Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[Paul Raven]

In his book, Jed Allan talks about Paul Rauch hiring an young  actress to play against CC. Jed says she was there for 3 months and made his life a living hell. He said she was an angry woman who upset the cast and crew.

WHen he asked her why she took on the role, she replied that she was just killing time until something better came along. He mentioned she was living with a nice guy, a well known actor at that time.

They were glad to see the back of her and he says it was only the second time in his career he's had to deal with someone like that.

Who was that actress?

[Liberty City]

Hmmm... I would have said Nina Arvesen, but she was there for longer than three months.

[Efulton]

I’m pretty sure it was Wanda De Jesus (Santana). Jed was very vocal about how horrible she was to work with. If the Dobsons would have been allowed to bring back Gina Gallego like they wanted to this could have been avoided and Santana may have lasted until the final episode. 

[Liberty City]

But, like my guess of Arvesen, Wanda De Jesus was there beyond three-months.

[j swift]

She dates Jimmy Smits, so it tracks and the three-month part could have been hyperbole

[Soaplovers]

She was there for about 9 to 10 months... and she was involved with Jimmy Smits.

I will say that Santana did get a good exit where she decided to start over in a new city and on the flight out of Santa Barbara ends up being hit on by a good looking guy.. and she laughs/smiles as she looks out the plane window saying good bye to her past and hello to her future.

[Efulton]

I am pretty sure Jed Allen did not keep a excel file of exactly how long the actors stayed on Santa Barbara so it is understandable if he was off by a few months.

Here is a link to an interview with Michael Brained.

http://pierin26santabarbara.blogspot.com/2012/06/exclusive-and-unusual-interview-with.html

In his autobiography Jed Allan said that he literally hated Wanda DeJesus (Santana), and in fact she did not seems to have an easy temperament. In your opinion, what makes her so unbearable? Do you have any anecdotes?

 

Wanda is a terrific flirt. On the surface she seemed serious, but that was only with the work. Like most good actors, you want to get things right...according to what you think is right. Certainly what you think is right will sometimes clash with what other actors will think is right, no? Wanda and I had a great working relationship, when she and Jed were bickering I would stay out of it. I could always get her to laugh, though. We were always having fun.

[Paul Raven]

Thanks for the replies .Yes Wanda seems to fit the bill. As for the 3 month statement,Jed does make other errors in the book,like saying he was up for the role of Doug in 1972 (not 1970) so it's quite probable he was out with the dates.

[Wendy]

Chiming in that actors are like the rest of us and timelines can be skewed in their minds. That said, I also believe Jed Allan was referring to Wanda De Jesus. He was not shy in his dislike of her.

[Jdee43]

Santana and CC were so icky in 1984. It was unnessary for the show to try that again in 1991.

Edited May 24, 2023 by Jdee43

[DRW50]

I liked Gina Gallego but her Santana was so weak, Jed would have blown her off the screen.

[Efulton]

I have seen Gina in other roles and she can play strong.  Her Santana was written to be weak.  I would liked to have seen her back playing a stronger Santana.

[DRW50]

That's a good point, but as the Dobsons wrote so much of her weak Santana I wonder if they would have fallen back into old habits.

[Khan]

Ironically, I remember liking Wanda De Jesus as Santana and thinking she had good chemistry with Jed Allan.  That was a bright spot in an otherwise difficult time for SANTA BARBARA.

[Xanthe]

I thought she was extremely good in the small and nearly thankless role of Reginald Love's henchwoman Gomez on Another World and was disappointed when she left for the primetime series Mariah.