43 minutes ago, FlyRightOrchestraGuy said:

In particularly, I would like to know if she cleared the air about the circumstances surrounding her 1983 departure from Capitol during the interview. However, I'm too chicken to check out the interview for myself at the present time. 🐔

At about 8 minutes she mentions that the casting director who'd cast her for Friday the 13th had also cast her on Capitol. Then one of the interviewers says that his mother mentioned remembering Kimberly from Capitol.

She then says she was unhappily married to Barron Hilton Jr. John Conboy cast her in Capitol. John thought she was like a princess due to being married to a Hilton.

She then says something like, "When I left, seriously...it was like three weeks later he fired me and hired Catherine Hickland to take my part because she was married to David Hasselhoff. He had some bizarre - there was no reason to fire me."

I assume she believes that it was her leaving her husband which caused Conboy to fire her.

Edited March 11Mar 11 by DRW50

33 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

At about 8 minutes she mentions that the casting director who'd cast her for Friday the 13th had also cast her on Capitol. Then one of the interviewers says that his mother mentioned remembering Kimberly from Capitol.

She then says she was unhappily married to Barron Hilton Jr. John Conboy cast her in Capitol. John thought she was like a princess due to being married to a Hilton.

She then says something like, "When I left, seriously...it was like three weeks later he fired me and hired Catherine Hickland to take my part because she was married to David Hasselhoff. He had some bizarre - there was no reason to fire me."

I assume she believes that it was her leaving her husband which caused Conboy to fire her

@DRW50 Assuming that replacing Kimberly Beck with Catherine Hickland was the right thing to do from a creative standpoint, it only bought Capitol a few more years. David Mason Daniels, who played Kimberly's significant other on Capitol, was shown the door himself in early 1985, and the soap went off in the air in March of 1987. In an October 2020 interview, Catherine indicated that she still didn't know why Kimberly left Capitol. You might want to click here to find out what A Martinez has had to say about John Conboy.

By the way, DRW50, it's my understanding that financial problems prompted Kimberly to successfully pursue the role of Trish Jarvis in the slasher film Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Does Kimberly indicate how much the movie helped her financially and/or career-wise during the interview?

Edited March 11Mar 11 by FlyRightOrchestraGuy
Wanted to bring up October 2020 interview Catherine Hickland did

2 minutes ago, FlyRightOrchestraGuy said:

By the way, DRW50, it's my understanding that financial problems prompted Kimberly to successfully pursue the role of Trish Jarvis in the slasher film Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Does Kimberly indicate how much the movie helped her financially and/or career-wise during the interview?

She talks about the movie being the only thing a lot of people know her for, but to her it was basically near the end of her career, and she moved away from acting by the end of the decade because she didn't like being on sets and she was tired of just playing guest starring roles of women who had been sexually assaulted. They asked her if she'd been approached to be in Part V. She said she hadn't, as she would have said yes - she would have taken any role to help pay her way as she needed to help pay off her house.

5 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

She talks about the movie being the only thing a lot of people know her for, but to her it was basically near the end of her career, and she moved away from acting by the end of the decade because she didn't like being on sets and she was tired of just playing guest starring roles of women who had been sexually assaulted. They asked her if she'd been approached to be in Part V. She said she hadn't, as she would have said yes - she would have taken any role to help pay her way as she needed to help pay off her house.

@DRW50 As this previous post of mine indicates, Kimberly has admitted that she didn't take any alimony from her ex-husband, who was quite wealthy. Why was that? Yes, Kimberly did play a rape victim in a 1984 episode of T.J. Hooker known as "Death on the Line." I wonder why she didn't appear on more TV crime shows than she actually did during the 1970s. She did make guest appearances on Adam-12 and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, but...

Edited March 11Mar 11 by FlyRightOrchestraGuy
Wanted to bring up title of certain "T.J. Hooker" episode

Just now, FlyRightOrchestraGuy said:

As this previous post of mine indicates, Kimberly has admitted that she didn't take any alimony from her ex-husband, who was quite wealthy.

Some women do, some women don't. It was her choice.

4 hours ago, FlyRightOrchestraGuy said:

@Vee @DRW50 @Soaplovers @soapfan770 Are you people

I'm not interested in your latest fetish for obscure horror star Kimberly Beck, or your past ones for Marcy Walker and scuba gear. I have a long memory. The answer to any and all questions you may have about her is no from me.

