANO] at Hanna-Barbera with Jose Ferrer. Richard was much more elegant and a little lighter in the role.”Frances Conroy (Ruth, SIX FEET UNDER): “Frances Conroy followed me in Three Tall Women off-Broadway when I left. A magnificent, brilliant actress. I fall at her feet.”David Dukes (ex-Joseph, DAWSON’S CREEK): “I saw him in Waiting for Godot at the Matrix Theatre [in Los Angeles, shortly before Dukes’s death in 2000]. I did The School for Wives, my Tony-nominated play on Broadway, with David Dukes. We go back. We did two plays on Broadway together: Pirandello’s Rules of the Game, in which we played husband and wife, and The School for Wives [sighs]. I adored him. He was a Gemini soul mate for me.”Susan Flannery (Stephanie, B&B: ex-Laura, DAYS): “She is an amazing woman. Susan had set savvy [during their stint on DAYS in 1970] the same way Ed had set savvy.”Maj Hagman (a.k.a. Mrs. Larry Hagman, ex-J.R., DALLAS): “[Before it aired, DALLAS] was an unknown commodity. What Maj did for Larry was what my husband [John Marshall] did for me [in choosing the role of Valene]. She kept saying, ‘This looks fascinating. You have to do this,’ and Larry was like, ‘Eh.’ She pushed him into it.”
Julie Harris (ex-Lilimae, KL): “My mentor. The light of my life. Actress to the core. I say that with love and respect.” LorimarKareem Abdul-Jabbar: “I was and still am a [Los Angeles] Lakers freak. During the ’80s, he was the star and was spiritual to me. I went to a party because my publicist at Rogers & Cowan was the same as Kareem’s, and I met him. I have that picture in my office.”David Jacobs (Creator/Executive Producer, DALLAS, KL): “The success of KNOTS? There are a lot of reasons. David always said, ‘KNOTS is about us, and DALLAS is about them,’ and that’s a very good way to say it. The other thing is that there was never an ego in that group who ever threw the whole thing off. It was a team collaboration, and that’s very important.”Michele Lee (ex-Karen, KL): “I love Michele. Someday, the two of us, Michele and Joan, are going to get together on the stage. I hope!”Thad Luckinbill (J.T., Y&R): “Damn! Gloria, get back. Where is this guy? Mommy will take care of [him]. That’s who I should be paired up with. I have all sorts of ideas, but I don’t know if daytime’s ready for them [laughs].”Ray Milland: Early on, Van Ark played the female lead in the 1972 low-budget horror flick Frogs, which has now become a cult classic. “Just two days ago, my brother said, ‘I guess you’ve arrived. [Frogs] is on DVD!’ There are two [projects] I did because of my father. He loved Bob Hope and Ray Milland. Of course, Ray Milland got an Oscar for The Lost Weekend [in 1946], and my father thought he was the best, so when they asked me to do that film, in a heartbeat, I was there. The other was Bob Hope, and I did two or three of his TV specials because it meant so much to my father.”
Michelle Phillips (ex-Abby, BEVERLY HILLS, 90210; ex-Anne, KL): “Michelle Phillips was once asked in an interview, ‘Would you be upset if [her daughter] Chynna was smoking pot?’ and she said, ‘Only if it’s mine.’ There’s a mom I love [laughs]. Right on. And now the generation who were the children of those moms are writing [TV] moms. I’ll play those moms.”Ted Shackelford: “We did a WONDER WOMAN [episode] together [in 1978], and I said, ‘Don’t you dare cast him [as KL’s Gary]. We’re too alike. We’re both nuts. It’ll never work [laughs]. But may I say too how wrong I was because Ted is the other half of my heart — my actor’s heart. Ted is like my brother, my husband, my best friend, my everything. I love Ted more than I can say.”Doug Sheehan (ex-Ben, KL; ex-Joe, GH): Van Ark reports that she lost contact with Sheehan, who played husband Ben on KL from 1983-87. They haven’t talked “since he left. No, never. Alec all the time, but never Doug.”
Nicolette Sheridan (ex-Paige, KL): During her KL days, Van Ark would occasionally purchase some of Sheridan’s wardrobe. “We were the only size 2s. Valene wore nothing but men’s shirts and jeans. She never had elegant clothes. Nicolette had a Dolce & Gabbana jacket that she wore once, which is $1,500-$2,500. Truly, she had threads to die for, and I’m wearing a blue shirt and jeans with a twin in each arm. They were going to take [the jackets] to a second-hand shop, so why not? I’ve got two or three of them, and I wear them with pride.”Tim Stack: “I did a SON OF THE BEACH [episode], and talk about people stopping me [on the street] and talking [about that show]. I went for my run and came home, and the phone [was ringing] off the wall. They all said, ‘Did you hear [Beach EP and disc jockey] Howard Stern today? He went on a rave because he’d seen the dailies. I played BJ’s mother, Ima Cummings [laughs]. We went to Frederick’s of Hollywood and I got my entire wardrobe, five changes, for something like $75 because it was all push-up bras and spiked, platform heels [laughs]. [EP and star] Tim Stack gave me this bottle of Dom Perignon on the last day and said, ‘For such a classy lady to do our tacky little show.’ I said, ‘Are you kidding?’ As tough as it was, and it was a tough shoot, I loved it!”
Conversation
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