GH's Jacklyn Zeman (Bobbie) Looks Back On Her Most Powerful GH Stories

BOBBIE TRIES TO BREAK UP SCOTTY AND LAURA, 1977-79  What is your take on why Bobbie scheming to win Scotty away from Laura was such a huge hit? “That was a brilliant story. Kin [Shriner, Scott] loved that story and Genie [Francis, Laura] really loved that story because it was real! It was as real as what happens in real life. Boy meets girl, boy has feelings for girl, they start to have a romance and another woman comes along and tries to break it up. For Bobbie to come on with the kind of agenda and initiative to say, ‘If I want it, I have to go after it and get it for myself, and he’s the one I want’ was a very alpha way of behaving in those days. It was such a pleasure to play because we honestly didn’t even have to prepare as actors, all we had to do was [channel] the passion and the love and the attraction and the chemistry and all that stuff. It was all character-driven. It was about learning who you are and finding your way and the choices that you had made to get there. That’s why the ratings went crazy through the roof. Fans loved that story. We had great soap careers because we were given the material to let us shine. Wow.” Is there a part of the story that stands out particularly vividly for you? “I remember being at Scotty’s place. Scotty was passed out and Laura was ringing the bell and Bobbie knew it was Laura so she opened up her blouse and messed up her hair and when Laura saw Bobbie there and Scotty passed out she assumed that they’d had sex, which is what Bobbie wanted. Laura got very upset and went off in her car and got in an accident. It was really high stakes. That’s a perfect example of, ‘Choose carefully what you do because there are consequences.’ Bobbie was never an evil person; she was just misguided. That was a turning point where Bobbie said, ‘No, I’m not going to be that person. I need to straighten up.’ ” Of course, a key part of that story was when Bobbie called up her brother for help with her scheme. Enter Luke. “Tony [Geary, ex-Luke] is such a wonderful actor. Bobbie, at that point, was wanting to get her way and wanting to enlist Luke to help her get it. The interesting part of the dynamic to Bobbie and Luke’s relationship was always that we were so opposite in how we dealt with our dysfunctional, nonexistent family, but it seemed to work. And both of our characters lasted for decades.”

BOBBIE MARRIES ABUSIVE D.L. BROCK, 1983-85 Later, Bobbie found herself in an abusive marriage. “I remember Gloria [Monty, then-executive producer] telling me we were going to do a spousal abuse story. I had never seen that [issue explored] on any of the shows. I didn’t realize how personal that storyline was going to be to so much of our audience. People that I worked with on the set started coming up to me and telling me about what was going on in their families or things they had experienced. It’s so prevalent, so much more so than you would ever think. A lot of people would come up to me and say, ‘I never told anybody this but it happened with my boyfriend’ or ‘My dad used to do this to my mom.’ And the fan mail I got, my God, so many letters from that storyline.” What was David Groh like to work with? “Wonderful. David and I became really good friends and spent a lot of time together. We were never dating as lovers, but dating as really, like, best friends. A lot of people thought we were having an affair because we were just so comfortable with each other. But all that, I think, added to the storyline because you could really see between the two characters there was a certain familiarity, and also the scary part of his behavior was really real because he was so good. We wanted it to be real, and it was.” It’s interesting that it was only really after they were married that the abuse began. “Yes, it was all good behavior and the smiles and the charm — and he was charming in real life. Then we did a scene at the penthouse, which was a beautiful set they built for us to work on, and he pushed Bobbie down the stairs. She had to go to the hospital and get a hysterectomy and could never have children after that.” The story ended with Ginny killing David, and Bobbie being falsely accused of his murder. “They had to kill him off. What a shame. You couldn’t redeem a character that had gone so far; they weren’t even going to try. I remember shooting those scenes [of his death] with Robyn [Bernard, ex-Terry] and the character of Ginny. Bobbie and Terry were trying to get away from him. It was very well done and exciting. People loved it.”

