GH Stars Look Back On Their Classic Digest Covers

Jacklyn Zeman (Bobbie) 3/3/81, with Doug Sheehan (ex-Joe) “Doug Sheehan — oh, my God! I remember having so much fun with him and then, all of a sudden, he wasn’t on the show. I was like, ‘What happened?!’ I still don’t know why he left, if it was his decision or a network decision. In those days, they didn’t talk about that. But I really miss him because he was such a doll. The character was perfect for Bobbie and he always knew his lines, always showed up on time. In those days, everybody was out partying at night and not everybody came in to work so prepared; some people were more of a joy to work with than others and he was a joy. I am wearing my personal shirt; that is not Bobbie wardrobe, it is my plaid shirt. I love that shirt! I wore it all the time.”

Ian Buchanan (ex-Duke) and Finola Hughes (Anna) 11/3/87 Hughes: “We would read SOD, obviously, and I remember we used to do a lot of photographing sessions. The one for the wedding, I thought, was really cool. There was such a lovely spread [inside the issue].” Buchanan: “And not only that spread, but the actual spread of craft services that they put out when we got there! That made you feel important! We were like, ‘Oh, my God, this is a catered event!’ ” Hughes: “I couldn’t take advantage of that, because I had to fit into a wedding dress. We did a shot of me looking up Ian’s skirt, and then, when I saw the spread, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of pages.’ And I laughed when I saw the picture of me looking up his skirt because that was just an outtake. It was such a cool shot.”

John J. York (Mac) 11/23/93, with Kristina Wagner (Felicia) “Wow, back to the ‘what would become my future’! Well, I believe that was my first Soap Opera Digest cover, which made it very, very exciting for me! Kind of like making it in the big leagues! Kristina made [the shoot] very easy for me as she was a pro at this stuff already. What seeing it now evokes in me is just how much I’ve aged over the past 30 years — and how Kristina hasn’t aged one bit! It says 1993, which means we were at the beginning stages of the Mac and Felicia relationship — or as I call it the Felicia and Mac relationship. Kristina had created such a beloved character that was so affectionately embraced by the audience and [had attained] supercouple status with her relationship with Frisco, and I was somewhat nervous about how our relationship would be received, but the fans of the show cut me some slack and we were on our way to many years of a cornucopia of incredible stories! Looking at that cover makes me realize just how lucky and blessed and thankful I am to have been paired with such a talented actress, beautiful woman and wonderful person!”

Wally Kurth (Ned) 7/19/94, with Rena Sofer (ex-Lois, now B&B’s Quinn, near r.) and Mary Beth Evans (ex-Katherine, now DAYS’s Kayla) “This was a really fun photo shoot, as you can tell by my ‘enthusiastic’ pose. My acting teacher at the time joked that I was doing my best Danny Kaye impression. And he was right, because I was going for something a little … hammy and fun. I decided not to do the typical ‘soap pose’ — whatever that is. Not sure I succeeded, but I was proud of my effort [laughs].”

Michael E. Knight (Martin; ex-Tad, ALL MY CHILDREN) 1/16/96, with AMC co-stars Cady McClain (ex-Dixie, far l.) and Marcy Walker (ex-Liza) “On ALL MY CHILDREN, I got to work with such wonderful people. I was so intimidated, and somebody who actually told me how to break down scripts and work on them so you’re not scared to go to work the next day was Marcy. I was lucky to learn from her. Cady couldn’t have been more than 19 when she came on and unfortunately, I was not as gracious as Marcy was [laughs]! I was a bit of a grumble monkey back in the day. But I look at that cover and it puts a smile on my face. I’m just grateful that I got to be a part of things [when soaps were in their heyday]. I remember the day Marcy left, I thought, ‘That’s sort of the passing of an era.’ ”