My Exclusive Interview with SUSAN MARIE SNYDER

She is most notably recognized for her role as Julie Kinney Wendall Snyder on CBS' soap As the World Turns. She portrayed the role from 1989 to 1995 and returned shortly twice in 1998 and 2002. Prior to joining the show, Susan had a starring role on another soap, NBC's Santa Barbara. She was the second actress to portray Laken Lockridge, from 1987 to 1988. Snyder has starred in two feature films, in 1986 she had a brief appearance in Ruthless People, which starred Danny DeVito and Bette Midler and she played the role of Mare in 1988 sequel Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers alongside Pamela Springsteen. She has retired from acting and legally changed her name to Suzenne Marie Seradwyn.

You came to SB in 1987. How did it happen to you?? Can you tell us about your audition? What they told you about the character of Laken?

Originally, I auditioned for the role of Laken (#1) in New York City, when SB was a brand new show.  I can remember working very hard on the audition; coached by a talented, actor friend of mine who, apparently, gave me some real bad direction because the casting director did not like my interpretation of the character. About two years later, I had moved out to LA and the part came up again only this time, they wanted a much different version of the Laken (#2) character.  There were about five ladies present for the call back.  I knew I had given the best audition I could give. Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled to have gotten my first long-term, contract as a player on the soaps.

Julie Ronnie 

Laken back to SB after two year absence with a new face (yours), but especially with a new character: Julie Ronnie's Laken was just a teenager who could not rebel against her domineering mother, Augusta, she was too submissive and without malice . Your Laken was much more confident.  I remember a scene in which she swims completely naked in the pool of Ted Capwell to seduce him..  In summary, Laken changes and becomes a true bitch (with all due respect). Do you liked going into the shoes of a character like that?

I don’t think I ever saw Julie Ronnie’s portrayal of Laken, though, of course, I knew about the character’s history and radical personality shift.  I just played the character how she was written and I was directed. I justified everything she did in the name of love.  She believed Ted was her true love and nothing or no one was going to keep her away from him. I liked playing someone who was so different than me.  It was a challenge to make her real and sympathetic. 

Laken’s relationship with her father Lionel (Nicolas Coster) undergoes some tensions when he decides to marry Caroline (Lenore Kasdorf). Can you make a human and professional portrait of Nicolas Coster and Lenore Kasdorf?

Nicolas was always a charming character. At times, so sophisticated and other times like a big kid. I guess he was a lot like Lionel. One of his big loves wassailing and diving.  I was fortunate to have been a guest on his boat a couple times when it was at the marina near the Channel Islands in California. As for Laken’s relationship with him…I recall a scene I did once where Laken opened up to Ted about how her dad had been gone on his adventures for so much of her childhood that she never really knew when or if he was ever coming back…?  I can’t say that I had much of an opportunity to work with or get to know Lenore too well.  She did come to a party at my house with her sweet daughter who must’ve been 10 years old at that time.

Few years ago Chip Mayer (TJ) has died prematurely because of an illness. What do you remember about him? Can you tell us some anecdotes?

I was sorry to hear about Chip.  He was a very gregarious and talented guy. I enjoyed working with him.  I knew he struggled with addiction.  It’s a terrible challenge and strain on everyone coping with it and not uncommon amongst creative-types, as we all know. The strange thing is that he is the third of my male, co-stars who have died prematurely.  Michael David Morrison, (Caleb Snyder) and Michael Louden (Duke Kramer) from “As the World Turns” both died in their 30’s and now Chip.

Laken's return seemed to be a first attempt to bring the Lockridge family back to the show. But then after just eight months, they decided to delete your character and the project was aborted. Why? What happened?

I wish I had an answer for you but I don’t.  No one ever told me why she was written out.

You've acted mostly with Todd McKee (Ted) and Stacey Edwards (Hailey). Did youk now that Julia Roberts auditioned for the role of Hailey? Do you want to share with us your memories about the relationship with these actors?

SB Cast in 1987

I didn’t know that Julia Roberts had auditioned for Hailey! That doesn’t surprise me much.  She and I were signed with the same management agency, R.M.G., in the 80’s.  We were friends and auditioned for a lot of the same things. Todd was a very nice guy. Tall and pretty goofy when he wanted to be.  Easy and fun to work with although he almost drowned me during a scene at the winery when he pushed me under in a vat of grapes a little too long. Stacey was a very kind, sincere and talented young woman.  She was great to work and hang out with.  She used to come up to my place in the Hollywood Hills for our various “girl’s nights.”

Bridget and Jerome Dobson are the creators of “Santa Barbara”. Which are your memories of them? Shortly after your farewell, they were fired by NBC because they wanted to fire the then Head Writer. Do You remember having experienced internal tensions? 