Stop @ing me.

Edited March 11Mar 11 by Vee

On 3/10/2026 at 6:44 PM, DRW50 said:

At about 8 minutes she mentions that the casting director who'd cast her for Friday the 13th had also cast her on Capitol. Then one of the interviewers says that his mother mentioned remembering Kimberly from Capitol.

She then says she was unhappily married to Barron Hilton Jr. John Conboy cast her in Capitol. John thought she was like a princess due to being married to a Hilton.

She then says something like, "When I left, seriously...it was like three weeks later he fired me and hired Catherine Hickland to take my part because she was married to David Hasselhoff. He had some bizarre - there was no reason to fire me."

I assume she believes that it was her leaving her husband which caused Conboy to fire her.

@DRW50 @Broderick @vetsoapfan Is it safe to say that Kimberly Beck's 1983 ouster from Capitol was a business decision? Capitol struggled to grow its audience during its five-year run on CBS, did it not? Weren't CBS executives breathing down John Conboy's neck? In any case, I hope Ms. Beck hasn't harbored any significant resentment toward Catherine Hickland or David Hasselhoff. It wasn't their fault. In fact, Ms. Hickland still had to audition for the role of Julie Clegg before she finally got it.

Clarification: Hasselhoff and Hickland were an item in 1983, but it wasn't until March 24, 1984, that they officially became a married couple.

Edited March 14Mar 14 by FlyRightOrchestraGuy
Wanted to tag Broderick and vetsoapfan

Lana Finds 'Capitol' Is A Nice Place To Be

Lana Wood has been involved in some form of show business nearly all her life. But it was during a hiatus from acting that she received the offer to portray Fran Burke on "Capitol.” “ I was between jobs, giving m yself a little vacation when I got the call that ‘Capitol’ was interested in me,” says Miss Wood, who has done more than her share of tough, sexy woman roles.

“At first I didn’t know how I felt about doing a soap, but I went in for the reading and realized that Fran was the kind of character that I ’d wanted to play for quite some time. “The role has helped me as an actress,” she says. “Fran’s a full character as opposed to a one- or two-dimensional character. I ’m enjoying that aspect of the role enormously. F ran’s the type of role that the fans of ‘Capitol’ can identify with since she’s a single working mother who’s coping with her life and raising her daughter at the same time. I’m excited with every new script, but I do wish that Fran had a love interest. “

I ’d like to stay on *Capitol’ for the next 10 years, but someday I'll go back to producing,” says Miss Wood, who was an associate producer o f Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer CBS movie “Murfer Me, M urder You .”

“ I ’ve never concerned myself with stardom. What I want is to be respected as an actress.” Miss Wood, who has appeared in several feature film s including the James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever,” adds, “The role of Fran has been something new for me. It’s a challenge and I ’ve grown because of it.

• Well that didn't work out. I wonder if that soured Lana on soaps. I could see her her on the West Coast shows.

For better or worse, CAPITOL (and John Conboy) always made very interesting casting choices. (No sarcasm, lol).

I loved the very regal sounding GL theme when he was in charge. Not my favourite GL theme music, but better than anything that followed.

Nice to see a review/report on Capitol. It never seemed to garner much press or hype, despite a starry cast and lavish production. But somehow it all never seemed to gell. Was the premise too 'primetime' like for CBS daytime? I don't really know...

THE JOURNAL-NEWS, SUNDAY, JULY, 3, 1983

‘Capitol’s’ espionage storyline capital By LYNDA HIRSCH

After a fairly low period, “Capitol” has now gotten back to some capital storylines. Watching CBS’s baby sudser has been gratifying these days, as opposed to mystifying. First off, the espionage storyline has wrapped up. While such stories might play in a two-hour James Bond flick, they are always confusing in soap opera. We were sorry to see Jeff Chamberlain as Lawrence Barrington exit the show, but his spy character was put up against the wall with no escape.

