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Photo credit: JPI
PET PROJECT
Marla Adams (Dina, Y&R) misses her dog, Piper, who she lost a few months ago. “He was a champion Norfolk terrier and I had him since he was 8 months old,” says the actress. “There were these little doggies at the kennel and one ran across the lawn to me and pissed on my sneakers, so I said, ‘That’s the one I want.’ It was a love affair ever since.” Adams was pleased when an opportunity to mention her furry pal came up recently in the script. “It was just two little scenes with Dina, who’s out of her mind now, and she talks about her dog that she thinks is upstairs on her bed,” Adams explains. “It’s a dog Dina had many years ago and initially, his name was Chief. When I read that, I said, ‘Wait a minute! I will quit the show right now if I can’t call this dog Piper!’ They were so nice and let me do it. The lines were actually that Dina had gotten the dog on her birthday and the episode aired on August 28, without anyone knowing that my birthday is August 28. In the scenes, I ad-libbed a little and Peter [Bergman, Jack] was such a love and changed a couple of his lines to make them more about Piper. I was so happy.”
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Photo credit: JPI
ALL THE LADIES
Though Deidre Hall (Marlena) has been his co-pilot for the majority of his time on DAYS, Drake Hogestyn (John) worked with some memorable co-stars when Hall was off the show from 1987-91. “I’ve been very fortunate from day one with Deidre,” he notes. “And then when Deidre left to go do OUR HOUSE, how lucky did I get to be working with Amy Yasbeck [ex-Olivia]? And then we had Genie Francis [ex-Diana]. I remember with Eileen Davidson [ex-Kristen/Susan et al; Ashley, Y&R], we were testing girls left and right, day after day, and no one was working. [Then-Co-Executive Producer] Tom Langan called me at home after the last group — he tested like four different nights with 10 in a group — and said, ‘We can’t find anybody, but we did call Eileen Davidson and asked if she wanted to come over,’ because she had just left Y&R. ‘She’s coming in tomorrow.’ And I thought, ‘How lucky am I?’ And then there was Staci [Greason, ex-Isabella]. So, I’ve been very, very blessed and I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve learned something from each and every one and they’ve helped me grow.”
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Photo credit: JPI
HUNGER GAMES
While Obrecht was holding Peter hostage, she took great delight in tormenting him by devouring a sandwich in front of him — and her portrayer, Kathleen Gati, found it hard to swallow. “Honestly, because of my Eastern European background, I grew up knowing that food is very important. There was a lot of hunger and starvation and struggle and poverty where I grew up and it was like, ‘Food, you don’t mess with.’ If someone is hungry, you feed them! That is very intrinsic to who I am. Obrecht was tying him up, going at him with a bat — but not giving him food? That, to me, was the hardest thing and the cruelest thing of all. It really touched a nerve in me. Eating that bite in front of him, I was like, ‘I am so sorry!’ But this is what was great: I took a bite on camera, and then, at the end, when they said, ‘Cut!’, Wes [Ramsey, Peter] got the sandwich! When he took it, I thought, ‘Oh, thank God! Wes gets the sandwich even if Peter doesn’t!’ ” In the scene, Obrecht donned a bib from The Floating Rib, which, Gati reports, “was credit to the props department. The script said, ‘Obrecht takes out a napkin and eats the food.’ I went, ‘My grandmother used to tuck a huge napkin into my grandfather’s shirt. Wouldn’t that be funny?’ I wanted to make it entertaining for the audience because what Obrecht was doing was so disgusting. I asked, ‘Do you have a bib or something?’ And God bless the props department because they went and found the bib from The Floating Rib! I just loved that. I thought it added a bit of humor that was needed.”
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Photo credit: JPI
NOW AND THEN
B&B’s Jennifer Gareis is happy that Donna has been on the scene for recent family events such as Hope’s (Annika Noelle) nups. “I love that Brad [Bell, executive producer/head writer] continues to write such sweet scenes for the Logan women, so I hope they keep bringing me back!” she enthuses. “I love the weddings — hopefully, no funerals [laughs].” Donna might be able to find a match on the canvas, as well, Gareis notes. “Thorne has a past with Donna and as much as I’d like to work with Ingo [Rademacher, Thorne], it might be tough because he’s seeing Katie [Heather Tom] now,” she observes. “Although, the fans know that Katie is the one who tattled on Donna on her wedding day [in 2007] and that’s why Thorne left her at the altar, so that could still be a ‘thorn’ in her side. Pun intended. Either way, whenever Brad needs me, I’ll be here!”