I can’t say that I ever remember meeting Bridget and Jerome.  I remember hearing and reading about the internal conflicts and politics with the producers but everything was so “HUSH HUSH” and mainly rumors that I didn’t know what to believe.

Although you did not shoot many scenes with her, you were on “Santa Barbara” along with Robin Wright (Kelly Capwell). Which are your memories of her?

I didn’t have much contact with Robin. I remember she had a three-legged dog that she used to bring to work with her.  She went off to make “The Princess Bride” when we were on SB. I was so jealous because I had a huge crush on Carey Elwes at the time!

Can you describe a typical day on the set of Santa Barbara ?

I would enter through the gate of NBC Studios in Burbank in the morning or afternoon depending on my schedule. I’d be running my lines in my head as I went to get my hair done, running my lines as I went to get my make-up done.  Sometimes, I would work with the talent coach they would bring in occasionally. We would rehearse our scenes just a couple times on set, break for notes and the snack cart, (all the while running my lines) get a touch-up on my make-up and hair, (run my lines) and tape the scene. Get notes or not  (run my lines) tape the scene again (or not) and move on to the next one. 

What is your funniest memory related to SB?

I recall one day I was walking down Hollywood Blvd. and I overheard some young women talking and gesturing towards me. They were arguing and the one girl was emphatically insisting to her friend, “That is NOT Laken.  Laken is FAT!”  Well, the camera does add 10 lbs on you.

The worst memory?

I guess my worst memory was finding out I’d been written out of the show and no one would talk to me about it.

Is there any SB’s scene that for any reason has embarrassed you and you did not want to play?

I had to get over any shyness and inhibitions I had in order to play this role. On my very first day on the set, they had me naked, in a towel and soaking wet in a rainstorm.

Can you tell us now something more spicy: a few secrets about SB? 

I can’t say that I paid much attention to gossip on the set.  Nothing comes to mind.  Everyone was very focused.  We worked very hard to get the amount of work done in the short time we had to do it.

Snyder on ATWT

In 1989 you joined the ATWT cast as Julie. Laken and Julie: Who do you prefer? Which were the differences between SB and ATWT?

I would have to say that I preferred playing Julie. Laken had great potential but was just never given the opportunity to develop her character and storylines.  The producers wanted her “light and fluffy; “ a trust fund, party girl-type without a whole lot of substance.  I  did find ways to allow her insecurity show through when I was given the chance. Julie was the exact opposite. Deeply complex and an emotional train wreck. Raised by her alcoholic, single-mother, she grew up in poverty on the streets of Seattle, WA where she learned to use her looks and body to get what she wanted. Soap Opera Digest voted her “The Worst Mother in Daytime Televsion.”  She gave birth to three children but didn’t have custody of any of them. She was ambitious and manipulative but she was also sweet and vulnerable.

What are your professional plans for the future?

I enjoy creating my own music and dance videos  and hosting the occasional BlogTalkRadio show called, PureMotherLoveLive.

Jane Sibbett (Jane) & Snyder in 2014

This interview is designed primarily for the Italian public. In our country, “Santa Barbara” was very much loved and followed. What do you know about our country? Do You want to say something to the Italian public who loved you and our Laken Lockridge?

I’m very pleased and surprised to hear that our show was so popular with an Italian audience! I had no idea.  Thank you for watching! I spent only 24 hours in Rome on my return from a vacation through Greece and Egypt.  It was way too short of a visit to get a real feel for the country.  I went to the Coliseum, Fontana di Trevi, ate some delicious pasta and that was about it.  I have longed to return to visit Venice, Florence and the Amalfi Coast.  One day soon…

My Exclusive Interview with BRIDGET DOBSON - Part Six

BRIDGET & JERRY DOBSON IN 2014

We’re coming to the sixth and final part of my interview with Bridget Dobson. If you have missed the previous parts, you can read them by clicking here. In this part she is going to tell about Eden & Cruz, the greatest supercouple of SANTA BARBARA. Then she'll discuss Mary's tragic death, an unpublished idea about an AIDS storyline, some behind the scenes details on shooting two SB episodes in Moscow and a funny and passionate tribute in occasion of the SANTA BARBARA's 30th anniversary (July 30, 1984 - July 30, 2014). Enjoy!

Recently some of the most respected and knowledgeable people in the soap industry (including Connie Passalacqua Hayman - Marlena De Lacroix - and Nelson Aspen) drew up the 50 Greatest Soap Couples’ ranking of all time. In seventh place we have Eden and Cruz (played by Marcy Walker and A Martinez). They get ahead of some very popular couples like Josh & Reva from GL, Bo & Hope, Patch & Keyla from DAYS. This is surprising considering that Eden and Cruz are off the air from over twenty years. How could you explain the strength of these two characters as a couple and as a single characters? Which kind of cliché have they broken up?

