Remembering Terry Lester (ex Mason Capwell on "Santa Barbara") on the 20th anniversary of his passing

 

Terry Lester in the 80's

Terry Lester suddenly passed away on November 28, 2003, exactly 20 years ago. He was only 53 years old at the time.

Lester debuted on the showbiz in 1974 as an extra on the catastrophic movie Airport 75. But Lester's big break came when he joined CBS daytime soap The Young and the Restless in 1980. He originated the role of Jack Abbott. Lester was so popular that Y&R creator William J. Bell wrote an entire family for him.

In spite of his popularity, few years later Lester felt his role on the show was steadily declining and in 1989 he not only quit but also went to the daytime press and blamed the boss young daughter, Lauralee Bell (who played Christine Blair), for his dwindling role. He felt the excess airtime given to her came at the expense of both himself and other actors.

In the meantime Lane Davies, who originated the role of Mason Capwell on Santa Barbara in 1984, left the show on July 1989, giving the producers the hardest job ever: replacing such a beloved actor in a such acclaimed role.

It didn't take long for Santa Barbara to realize that Terry Lester might the ideal candidate to replace Lane Davies. And just like that Terry Lester switched from the number #1 show in the Nelsen ranking to NBC, taking over the role of Mason Capwell on Santa Barbara, a show at the bottom of the Nelsen ranking. He stated “Santa Barbara is a show I truly admire. I've been watching it ever since 1985, when Robin Mattson (Gina) came on. I'm a big fan of hers.”

Davies and Lester in the 90's

While Davies was brown and beard, Lester was blonde and blue eyed. Nevertheless the Producers hoped to attract Lester’s fans to SB, which didn’t happened. SB Producers tried the same move in 1992, hiring actors like Kim Zimmer, Stephen Nichols, EileenDavidson, but once again the move failed and SB kept losing viewer and got cancelled in 1993.

However, Lester was a great actor, capable of empower Mason’s comic side (just think to the dark-comedic storyline of Mason and Julia hiding Sasha’s body in a fridge and later in the Capwell crypta). The Dobsons were gone by then and you can see the effect following Mason’s evolution -or rather involution-: no more drink issues, less powerful hard confrontation between Mason and CC, Sophia, Eden. We can say that Mason’s demons went on stand-by till the Dobsons came back in 1991. But at the time Mason was played by a different actor (Gordon Thomson).

Only one year since his debut on SB indeed, Lester decided not to renew his contract and in a carefully worded statement, Terry said only this about his decision: "One of my final resolutions in the last decade was to get a chance to work on Santa Barbara. And I'm grateful for having had this year living and working with people I've admired for most of my daytime career. But it's a new decade, and a time for exploring new possibilities and setting new goals. I'd like to thank everyone at Santa Barbara who has helped and supported me along the way."

What really happened? Probably Lester was not satisfied with his last storylines (the Oasis project, the affair with Cassandra, less and less comedic lines…). We never now.

By the way, thanks to Terry Lester's somatic colors, a young Leonardo DiCaprio was casted in 1990 to play young Mason in a flashback, during the controversial Four orphans storyline.

Lester kept his personal life under wraps but a 2003 L.A. Magazine article on former soap star Thom Bierdz outed Lester along with Michael Corbett and Bierdz, who made up a trio of Gay actors who worked on Y&R in the 1980s. Considering Thomson’s coming out in 2017, it means that 2 out of 3 actors who played Mason were gay. Not that this adds something to the discussion, it’s just a gossip info.

While it was initially reported that Lester died of a heart attack in 2003, it was later revealed that Lester died from complications related to AIDS. 

By the way during his SB days, Lester was very appreciated by his co-stars. I asked some of them a statement about Terry. Let’s see what they told me.

A Martinez (ex Cruz Castillo from 1984 to 1992): When I think back on Terry, it reminds me that Mason and Cruz had a lot less to do with one another, regrettably, at that point in the journey.  What I most hold from him is the grace with which he fielded the difficult task he inherited –– the of replacing Lane in the story.  It was a lot to ask of anyone, but Terry embraced it with his whole heart.  (Not to mention his formidable chops...)   He was a great talent and a great gentleman, and a credit to our show and profession.  I count it a blessing to have shared a place in the company with the man.

Joe Marinelli (ex Bunny Tagliatti from 1988 to 1990): We became very friends. He would eat atm y house twice a week. We spent a lot of time together and did a lot.

Peter Love (ex Ric Castillo from 1989 to 1990): I did not get to interact with Terry all that much to be honest. I did get to know him as a person though through the years at the awards shows and he was always a true gentleman. Very very nice man.

Sharonlee McLean (ex Annie DiGirolamo in 1990): Oh my gosh.  I loved him so much.  I do have such lovely stories of him on and off the set.  I also have some pictures that I think he would ok to share with the public.  What a gentleman he was. 

Watch the video below recorded for the Santa Barbara Blog by Sharonlee McLean. It's so much fun!