Now for the good news: the return of Thomas the handicapped surgeon, this time around played by Michael Catlin, who brings a low-key sensitivity to the role. When the character exited last year, we received lots of negative response from viewers who felt the character had been abandoned. Also, Lana Wood and Kimberly Ross are continuing as a mother-daughter team (Fran and AmyBurke), which will create a long-overdue storyline for Matt, the athletic McCandless brother. Wood may be remembered in the nighttime version of “Peyton Place,”

And at last, Paula Denning, the long-talked-aboutbut-never-seen wife of Sen. Mark Denning, comes on the show next week, portrayed by veteran actress Julie Adams. John Conboy, the producer, has managed to get the show in line in a short time. The hiring of Peggy O’Shea as head writer is an added plus, and the addition of Patricia Wenig as supervising producer has given the show polish and pace. Old pros like Constance Towers, Ed Nelson and Richard Egan continue to shine. Deborah Mullowney makes Sloane a many-leveled character.

“Capitol” still has a few weak spots, most notably a few characters without direction; some characters who should be minor have been given too much to do, while some with endless possibilities remain in the background. But that is the nature of most soap operas, and “Capitol” looks and feels better than half of the soaps on the air.

THE JOURNAL-NEWS, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER, 11, 1983

‘Capitol’ now a capital sudser; bucks daytime no-quality trend by Lynda Hirsch

In the past few months, viewers of “Capitol” have witnessed a rare event — the making of a mediocre soap into a high-caliber daytime drama. The show is filled with exciting acting, interesting plots and easyon-the-eye sets. While CBS’s baby soap has had respectable ratings, ratings don’t always mean quality. “Capitol” seems to be bucking the trend of all-ratings-no-quality action. The secret seems to be three-fold: John Conboy, the executive producer; Pat Wenig, supervising producer, and Peggy O’Shea, head writer.

Conboy told us, “I wanted Peggy O’Shea for head writer from the beginning, but she was busy with “One Life to Live” when “Capitol” got underway. I was only given a few months’ notice by CBS that the show was to go on the air. In the middle of putting the daytime show together I was informed “Capitol” was going to premiere with a one-hour prime-time episode. William Kelly and I literally wrote that script while ensconced in a hotel room for ten days.” Conboy went through several writers before getting O’Shea, with whom he is thrilled. Pat Wenig joined the show early this year. “John and I had worked together on other projects. He wanted me when "Capitol” debuted but I had just joined "Days of Our Lives” and it didn’t seem fair to leave them When I finished my stint at “Days,” John asked me to join “Capitol.”

That was in February. “It takes two months to make your presence felt on a soap. I thought "Capitol" would be a challenge. It had potential I was excited that rather than a character being the villain we could use a city. Ask anyone in politics — Washington. DC., can be a formidable enemy." When Wenig came aboard, the show was in the middle of one of those awful spy stories. “I didn't understand what was going on. How could the audience or the poor actors?" Although Conboy admits the story had holes in it, he believes. “The way I envisioned it, it could have worked, but it never seemed to come out the way I’d hoped it would.’’

According to Wenig, "I feel a soap should be about people, about romance. There was only one love storgoing on — that was between Trey and Kelly. Our hero and heroine, Tyler and Julie, were on the fringes. As for Mark and Clarissa, our older love story, they talked about their love but never showed it. That was a major problem with the show — lots of talk, little action, hardly any payoff. Nothing came to anything. They’d get a story going and then suddenly drop it in the middle, never mentioning it again.”

That has ended. "Capitol” has several love stories, Tyler and Julie have wed, a hot whose-daughter-is-she story and the return of the appealing Thomas, a character handicapped since birth, striving to live in a world that often does not understand the problems of the handicapped. “My first input on casting was Michael Catlin, who plays Thomas,” says Wenig. “He is a joy to watch. I think he adds to every scene he’s in.” Neither Wenig nor Conboy will divulge upcoming plots, but Conboy will admit one plan he has for “Capitol’s” future. "To make the show No. 1.”

If John Conboy had wanted Peggy O'Shea from the beginning, why did O'Shea end up leaving CAPITOL and returning to OLTL soon after?

17 minutes ago, Khan said:

If John Conboy had wanted Peggy O'Shea from the beginning, why did O'Shea end up leaving CAPITOL and returning to OLTL soon after?

I'm sure the Karpfs- creators and original writers would be thrilled that Conboy didn't want them.

5 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

I'm sure the Karpfs- creators and original writers would be thrilled that Conboy didn't want them.

LOL!!

From what I understand, the Karpfs quit early on, precisely because they hated working with Conboy.