I like complicated characters.  (I am complicated myself)  In the early days of soap opera, characters were often too "pure" for my taste: evil or good.  It made me gag.  Nobody on earth is all one or the other.  A character's words and behavior depend on the circumstances, the tides of emotions that causes the reaction,  If it is written subtly, and well acted, the audience will understand, without it being spelled out,  if a heroine (Eden) is jealous or bitter, or a hero (Cruz) is defensive or ashamed. These are still very solid, attractive characters, forgiven and loved by the audience because the audience recognizes the truth and universality of the emotions they are experiencing.

    I loved writing "bad" characters, because I could make the character do something kind and generous, let him puff himself up for his goodness, and yet trust the audience to know he's still "a bad guy." The opposite is true for characters like Cruz and Eden.  In real life, non fiction, have you ever known an "evil" person who didn't think he was good?  Or a good person who thought he had no bad qualities?  How do you feel about yourself?  If you are "pure" life would be very predictable and very drab.

    Marcy and A are consummate actors who got into their characters and made them their own.  Sensitive writers pick up an actor's personal qualities (a stutter? a flirtatiousness?, a sense of comedy? a macho bravado?) and incorporate them into the character. All in all, the creative interaction between the team - actor, writer, director - makes the character better than it was on paper.  I have been stunned by how much better a scene or a show turns out when everybody contributes to the creative process.  Eden and Cruz are pieces of my husband and myself.  They are as attached to ourselves as we are.  And they ( we)  are improved (given more depth and nuance) by the creative process.

Mary Duvall, the former nun in love with Mason, was one of the most popular characters of daytime. She was the first, true love of the tormented Mason Capwell. Many believe that killing her was a big mistake, do you agree? But all can still remember the sadistic, shocking, unexpected, extravagant way she was killed off: crushed by the big C on the Capwell Hotel’s roof. According to Sigmund Freud, there are no accidents in life, so I’d like to ask you what the C really stood for.

In this case, Freud was right.  The writers, those unmitigated monsters, tried hard to make Mary's death the most painful it could possibly be.  They imagined every kind of death - knifings, shootings, beheadings, accidents of every kind - and they were excoriated by those who overheard (without permission to listen in)  in elevators and restaurants as they contrived to make Mason writhe (good drama!) in agony.  Death must be potent.  The inevitability of death is the most dreaded part of love. When they hit upon the Big C, it was symbolically perfect.  Capwell.  CC Capwell.  Mason’s father.  CC was the person Mason loved and hated and envied most in the world.  The tenderness and competitiveness of the father/son relationship was eating Mason alive.  Mason's father, CC, was responsible (he created the sign, he was the big C of Capwell)  for Mary’s death.  The C that haunted Mason and loved him and tormented him and elevated him....that C caused Mary's death in the twisted minds of the writers, who laughed all the way to the bank. This is fiction, baby.  If you feel it, it must be working. (One has to be tough to enjoy the mayhem one causes.)

Recently I was reading a note (dated September 1985) addressed  by you to Brian Frons in which you proposed a  brief AIDS storyline, involving a supporting character: Sister Isabel, Mary’s Mother Superior. But that storyline never aired. It’s curious, cause in those days a real Aids story occurred to the SB cast: in fact Joel Crothers had to left the show, dying few weeks later, due to the Aids related complications. The year before, Rock Hudson (who starred on Dynasty) died, causing a contagion’s big fear among  the cast. Do you remember how it happened on SB and how you and the cast reacted (mostly Nancy Lee Grahn who was Crothers’ love interest on SB)?

One day, as we were planning to launch SB, Brian called and said he and the President of NBC-TV wanted SB to have a story involving AIDS.  Jerry and I resisted.  It certainly was a topic in the headlines.  But it was scary and depressing.  We felt the viewers would not watch a show that depressed them.  At that time not enough was known about the disease and generally it was considered a death sentence.    Maybe 10 telephone calls went back and forth. It was another major argument.  Then Brian pulled out the big blunderbuss, which he seemed to wield with great pleasure, and said that the network would refuse to put SB on the air unless we told an AIDS story. Period. A red line drawn in the sand. So Jerry and I concocted the least painful aids story we could think of: a 98-year old nun, with an impaired immune system, about ready to expire, contracted AIDS.  We hated this story.  So did NBC, it turns out. We got on air anyway. Red lines, it seems, aren't what they used to be.

Joel was a wonderful person.  I was very concerned when he came into my office and said he had a lump in his abdomen that wouldn't go away.  I urged him to get medical help immediately. That was the last time I saw him.  As I wrote earlier, we didn't have enough knowledge of the disease so, probably, most members of the cast were both sorry about Joel and afraid for themselves.  Nothing more happened to anyone else, as far as I know.

