DRW50

I read the first part but also wasn't sure where to post it I remember when he said he wasn't fond of working with Beverlee and that's all he was going to say.

Daniel Davis started working in television when he was eleven-years old, but the seeds for becoming "a ham," were planted even earlier. His mother ("A very talented homemaker, a talent you realize when you see how other homes are run") and father ran a movie theater when Daniel was small. He was relegated to the "cry room," a space reserved for children who bawled during a performance. "It was soundproof and had a mirror with a window. The children could watch the movie without disturbing the patrons." From his high chair, fully equipped with Dr. pepper and popcorn, Davis watched Cary Grant, Tyrone Power, and Ronald Colman. The screen idols weaved their way into the young boy's playtime. "If I was going to play at being Zorro, I had to have the black mask, cape, and hat, I had to look like Tyrone Power," Davis laughs. When his family moved to Little Rock, Daniel Davis became entranced with a children's show patterned after "The Mickey Mouse Club," called "Betty's Little Rascals." After insisting on being in the audience, Daniel marched into Betty's office one day and demanded to be a "secretary" of the clubhouse - one of the fifteen children who were called upon to sing and do skits. Davis' parents verified that their son sang, danced, and did imitations. "We'd rather see him do him do it on television than drive us crazy at home," his mother quipped to Betty. Davis was hired and worked on the show till he was in his teens. "I love it," Daniel said simply. After high school, Daniel Davis attended an offshoot of the University of Arkansas. Ex-governor Winthrop Rockefeller had built a huge center for the performing arts where classes were taught. It was there that Davis received a strong background in the classics. "If we were doing a scene from 'Oedipus Rex,' the actor playing Oedipus had to write a biography of his childhood growing up in Greece. We had to have a complete sketch of the character's life." This kind of discipline is one Daniel Davis still uses. Upon graduation, he studied and taught at San Francisco's famed American Conservatory Theater, and six years later, after numerous stage productions, including a run in "Coco" with Katharine Hepburn, Daniel Davis was given his first opportunity to act in a daytime drama. Davis tested for the role of Zachary Colton on "Another World," but old friend Curt Dawson won out. When the part of Eliot Carrington came up, the Procter and Gamble people, as well as Liz Woodman, the casting director, remembered Davis. It was a long shot, since Davis is a good deal younger than Eliot, but a day after the audition, Daniel Davis signed his contract for "Texas." I met Davis in one of those nondescript conference rooms at NBC to discuss Eliot Carrington, "Texas," and life in general. Wearing a suit and tie, he looked considerably younger than Eliot. Not surprising, since Davis is only 35. If Eliot is starting to look more youthful on-screen, that too, is no accident. Davis finally protested against the streaks of gray they were putting in his hair, since the chemicals were causing clumps to fall out. If there is any similarity between Daniel Davis and Eliot Carrington, it is their genuine niceness and intelligence. Both are gentlemen. THE INTERVIEW SOD: Eliot is a rather strange character for a soap opera. A good, intelligent man, a newspaper journalist who has been in a Cambodian prison camp, and changed by the experience. How did you prepare for the part? DD: I found out from Beverlee McKinsey (Iris Wheeler) what Eliot was originally like; that he had been a journalist and was working on a story in Cambodia when he was caught. Then, I imagined all sorts of events he had been through. SOD: Such as? DD: Well, I decided he was working for an international news organization, based in London. Eliot was brought on, basically, to be a troublemaker. But when you've played as many evil Shakespearean villains as I have, you know that no one is pure evil or good. So I decided there were colors. There was a basic sweetness and goodness to Eliot. There had to be a cause for his malevolence. I decided that the Cambodian prison camp experience took someone who was a very sensitive, feeling, intelligent person and cracked him. When he came back home to the one person he really clung to, Dennis (Jim Poyner), well, he wasn't in Houston was 48 hours before Iris told him Dennis wasn't his son, and that finished him. From then on, Eliot wasn't responsible for his actions. He was living a schizophrenic existence. There were places he didn't remember going to and things he didn't remember doing. Of course, I'm talking about offcamera. SOD: What kind of things would you invent for him offcamera? DD: I imagined that he would suddenly find himself in a restaurant and not know how he got there. Or he'd find a letter in his apartment and not recognize the handwriting. Eliot, I imagined, didn't want to go for help because he was afraid of being incarcerated again. SOD: Did you do any research on POW victims to help you understand the character? DD: I used books I had read, like Kovak's "Born on the Fourth of July." He describes his experience in Vietnam. And you know, I grew up in the Vietnam era. The war was going on in my late teens and early twenties. My high school friends were in the war, killed in the war, so I have a way of personalizing those experiences and making them happen to my character. I made up certain