BOBBIE MARRIES ABUSIVE D.L. BROCK, 1983-85 Later, Bobbie found herself in an abusive marriage. “I remember Gloria [Monty, then-executive producer] telling me we were going to do a spousal abuse story. I had never seen that [issue explored] on any of the shows. I didn’t realize how personal that storyline was going to be to so much of our audience. People that I worked with on the set started coming up to me and telling me about what was going on in their families or things they had experienced. It’s so prevalent, so much more so than you would ever think. A lot of people would come up to me and say, ‘I never told anybody this but it happened with my boyfriend’ or ‘My dad used to do this to my mom.’ And the fan mail I got, my God, so many letters from that storyline.” What was David Groh like to work with? “Wonderful. David and I became really good friends and spent a lot of time together. We were never dating as lovers, but dating as really, like, best friends. A lot of people thought we were having an affair because we were just so comfortable with each other. But all that, I think, added to the storyline because you could really see between the two characters there was a certain familiarity, and also the scary part of his behavior was really real because he was so good. We wanted it to be real, and it was.” It’s interesting that it was only really after they were married that the abuse began. “Yes, it was all good behavior and the smiles and the charm — and he was charming in real life. Then we did a scene at the penthouse, which was a beautiful set they built for us to work on, and he pushed Bobbie down the stairs. She had to go to the hospital and get a hysterectomy and could never have children after that.” The story ended with Ginny killing David, and Bobbie being falsely accused of his murder. “They had to kill him off. What a shame. You couldn’t redeem a character that had gone so far; they weren’t even going to try. I remember shooting those scenes [of his death] with Robyn [Bernard, ex-Terry] and the character of Ginny. Bobbie and Terry were trying to get away from him. It was very well done and exciting. People loved it.”

B.J.’S DEATH, 1994 Bobbie did become a mother when she adopted B.J. “Tony’s daughter, yes. Barbara Jean. She was named after me.” Do you remember being told that they were going to do this heart transplant story with Maxie and that B.J. was going to die? “No. They probably didn’t tell me because they knew I wouldn’t like it! That was going to be very emotional. [Brighton Hertford, ex- B.J.] was my TV daughter before I had my real-life daughters. Every picture she drew for me ended up on my refrigerator. Her mother, who was wonderful, really shared her with me.” To this day, that storyline is held up as one of the most heartbreaking and best-told soap tales of all time. “I don’t know if this is true, but somebody told me that they were just trying to think of a way to get Jack Wagner [ex-Frisco] back on for sweeps. ‘Oh, let’s do something with Maxie.’ I don’t think they ever realized as they were creating that storyline that it would become what it became to the audience. It was dramatic. It just was so real. From a personal standpoint, playing something on TV and living through that was whoa, just really emotional. And I remember the amount of letters and mail we got from mothers and fathers and family members who had lost a child.” Are you proud of the work you did in this story? “You know, I think with this particular one, everybody really stepped up in their jobs, but I always believe that on our show, it’s all in the writing. All of our people at that time and all of the people we had on the show in those days were really talented. The writers would see that and went for it. I feel so grateful to have been there at that time and been part of all of that.”  

 CARLY TRIES TO DESTROY BOBBIE’S LIFE, 1996-98  Let’s talk about the introduction of Carly. Did you know from the beginning they were giving Bobbie a daughter? “You know what, this is going to be really funny. Bob Guza, who was writing at the time, we went one day to lunch at this Italian place, the only time we went to lunch, and he said, ‘I’m going to do “married to the mob” with you. I’m going to write that storyline.’ And I’m like, ‘Ooh, that’s great.’ I think, I don’t know, but I always [assumed], that when he went to the network and told them, they said, ‘You know what, Jackie’s getting older. Let’s bring in a daughter and we’ll do “married to the mob” with the daughter.’ Bob Guza never called me to say, ‘Change of plans.’ But all of a sudden, Carly’s appearing. I was working every day. I was happy. I’m not an ego person. I never went in to try to change storyline or change lines [of dialogue]. They were doing Bobbie having the nightmares and didn’t really remember giving up the baby, and then, of course, they get Sarah Brown [ex-Carly], who’s such a freaking great actress, to come in. She’s doing the scenes with Brad [Maule, ex- Tony] and it’s on fire! It was all so good. I was like, ‘Whoa. This is great. If you’re gonna bring in a daughter, let’s do it like this!’ Bobbie had been a fan favorite for so long. It was Bobbie’s daughter and everybody was going to pay attention to her right away, and Sarah was awesome. Everybody wanted to work with her.” These days, Bobbie and Carly have such a strong relationship, it’s funny now to think back on how much venom there was between them. “Your daughter’s your daughter! I mean, love is love. Bobbie could understand [Carly’s actions] because, okay, she was adopted, but Bobbie never had a mom and a dad. Or, she did [early in her life] but they were very dysfunctional. Bobbie has a great capacity of love and nurturing, you know, just being the nurse and everything and wanting to take care of everyone. She felt really responsible for Carly’s behavior and her love for her daughter is unconditional.”