In 1991 you and your husband finally back to the show that you have created. Shortly after your return, something new and never seen before happens on the show: it featured interviews taped in Moscow with Soviet citizens who resisted the failed August coup. An unexpected documentary turn. The storyline calls for Warren Lockridge (played by Jack Wagner) to journey to the Soviet Union to be at the forefront of that country’s emerging democracy. Can you tell us how this experience came to you?

Day after day, year after year, we were writing a show that was, sometimes, fun and emotionally relevant, but we were ignoring the fact that the world was changing.  I drove to and from the studio, each way one hour, listening to the radio, being stunned by news reports of the Iron Curtain coming down, the Berlin Wall being breached, etc.  Gradually it got to me.  I was on fire one morning when I burst into the studio saying, "We have to get relevant to the world situation. Astonishing things are happening, and we don't even mention them."  I was rabid.  We were too stuck in the old "soap" pattern. (Honestly, I think SB was better than that. SB was innovative and different, but it served my point to put it simplistically .) I said we needed to go to Moscow and talk to the people, mostly young, who manned the barricades and risked their lives to defend democracy against the Russian Army tanks.  I think there was close to a hundred percent agreement (Jerry being the exception) that I was crazy. But I went to the President of NBC, he listened, and, finally, agreed to give us $50,000 to go to Moscow.  If the cost of the trip exceeded that amount, he said,  it would come out of the Dobsons' pockets. So, excited about the prospect of doing something radically different, we decided to go to Russia.  We had to stretch to integrate this concept with the drama that was continuing on the show.  (I fear, in retrospect, that may have created a few bumps, a bit of a hiccup in the drama.)  It also involved a vast coordination with Russia TV, but they were more than eager to help, since the show was a huge hit in Russia.  Russia TV found the people in the Resistance who spoke the best English.  Jerry stayed in Los Angeles to take care of the on-going show, and I went to Moscow with a producer and a cameraman.  All we could afford.  (I remember walking through Red Square, past the Kremlin and toward Saint Basil's  cathedral.  There was a full moon.  I was with the camera man.  I said, "Gosh this is so romantic.  I wish you were Jerry."  He said, "Yes, I wish you were someone else, too."  Sorry.  I just deviated from my story!)  

The next day I interviewed each of the English-speaking resisters.  They were fascinating, moving, terribly brave.  They were fighting for something they believed in, against all they had been taught as young communists.  I was on fire, again, by the end of the day, so it was easy to stay up all night and write the script for Jack Wagner, who was coming to Moscow the following day.  We planned to film that very day.  We were on such a budget, everything was hurried.  Then I got a call from Jerry.  Jack Wagner had just arrived in Paris.  He called Jerry wondering why he was there.  He had missed his plane to Moscow and had clearly been partying at 50,000 feet.  Jerry sent him to a hotel in Paris, to sleep it off.  He arranged for Jack to come to Moscow one day late.  Which ruined our budget and the whole carefully planned schedule, but what else could be done?  I jumped to plan B.  In plan B, I would play Jack Wagner's part, asking questions of the Resisters, but the camera would never be on me.  The Resisters would be filmed.  Then, when Jack arrived, the camera would be on him (no Resisters would be present) asking the questions I had scripted, and it would later be edited in studio so it "looked right."  We knew it was possible that it would rain on Jack while the Resisters would be in the dry sunlight.  The power of show biz is great, but not great enough to influence weather patterns.  One last lump: the state-of-the-art camera that we brought from America didn't work , so we had to rely on a camera, vintage 1965 or so, provided by Russia TV.  It worked beautifully. 

I am proud of this "crazy" on-location sequence.  It was a little wild.  It was a tribute to the Resisters.  And, if I remember correctly, it won the show several awards.  Also,  "Entertainment Tonight" did a piece on it. (Another unimportant deviation: our little troupe visited the "Lenin graveyard", in which all the statues of Lenin that had been torn down were lying around in disarray .  A Russian Army soldier sat in a truck nearby watching everything we did.  At one point I looked at him, and he motioned to me to come to his truck.  I hesitated, wondered if it was safe, decided I'd never know unless I went over to him.   I got in his truck.  He nodded.  I nodded.  He couldn't say anything in English, nor could I in Russian.  We grunted and smiled and nodded again.  Then I left, but not before he gave me his Army hat, brown and red, with a Russian newspaper folded carefully to stiffen the brim.  I see that hat every day now, as I eat breakfast, perched on top of an antique marble  lion, which I think came from Italy.)

After having definitely left the show in 1992, what happened to the Dobsons in the last 20 years?