things about Eliot's prison experience. I had ideas of torture, or of just sitting for days on end with no human contact, being given only life-sustaining food. During this time, Eliot would obsess about Dennis, getting back to Dennis and trying to make up for lost time, imagining all the things they'd do together. SOD: What do you have in common with Eliot? DD: If I may be so immodest, I think the intelligence, sensitive, the care he has. The care and concern for the well-being of the people he loves and the world at large. SOD: Since "Texas" takes place in Houston, it's surprising to many that there are no Chicanos or Blacks in the cast. Houston does have a very large population of both ethnic groups. Do you care to comment? DD: A few of us have talked about that and we would like to see it corrected. There is a very large Mexican-American community in Texas. I thought for a while that they were going to make the Dekkers Chicanos, but that never materialized. As of this interview, the only Black or Mexican performers we've had on the show have been secretaries or waitresses. I don't understand why they are not more a part of the show, or daytime in general. SOD: Have you noticed a change since Gail Kobe took over as "Texas" managing executive producer? DD: Definitely. We have all struggled very hard to make "Texas" succeed, and it is growing and finding its audience. Gail is a remarkable woman that we all respect. We admire her fight, her courage, her work attitude: giving you support, giving you notes, bringing you down if you need that, or boosting you up when you need encouragement. We all, from the time we're children, need to win the approval of people above us. We want our teachers to like what we do, our parents to approve of our activity. We want our bosses to like our work, it's only natural. SOD: You worked in regional theater for a long time. Now, suddenly, your face is splashed across the screen and thousands of people watch you each day. Are you frightened by that kind of success? DD: Yes, I'm afraid of the limitations success puts on people. Suddenly, actors gets pigeonholed, they are trapped in terms of the kinds of roles they are thought to be right for. Also, there is the money thing. I make as much in a day now as I did in regional theater in a week. That frightens me. I don't want to start living a life that says I have to have X number of dollars before I start to do this or that. I, as an artist, never expected to make this much money and the fact that I am is terrifying! So, I sock it away. The only way my lifestyle has changed in the last fourteen years, is that I've finally bought furniture again instead of renting it. (laugh) I went to the sale at W.J. Sloane this year. SOD: Who taught you how to live so simply? DD: Well, I've worked my life out pretty well. I know I have a complex personality, but very simple needs and I keep them that way - that I learned from Katharine Hepburn. I spent a year with her on the road, Hepburn lives very simply. She has maybe 40 black turtleneck sweaters, and 50 pairs of khaki pants, so she doesn't have to waste a minute in the morning deciding how she is going to present herself to the world that day. I also learned more about professional that year than I learned before or since. Hepburn believes that everything you do in your life feeds into your work. If you go to a gallery, read a book, see a movie, watch a sunset, it's all feeding into your work. If you do it right, the work is reflecting life back to the audience. SOD: How has your belief in God affected your life? DD: It's relaxed me. You know, C.S. Lewis, who wrote children's books, was also a Christian writer, and he said some interesting things. He talks about the way God perceives your life. God, says Lewis, sees things in the beginning, middle and end, because he has it all mapped out. So if you ask for something from God on a Tuesday in your prayers, he doesn't necessarily know what Tuesday you're talking about. There are five million Tuesdays in God's eyes! So relax! Get out of the way and let your life happen. That doesn't mean taking a back seat to your life. You work, and go on working, and try to figure out what "the plan" is. When I was in a rush to succeed early on, Hepburn said to me, "Is acting your whole life? Do you see yourself doing this forever?" "Absolutely," I said. "Then why do it all now?" she answered. "Spread it out. Wait for it! Let it happen!" Do you understand? SOD: We think so. DD: If I lose out on an audition, I don't beat myself to death because I lost the part. I realize I did the best I could and just didn't get it. Of course, if I blow it because of stupidity, then I'm furious with myself. But this philosophy allows me to say, "I'm going to give you the best show I can give, and if it wasn't what you want or need, then it wasn't mean to be." SOD: What about the importance of pleasing yourself? DD: It's very important to please yourself and be satisfied with what you do. You should congratulate yourself when you've done well, or be hard on yourself if you've intentionally blown something. Of course, as I said before, there is always someone else we are doing something for, that's the reward syndrome, I guess. But I think the struggle of life is all about getting into yourself, to know who you are. I don't mean to sound dull or cliched, but I think to make yourself as near to realizing all that is within you, is wonderful. (laugh) You know, I think there is nothing worse than getting what you want. (laughs again) Except, maybe, not getting it.

