Jeremy Slate (ex-Chuck, OLTL, 1979-87; ex-Locke, GL, 1985)
Soap Opera Digest: Hello, Jeremy! How have you been?
Jeremy Slate: Great! I must tell you: When anyone asks me which I like better — film or theater — I always tell them daytime drama.Digest: You won’t hear any arguments from me. What do you like about it?
Slate: I like the use of time. In movies and film and TV, you just sit around waiting until you go on. On soap operas, you never stop working. It’s the greatest experience in the world for an actor. I wouldn’t mind coming back at all. At ONE LIFE, my part was retired and I could come back, but it’s been quite a few years. I came on with the Buchanan family, so that was quite awhile ago.Digest: Asa could use some friends.
Slate: I know. I still have people stop me on the street and say, “You’ve got to go back on the show and straighten Asa out.”Digest: It’s true. Asa needs an advisor.
Slate: Yes, he always had enemies. People used to say to me, “What’s Asa like?” and I’d say, “What you see is what you get. Phil Carey is Asa. He’s quite a character.”Digest: Did you have a favorite storyline?
Slate: Yes, with Chuck and Olympia. Bo and Clint’s mother was on the show for about a year, and my character was carrying on a subterfuge storyline. He pretended he was Bo’s real father and the audience started to catch on to it. They started writing in, “Is Chuck really Bo’s father?” That was fun. The audience is smart. They know everything.Digest: Do you keep in touch with anyone from ONE LIFE?
Slate: I keep in touch with Bob Woods (Bo) and Michael Storm (Larry). Is he still on?Digest: Larry shows up every once in a while when they’re doing a hospital-related storyline. It seems like Bob keeps in touch with
everyone. Whenever we interview a former ONE LIFEer, it seems they still speak with him.
Slate: That’s Bob. He’s a great guy. We were good buddies on the show. We did a lot of scenes together and we had a lot of fun. Digest: Who did you play on GL?
Slate: On GUIDING LIGHT, I was on for six weeks and then I was killed at the end of it. It was the greatest part I ever played as an actor. The
part was written for Ringo Starr, who decided at the last minute not to do it. When they called me and asked me to do it, I said, “I’ve never sung professionally before.” They said, “That’s okay, we’ll get by that.” I said, “If you’re willing to gamble on that, I’m willing to take the part.” It was the greatest part I ever had because I played the part of an ex-rock star who was an old love of Countess Alexandra. The people there were wonderful to me. It was great working with Beverlee McKinsey. We had a wonderful time together. I did sing on the show.Digest: Beatles songs?
Slate [laughs]: No. They were Gordon Lightfoot songs. It was a great part. I died in the arms of Alexandra wearing a rhinestone tuxedo,
python boots and a diamond earring. It was the most stupendous, beautiful death in the world. 
Digest: What have you been doing lately?
Slate: I retired to California, where my children are. I directed and taught acting up there. Then, I wrote two books. I wrote about my World
War II adventures and then I wrote a second book about soap operas, about my eight years on ONE LIFE. I’m in the process of getting it published and I’m really excited about that because it’s a wonderful story. The more I read it, the more I realize it’ll be a great story for people who like soap operas and for people who like ONE LIFE TO LIVE. It’s somewhat of a memoir; several of the characters I write about are still on the show. They appear in my story. But it’s really a textbook on soap-opera acting. I go describe what it’s like, how many cameras they use, how the sound works … It’s sort of an actor’s journal. That’s on the verge of being published. The other book isn’t out yet.Digest: I understand that your personal life is going well.
Slate: Yes, I’ve been with Joan Benedict Steiger (ex-Edith, GH). We’re together now. I’m living with her and we’re having a great time together. We’ve known each other for 40 years. We go way back.Digest: It sounds like you’re doing well.
Slate: I am. I keep busy. I’m still tuned in to soaps, so to speak. I’m still a cowboy at heart.
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