After 1992, Jerry and I had to examine our lives, talk about where we were and what we still wanted.  Without regrets about the past, we looked for something totally different in the future: normalcy.  We wanted time for reading, painting, going to movies, making friends.  Even tiny things like going to a grocery store -it was such a joyful experience.  All the fresh fruit!  I hadn't seen it in years.  Los Angeles is not my idea of a "normal" city.  It is fun to visit, lovely vistas - sea and mountains,, the weather is great.  But the entertainment industry has twisted minds and hearts.  Making money and being beautiful are the ultimate successes.  Kindness is seen as a weakness.  Charity works if you do it for publicity. Scholarship is for nerds. Morality is old-fashioned and stupid.  Hypocrisy, greed, deceit are so prevalent that nobody thinks twice about them.. Of course these are generalizations and don't apply to every single person.  Just most of them.

So we needed to find someplace else to live.  We shopped for cities as a bride shops for a wedding gown.  After looking and looking, we found the best: Atlanta.  It fits us.  We have truly wonderful friends, and they are still teaching us how to live.  These are friends we trust and love.  Often we travel with them - to Europe, to spas, on cruises.  We have the privilege of interacting with friends almost every day.  Truth and scholarship and honesty and kindness are honored.  Morality, too.  My hobby of painting became a serious avocation here.  And how very supportive Atlantans have been of my art, which is mildly bizarre.  (At a gallery show in South Carolina someone came up to me and said my paintings look like "Santa Barbara", the tv show.  I agree, in a way I can't describe. I guess the same emotions creep out in writing and in painting.)  Jerry is in the process of writing a book.  He and I both play bridge, and we enjoy tournaments all over this country. We work out, physically, every day, so we both are "fit".  I have never been happier, and that's true for Jerry, I think. ( I have observed him becoming more openly and easily funny.) Atlantans embrace creativity, and nourish it.  I now understand why lots of great writers (my personal favorite, Tennessee Williams, but there are many others) have lived in the South, where the moss hangs low and the air is humid, where women know how to be women without cashing in on it, and men have a graciousness bred into them.  We've been here almost 20 years? Incredible.  It's gone in a whoosh.

Our interview is over, Ms. Dobson. We started in February 2012 and we are ending today, after more than two years. I'm sure that my questions were not among the best that someone asked you, but no doubt I was the only one to have the honor to ask you questions for so long. Could you share with us one last memory as a special tribute to the show and its 30th anniversary?

In 1983, before SB was on the air, Jerry and I were incredibly busy.  Starting from scratch - literally starting with a blank piece of paper - and creating an hour-long per day television drama (it was cut in half for some European distribution), was the most thrilling and frustrating and enormous task we had ever tackled.  We weren't just creating the show that aired, which you know, but we were doing behind the scenes stuff that needs to be done: the "business" end; negotiating details of contracts, specifying which sets to create first, keeping an eye on the payroll, hiring directors and producers, writing casting scenes for every part, deciding on the logo and billboards, etc.  In addition, and this was the most difficult, we had to have an on-going working relationship with a number of executives at NBC, executives whose own jobs were on the line if this project didn't fly. (For the rest of this tale, I will refer to the NBC executives as the "SUITS")   Large egos were (and are) endemic in Hollywood SUITS.  Every one had all the answers.  They were all drama experts, or so they seemed to think. Privately, Jerry and I were pleased - even ecstatic - when they got off our backs for an hour or two.

     One afternoon we were at our home in Los Angeles creating away, bubbling over with ideas and excitement.  Things were going well. And then the gate bell rang.  We were not expecting anyone.  We looked at each other.  Should we answer the bell or pretend we're not home?  We answered it.  Big mistake.  The SUITS had arrived unexpectedly.  Damn.  The SUITS again.  How dare they just barge in without warning?  Things were going great and...We opened the front door and two of the most powerful and egomaniacal SUITS entered.  We four stood awkwardly near the front door, under the entry chandelier.  What did they want, we asked, finding smiles somehow. They said they wanted to talk storylines again.  Ugh.  How could we get out of this?  We were desperate not to do what they wanted to do.

      Then suddenly I remembered: my bathtub upstairs was filling with water.  "Gentlemen, I'm so sorry.  I have to go upstairs and turn off the bath water."

      Jerry was on to me: "Darling, I can do that. Stay here.  Let me do that."

      I said, " No, I'll do it.  I was planning to take a bath and wasn't expecting company.  I'll be back shortly."

      Jerry: "I'll do it, sweetheart. No problem."  I could hear the determination in his voice.

      B: "It's MY bathwater."

      J: "Yes, but I'll turn it off."

      B: "No you won't."

       J: "Yes I will."

      B: "No."

   I turned and ran up the stairs as fast as I could.  Jerry followed.  I went up to the first landing, turned left.  Jerry followed.  The SUITS were watching in horror (They were thinking, "These are the people we entrusted with the show?") and astonishment.

   I ran, fast as I could, into the bedroom and around the big bed to the right and right again toward my bathroom.  Jerry cheated: he jumped onto the bed, ran across it, and entered the bathroom before I did.

      B: "No..ooooo"

    Jerry jumped into the nearly full tub with his shoes and socks and pants on, took a couple of steps in the hot water, and turned the faucets off.

