Where are they now: JAMES HEALY

- Derek Griffin on SANTA BARBARA (1990) -

James Healy grew up in both Ireland and Australia. He’s probably best known for playing Joan Collins' husband, Sean Rowan, on Dynasty in 1987/88 season. In January 1990 he came to Santa Barbara to play Derek Griffin: he appears first as a rich philanthropist businessman, before revealing his true face. Orphan since his birth, Derek turns out to share with the district attorney Ethan Asher, Craig Hunt and Stephen Slade the will to discover the identity of the murderer of Cassandra Benedict. That storyline called “The four orphans” was in my opinion one of the most boring stories of all time: I have never felt a real threat for the Capwells. By the way, Healy said about his characters:
“He really is a good person. There have been a lot of instances in his past that people have been bad to him. We are trying to make him likable, but his motives are pretty powerful - which give an edge to him. It will be like opening up a hornet's nest. One advantage of doing a show like this is that if you do get a good character, people like Sheri Anderson (the co-headwriter) will support you. Mr. John Conboy (the executive producer) has some great ideas. What confuses me is that Santa Barbara wins awards, but they don't have a large audience yet.” Healy represented Santa Barbara on Oprah Winfrey Show and was voted one of daytimes most popular actors. Then he left the show in July 1990. He rejoined Acapulco HEAT series in the re-occurring role of Strake. Currently he resides in Melbourne, Australia, where he returned in 1996 in order to care for his ailing father (now deceased). He continues to act write and produce films through his company Tri-Archer Film Productions. Ops, I almost forgot that, in true soap opera fashion, in February 1993 he was arrested with his sister and a friend in connection with the attempted murder of his sister's estranged husband. He allegedly forced his way into a Rosemead home with his sister and the friend and used a piece of glass to slash the throat of Jacob Benjamin Rivera. He was sentenced to several hours of community service. In the end he almost killed someone. Not Mason Capwell.