The other photos. I'll type up the rest of the interview in a bit.

Interview with Daniel Davis from the October 13, 1981 Soap Opera Digest. Network Publishing Co

From the September 29, 1981 SOD. S. O. D. Publishing Inc.

From the September 29, 1981 SOD. Network Publishing Co

Thanks for reading them, and answering my question. I LOVED Janice! She was a great psycho, and Holly Cate was so good. It helped that she hated Lily and at the time I wasn't a big fan either. I have a short interview with her in one of the Digests. I'll post it when I can find it.

Can anyone tell me who the older woman is in this episode, talking to John and Sharlene? I know I've seen her before, I just can't think of where. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HxC2wfaZWM&feature=channel This new Sam looks like he's always going to cry. Cass and Frankie both come across horribly in this storyline with Kathleen. Cass berates Felicia solely because she dares to criticize Frankie's precious nephew, and Frankie, who is supposed to be empathetic and so in touch with everyone and on and on, is very bitter and callous, dismissing Kathleen's struggles and putting countless lives at risk because she needs her husband back. She doesn't even know that her beloved nephew was almost killed because of any of this. All the scenes with Jake/Olivia have so much chemistry. Alla Korot as Jenna manages to give some life to the usual mixed-up ingenue. She seems more real. For all the years Josie was on the show it was hard for me to see her beyond plastic princess.

I wonder if the baby will die or if Ronnie's baby will die and she will take Kat's baby.

I have little faith in the show to figure out what to do with him but I think if they go back to what he was early on he might work. He had a lot of charisma and sexual energy in that first year, before they put him with Louise, before the siblings showed up, and the life was drained out of him and they started wanting us to pity him. I wonder if they are doing with him what they did with Scott Anderson years ago -- I've never seen any of that but read about it. Given the chemistry he had with Justin, if Marquess is that desperate for stories I would bring Justin back too and have some sort of psycho and sexual quad between Justin/Brendan/Ste/Warren. Clare works as a character if they get the camp right, which Lucy Allan did a terrible job with.

No it doesn't, but then a lot of the show hasn't, I just hope this somehow works.

Wow, this is pretty rare in British soap. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/news/a282528/shock-comeback-for-hollyoaks-character.html

How long was McArthur there? I know Robin Wright had a lot of issues with the show and she wasn't all that happy. Did any of that ever come across onscreen? I wonder if she keeps in touch with anyone from SB.

I thought last night's episode was pretty decent...at first I wasn't sure if they were saying that the Jacksons didn't like Kim's food because it was Caribbean or if they were saying Kim can't cook. I know some will just feel Carol is being a bitch, but the scene where she went to see Conor was so full of pain and it was so obvious she has to blame everyone else for her son's death. You can see how this is eating her up. Those scenes where she was calmly poring through every part of Billie's profiles. I thought the guy who played Conor did a good job, although when he got emotional he reminded me of Mickey from Doctor Who. The stuff with Whitney and Peter seems rushed, although I guess there might be more ahead, as it's hard to believe Whitney would be over Billie this quickly. If they want to move away from stories about Whitney's love life, that's fine with me, as I don't think Shona is great in those types of stories. It might also give Peter something interesting to do, and I'm sure Whitney and Lucy will have some conflict. I like Julie. She knows and accepts who Billy is but still cares for him. The conversation they had was very well put together -- recapping tons of stuff without seeming like they were. Seeing Phil and Jay make fun of him wasn't fun but then that's true to their characters. The Sun has a spoiler on this story, couched in their bizarre idea that she looks like Little Mo (I don't see that at all). Some people on DS said that Derek Martin, Charlie Slater, has been doing some interviews. He said he's going in February 2011, as already mentioned here, and also that

I always thought they kept him away because the only one they cared about was Jake.