      B:"Are you crazy?  Are you out of your mind?" I was hissing and yelling at one time.

      J: "I told you I'd turn it off, and I did."

       B: "We have guests downstairs."

     J: "I know."  And then he laughed.

      We trudged out of the bedroom.  The SUITS were still there, their jaws having dropped slightly. I could see them through the glitter of the chandelier.  Jerry followed me, dripping wet, down the stairs.  He was squishing and splurging on the oriental carpet.  His pants were sopping up to the knees.  I was mortified, but I think Jerry was just a little triumphant. This was, for him, or so he pretended, just business as usual.

      It was a rare moment:  the SUITS were speechless.  One of them swallowed hard and managed to ask one question:  "Any chance you could create a character like Jerry?"  And so it was....Lionel Lockridge was born.

There is a postscript to this story.  We work out every day at a gym, and yesterday one of the men there, a SB fan, said to me (without having heard the story), "I was trying to think of who Jerry reminded me of...and I finally figured it out.  He reminds me of Lionel Lockridge."  How perceptive.

- THE END -

MIRANDA WILSON's Special Tribute to SB's 30th Anniversary

Miranda Wilson (Sandra Mills on SB) agreed to celebrate the SANTA BARBARA 30th Anniversary with a special greeting dedicated to all of us. I really wish to thank her because she could have not consider my request, but she was very nice and helpful. 

Great woman and great actress!

Thank you, Ms. Wilson. 

Let's Celebrate SANTA BARBARA's Anniversary!!

Enjoy the clip!

My Exclusive Interview with PAIGE MOSELEY

After graduating from North Carolina School of The Arts with a BFA in Theatre, Moseley relocated to New York City, where he appeared in numerous Off Broadway theatrical productions. In 1985, Page moved to Los Angeles after landing the role of Dylan Hartley on daytime's Santa Barbara. Two years later, Page started his own entertainment company, Pager Inc., that helped promote small theater productions in and around Winston-Salem and Charlotte, North Carolina. At the same time, he also made numerous guest appearances on various television series in the 1980s and 1990s, like Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. He gave up acting in 1995.

Dylan came to Santa Barbara on the board of a burning aircraft, falling into the ocean,  swimming to the beach, where Julia Wainwright (Nancy Lee Grahn) looks at him emerging from the waves. So you came to the show with a bang! Can you tell us something about your audition?

I had to audition 5 times for the role! They put me on tape 1 time and I was told that was it...they then called to days later and said they wanted me to test again. My agent said forget it, but I said I would go in one more time...I got the role.

Your character was created by Bridget and Jerome Dobson  (SB creators). Which are your memories of them?

I really don't remember the Dobsons that well…

Dylan Hartley is the antithesis of his brother Nick: an adventurer, gold prospector, cunning, ruthless, a devious but impossible to dislike character. Were you comfortable with the plot and the character?

As the character started to turn darker I wish they had still given him some opportunities to still be fun. But alas, he became so dark and evil...he had to go. It would have been fun to bring in another female character to try to have a triangle.

Kathy Shower (Janice)

At the beginning it seemed that writers were planning a romantic relationship between Dylan and Julia. But Dylan’s first interest on the show was Janice Harrison, played by Kathy Shower - Playmate of the year. Which are your memories about Grahn and Shower?

Kathy Shower was a blast and very beautiful. I don't know why they never had Julia and I get together. That would have been fun. She was a very playful person.

Kelly was the woman who literally drove Dylan mad. Can you share with us your memories of Robin Wright? Do you have any anecdotes?

Robin never wanted to rehearse. It drove me crazy. We had a tough time getting along at times...Robin was a spoiled little BRAT!!! I think that led to me getting knock off the show. No regrets. She has certainly done well.

David Haskell (Nick) and Moseley

I do not know if you know it: David Haskell (Nick) died in 2000 due to an illness. What kind of person was he? Do you have any anecdotes about him?

David Haskell was a very nice person and fun to work with. I used to see him around town and at a Christmas tree lot at his church. We talked several times before his passing.

Finally Dylan became obsessed by Kelly and when he threatened her with a gun, she defenestrate him in self defense. I was very shocked and Kelly too. Dylan left the show after just seven months: it was your choice or not?

Not my choice to leave the show. I think the relationship between the two actors had gotten to the point of no return. If they had liked me enough they would have set me up with a different storyline. I was a little wild back then.

Have you attached to someone of SB cast and crew? Who?

I used to party with some of the crew after shooting for the day. I think this was frowned upon:) Really, I remember everyone kinda splitting after work and doing there own thing.

What do you do today? This interview is designed primarily for the Italian public. In our country “Santa Barbara” was very much loved and followed. Have you ever been in Italy? What do you know about our country? Do You want to say something to the Italian public who loved Dylan?