PET PROJECT
Marla Adams (Dina, Y&R) misses her dog, Piper, who she lost a few months ago. “He was a champion Norfolk terrier and I had him since he was 8 months old,” says the actress. “There were these little doggies at the kennel and one ran across the lawn to me and pissed on my sneakers, so I said, ‘That’s the one I want.’ It was a love affair ever since.” Adams was pleased when an opportunity to mention her furry pal came up recently in the script. “It was just two little scenes with Dina, who’s out of her mind now, and she talks about her dog that she thinks is upstairs on her bed,” Adams explains. “It’s a dog Dina had many years ago and initially, his name was Chief. When I read that, I said, ‘Wait a minute! I will quit the show right now if I can’t call this dog Piper!’ They were so nice and let me do it. The lines were actually that Dina had gotten the dog on her birthday and the episode aired on August 28, without anyone knowing that my birthday is August 28. In the scenes, I ad-libbed a little and Peter [Bergman, Jack] was such a love and changed a couple of his lines to make them more about Piper. I was so happy.”
ALL THE LADIES
Though Deidre Hall (Marlena) has been his co-pilot for the majority of his time on DAYS, Drake Hogestyn (John) worked with some memorable co-stars when Hall was off the show from 1987-91. “I’ve been very fortunate from day one with Deidre,” he notes. “And then when Deidre left to go do OUR HOUSE, how lucky did I get to be working with Amy Yasbeck [ex-Olivia]? And then we had Genie Francis [ex-Diana]. I remember with Eileen Davidson [ex-Kristen/Susan et al; Ashley, Y&R], we were testing girls left and right, day after day, and no one was working. [Then-Co-Executive Producer] Tom Langan called me at home after the last group — he tested like four different nights with 10 in a group — and said, ‘We can’t find anybody, but we did call Eileen Davidson and asked if she wanted to come over,’ because she had just left Y&R. ‘She’s coming in tomorrow.’ And I thought, ‘How lucky am I?’ And then there was Staci [Greason, ex-Isabella]. So, I’ve been very, very blessed and I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve learned something from each and every one and they’ve helped me grow.”
HUNGER GAMES
While Obrecht was holding Peter hostage, she took great delight in tormenting him by devouring a sandwich in front of him — and her portrayer, Kathleen Gati, found it hard to swallow. “Honestly, because of my Eastern European background, I grew up knowing that food is very important. There was a lot of hunger and starvation and struggle and poverty where I grew up and it was like, ‘Food, you don’t mess with.’ If someone is hungry, you feed them! That is very intrinsic to who I am. Obrecht was tying him up, going at him with a bat — but not giving him food? That, to me, was the hardest thing and the cruelest thing of all. It really touched a nerve in me. Eating that bite in front of him, I was like, ‘I am so sorry!’ But this is what was great: I took a bite on camera, and then, at the end, when they said, ‘Cut!’, Wes [Ramsey, Peter] got the sandwich! When he took it, I thought, ‘Oh, thank God! Wes gets the sandwich even if Peter doesn’t!’ ” In the scene, Obrecht donned a bib from The Floating Rib, which, Gati reports, “was credit to the props department. The script said, ‘Obrecht takes out a napkin and eats the food.’ I went, ‘My grandmother used to tuck a huge napkin into my grandfather’s shirt. Wouldn’t that be funny?’ I wanted to make it entertaining for the audience because what Obrecht was doing was so disgusting. I asked, ‘Do you have a bib or something?’ And God bless the props department because they went and found the bib from The Floating Rib! I just loved that. I thought it added a bit of humor that was needed.”
NOW AND THEN
B&B’s Jennifer Gareis is happy that Donna has been on the scene for recent family events such as Hope’s (Annika Noelle) nups. “I love that Brad [Bell, executive producer/head writer] continues to write such sweet scenes for the Logan women, so I hope they keep bringing me back!” she enthuses. “I love the weddings — hopefully, no funerals [laughs].” Donna might be able to find a match on the canvas, as well, Gareis notes. “Thorne has a past with Donna and as much as I’d like to work with Ingo [Rademacher, Thorne], it might be tough because he’s seeing Katie [Heather Tom] now,” she observes. “Although, the fans know that Katie is the one who tattled on Donna on her wedding day [in 2007] and that’s why Thorne left her at the altar, so that could still be a ‘thorn’ in her side. Pun intended. Either way, whenever Brad needs me, I’ll be here!”