David Tom wouldn't have been too far off Joey's real age, but I'm not sorry he wasn't cast in that role. It's strange when you see so many actors who would go on to big things, in soaps or elsewhere, all testing for the same nothing part. All those actors tested for Ben McKinnon, who was barely even on AW. It's like reading that Beverlee McKinsey, Kathryn Hays, Susan Flannery, and Lara Parker all tested to be Susan Shearer on AW.

I think people might have really enjoyed Robin since she was so complicated and she was eventually played by Gillian Spencer, who, I don't believe, was ever unpopular in any soap role she played. Kathy seems like a mess, although that isn't helped by the annoying voice of the woman who played her in those 1952/3 episodes I've seen. I wonder why they replaced the woman who initially played Meta. I always wonder how fans at the time felt about seeing Peggy just basically disappear. What I'd most love to know is how people would have reacted to Bert at the time and also how they reacted when she began to mature. Would they hate her? Would they love her as a bitch? Would they say that her maturing was "dull" or "character assassination"? Would they blast her as being a hypocrite? Charita was such a delight as bitchy Bert I almost wish that had come back a little later on, as that does tend to happen to some older people.

Kyle Secor, wow! Was he ever on a soap? I didn't know David Forsyth left SFT, I thought he was on there to the end. They never really did find anyone who clicked as Laken, did they?

Does she have dead bugs on her ears in the clip? I guess this was a popular look at the time -- I think Mary Ellen Stuart was sometimes dressed or made up that way as Frannie on ATWT. Either way it is not overly flattering. I think Eileen also looks better with less hair. That beret is some sort of resistance movement. Cruz/Kelly weren't popular, were they?

Thanks for listing those. I didn't realize that Kelly and Morgan were married in 1981, although of course they had to be. I also thought Roger/Holly were earlier than 1979. Kathy sure got around in 1952.

This one is pretty good, although the guys steal it. I still wonder sometimes why they cast the guy who plays Ryan as some sort of hard type when that doesn't ever seem to suit him.

Oh yeah I remember that -- some very creaky singing...to say the least. Although I'm glad for the lack of Autotune. The staging in that is what makes it fun, especially the last number. I notice that the worst singers in that were all written out... I think that This Morning interview is one of the most unprofessional I've ever seen. It was insulting to Kirkwood to say he's going to bring Hollyoaks to Eastenders, when Kirkwood has worked on other shows, and when his decisions have not exactly shown he's making this into Hollyoaks. To ask if they are "threatened" by Corrie. The SHAMELESS decision to bring up Jack Duckworth leaving Corrie, solely to bash Eastenders as being depressing. First of all, what does that have to do with the interview? Second, have they seen Corrie in recent years? Third, if you're going to talk about depressing, Jack Duckworth has basically sat around for 2 to 3 years mourning the past and now he has a terminal illness! I wish Kirkwood had defended the show a bit more, as it does have comedy, instead of just saying they're working on that and its Eastenders style to be depressing, but oh well.

That's a funny description. The hats sound like Blossom. Perhaps the shows were sharing wardrobe. I guess that Eileen was a Y&R star and this was her return to daytime, right? So the soap press wanted it work for her. It's a shame Carrington got the shaft, because I remember liking her, and I have very vague memories of watching SB at that time. It is basically just her, Eden, and a bit of Gina and Sophia. I can't even remember the stories, but they all had such a striking presence. I agree about Eileen's appearance -- I think it was her DAYS run which started her move upwards and she's looked even better the last 3-4 years. In the 80s and early 90s something wasn't quite right.

Honey was one of those characters who didn't know what words meant. She was mostly a dippy character. I didn't think she was that bad in small doses. The big problem was when she left so did most of Billy's story. It's a real testament to Perry's talent that Bryan Kirkwood didn't axe him this year, because a lot of fans wrote Billy off a long time ago, thanks to his awful, repetitive stories. The last time Billy's kids were seen was in March or April, when Honey and her father (who had dated Peggy but broke up because she could not deal with a Down's child) were in a car crash. Her father was killed. This all happened offcamera and ended in about three episodes. Sometimes EE has the most strange pacing around.