Today, I am in the Mortgage industry. I work for a bank called Surety Financial. My last acting work was on Melrose Place in 1995. I stopped to start a family and my mortgage business. It is a dream to come to Italy. When I come I want to visit the smaller towns and villages to really get to know the people and culture, drink some wine, eat and make some great food and live in the moment. Thanks and Ciao!!!

My Exclusive interview with SHELBY HIATT

Shelby Hiatt was a staff writer on Santa Barbara at NBC-TV from 1984 to 1985. Previously she wrote on set between run-throughs while playing Jane Dawson on  General Hospital.  A first novel, Hector's Tapes, sold to Oliver Stone. She worked as a sketch writer for KTWV radio, The Wave and wrote screenplays for a local independent producer. Shelby now lives and writes in Santa Monica, CA.

You wrote from SB from the very beginning: who hired you?

I worked with the Dobsons on General Hospital for years so when I heard they were doing a new show I contacted them about writing for it.  I'd written a screenplay and wanted to try doing a soap.  The show was not on the air yet and Bridget sent me an outline, that's how it's done, each writer on the SB staff is sent an outline for one day's show.  This would be a test to see if they like my writing.  Following the outline I wrote a show and delivered it to the actual studio that was being built for SB at NBC in Burbank.  Bridget and Jerry read the script, like it, and said, "Welcome aboard."  I was a writer for the show.  They used that script, show number 11 I believe.  I wrote many after that and graduated to outlining, coming up with ideas for the final outline the Dobsons would write, the larger storylines were always theirs.

I like the Dobsons because they were not afraid to take risks. Can you make for us a professional and human portrait of Dobsons? Do you have any anecdotes?

Robin Wright

Bridget is the daughter of Frank and Doris Hursley who wrote General Hospital.  I got to know her and her husband Jerry Dobson when they wrote some of the GH shows.  Then when writing SB I often went to the Dobson's house in Bel Air, an impressive home on  an impressive street (Copa del Oro), and got to know them better.  They are a very down to earth, gracious, couple, easy to work with, accommodating. There we sat around comfortably in their living room and talked about the show and the storylines.  I remember once the ratings for the show were lagging and they talked about getting rid of several actors, hoping such a change would increase the number of viewers. One of the actors they discussed dropping was Robin Wright who was so good as Kelly Capwell that I argued for her to stay.  I told them she could never be replaced with anybody better and she was naturally pretty and fit the part so perfectly, why try to fix something that works so well?  I thought we needed to improve the storylines to improve the ratings, not change the actors.  Whether my urging had anything to do with not losing Robin I don't know, but she did stay on and I continued to write scenes for her and the rest of the cast. A few years later, when I was no longer writing for the Dobsons, I ran into them as they were having lunch outside Peet's Coffee Shop in Brentwood, a block from where I lived.  I sat down and we talked a long time.  It was pleasant and friendly.  They're very nice people.

You worked closely with the Dobsons. Can you tell us how were the relations between the network and them? There were a lot of tensions? These tensions had an effect on your work?

You know, I was never a part of network discussions and wasn't included in that part of the show. I'm pretty sure the low ratings and the idea to change members of the cast came from network concerns.  We have to remember the purpose of television shows is to generate revenue for the network through advertising.  As ratings go down so does the price of a commercial on the show which is why an ad during the super bowl costs a heck of a lot more than an ad on a soap opera.  The  Dobsons were savvy negotiators, they had their own show and Bridget had grown up around soap writing and dealings with networks.  I can't help thinking whatever went on with NBC was skillfully maneuvered by both Bridget and Jerry, smart people, tough and decent, in a business they knew well.  The difficulties that came about with them and the network were after my time on the show and I, like everybody else, simply read about them.  I was not personally close enough to the Dobsons to call and chat with them about all that.

How does a storyline was developed on SB? I mean, can you describe the stages through which you reach a individual written dialogue from a vague outline?

I've mentioned this a little above but I'll take it again from the start.  Those of us on the writing staff received one outline a week.  It consisted of each scene outlined (sometimes only 3 or 4 lines), explaining who was to be in the scene, where it took place, what they did including the attitude of the characters.  How the scene ended was clear and unchangeable.  Turning that into dialogue was the job of the staff writer making it as interesting and true to characters as possible.  Bridget and Jerry then went over the delivered script and made any changes they thought might be necessary to insure consistency in style. My method was and still is to visualize the character, possibly myself, each time the character speaks so that it sounds real, the way people might really talk in such a situation.  It's fun and the way I write novels now.

Nic Coster

Have you ever met someone of the cast? Who?

I ran into Robin Wright at Santa Monica beach one day when I was till writing the show.  We sat and sunned ourselves and talked a long time, mostly about the show and the storylines etc.  She is a very smart talented actress and I'm not at all surprised she went on to have a serious career in films.  I also encountered Nick Coster when he was in a play at the Mark Taper Forum at the Los Angeles Theater Center.  We talked mostly about the show and what both of us had been doing since leaving.

Why and when you left the show?

I'm  wasn't with the soap for much longer than a year so I missed much of the excitement.  I was there for the earthquake.  It may have been just about the time we had a big one in Los Angeles which could have inspired it.

Which SB storylines was your favorite? And which ones you did not love and would not have wanted to write?

I loved writing the eathquake.  Now, in novels, I enjoy writing adventure and real danger scenes.  They have inherent energy and excitement and I found all that in writing them for SB too.  I did like writing for Jade (Melissa Brennan) and Bridget delibarately gave me the kids' scenes to write.  My own sons were young so I had the knack for it, I guess.  I wouldn't have like to write the contentious scenes between the adults and I rarely had to.

The first big plot of SB was Channing  jr ’s murder. It lasted nine months before coming to the shocking truth. Did you know from the beginning that the murderess was Sophia? Or the story might change during construction? The final revelation was exceptional: Sophia kills her own son. Classical Greek tragedy!

This sounds awful but I don't remember about knowing Sophia was the murderer.  As I recall, I was not so involved yet in discussing story lines at the Dobson's house and was simply receiving the script outlines at my home and writing the teleplays.  I'm pretty sure I didn't know.  And for the most part the staff does not always know how a story line will go.  I think often the head writers don't know either or they change what they've planned since they monitor audience response and try to gauge what will keep the viewers most interested.

SB Original Cast

In the beginning  there were four families protagonists: the rich Capwells, the eccentric Lockridges, the poor Perkins, and the Mexican Andrades. A wonderful and representative microcosm. After two years, the Perkins were gone, the Andrades and Lockridges were decimated. Why? Do You think it was a right choice?

I don't know why and honestly I don't think it was a good choice.  My guess is, the noble effort to show an ethnic mix on a soap and make the difficulties they might cause a part of  the story lines wasn't working well and the Dobsons were smart enough to make a change.   Moreover, they had to do whatever was necessary to keep the ratings up so if the ethnic mix idea wasn't working they had no choice but to drop it.  It is a business and that comes before art in this case.

After about three months from the beginning of SB, the ratings were low and so the earthquake came. A real drama, but it also told the comic side: Minx is hidden into a sarcophagus and she is saved, Danny Andrade sleeps all the time and he did not notice anything. How was born the idea of the earthquake?

I really think it came from the quakes we have in Los Angeles.  We often have tremors and at had just had a very large quake causing a lot of damage so that was on everybody's mind.  It is good when writers write about something they know and of course Santa Barbara experiences quakes along that same San Andreas fault line that runs beside Los Angeles.   If you want excitement without warning you can't do better than an earthquake.

Robin Wright originated the Role of Kelly. What do you think about her and her relationship with the character?

I think Robin was perfect for the role.  It's as though she was designed to play it.  First of all she was a natural beauty and a natural actress, I mean by that she did not seem to be working at being real and truly envolved.  That is quite an acting accomplishment and as I've said, it's no surprise she has gone on to have an impressive acting career.  She seemed to be the character by way of her subtle, authentic acting, she was not pretending so much as inhabiting the character.  SB was lucky to have her.

Walker and Wright

Robin Wright left the soap in 1988. She was forced to extend her contract to filming The Princess Bride. In fact at the end she seemed very bored and tired. Do You have noticed a change after her return? Is it true that she was on bad terms with Marcy Walker? Do someone was jealous for the success of Robin?

I was not working on the show at that time but  I can't imagine Robin being a trouble maker.  I can image her standing up for her rights though.  I know nothing about her contract which may have made her obliged to SB for longer than she wanted.  That's always difficult for an actor as well as the producers.

Last question about Robin Wright. (sorry, I'm a real fan). In a recent interview Robin seems ashamed if they asked about SB. According to you, she really ashamed of that period?

I don't think she's ashamed of Kelly.  I'm much more inclined to think she's not proud of working on a soap and here's why:  Soaps are the lowest rung on the acting ladder.  I would rather keep quiet about my years acting on General Hospital (I kept it only a mention on my website).  As wonderful as Robin was, it does not enhance her career to have been on SB.  Films and TV are the credits actors need to advance their careers.  That's just how it is.

Can you tell us something about “Panama”, please?  Are there some connections with some SB’s  situations?

I will say I am sure soap fans would like PANAMA.  It is a love story with quite a bit about life in the canal zone during construction, the danger, the difficulties, the wild beauty of the place.  The main character is very much like me when I was growing up in Indiana and looking for adventure, her parents are definitely my parents.  The opening can be read on the home page of my website, www.shelbyhiatt.net Thanks again for your interest and congratulations on your blog and its success.