Interview with Veleka Gray, veteran soap actress

[FrenchFan]

We are lucky today to interview Veleka Gray, a soap opera veteran actress. Born in Louisiana, Veleka Gray appeared in six different soap-operas from 1970 to 1983. An executive producer once told her she had the most contract roles in daytime. We will walk down the memory lane with her to revive these roles and reflect on the soap-opera medium.

 

Soap credits :

 

Laura Donnelly Eliot                          Love Is A Many Splendored Thing (CBS)                Sept. 1970 – Jan. 1972

Susan Pritchett                                 How To Survive A Marriage (NBC)                            Dec. 1974 – April 1975

Victoria Paisley                                 Somerset (NBC)                                                           May 1975 – Dec. 1976

Mia Mariott                                       Love Of Life (CBS)                                                        Jan. 1977 – Feb. 1980

Lyla Montgomery                              As The World Turns (CBS)                                         June 1980 – Nov. 1980

Ruby                                                    The Young And The Restless (CBS)                         February 1983

Dr. Sharon Reeves                            The Young And The Restless (CBS)                          April 1983 – Oct. 1983

 

Cédric Zayonnet :  Your first referenced soap role was Laura Donnelly Elliot on « Love Is A Many Splendored Thing ». Did you have any minor roles before ?

 

Veleka Gray : No minor roles before.  Shot right to the top!

 

C.Z. : You joined LIAMST during fall 1970 and it was the only time you replaced someone in a role. Did you feel any pressure replacing Donna Mills, who was popular in the role ? How did you make the role you own ? Did it take time ?

 

V.G. : I was not allowed to make the role my own. I was there for one reason only, which was to be exactly like Donna.

 

C.Z. : During your time on the show, your character Laura submitted to psychiatric therapy and, with her husband Mark, tried to adopt a troubled young girl, Maria who became jealous of Mark and Laura’s relationship. She attempted to kill Mark by setting the garage in fire and Laura miscarried her own child chasing Maria leading to a new stay to a sanitarium. Do you have any memory to share from these storylines ? You played alongside Michael Hawkins (Mark) and the young Judy Safran (Maria). How was your time on the show ?

 

V.G. : The storyline with Mark and Maria was very exciting and I believe all of us enjoyed it very much. Laura losing the baby was difficult because I had to be in such deep grief, but that's part of what you signed up for when you become an actress.

 

C.Z. : The roles of Mark and Laura kept being recast. Vince Cannon replaced Michael Hawkins while you were still on the show. Then Barbara Stanger and Tom Fuccello were hired early in 1972. Was it your decision to leave the show ?

 

V.G. : No, it wasn't my decision to leave the show. When you work on a show like that, you get to know all the other actors and you become like a repertory company and very close to each other, like family. So having to leave is traumatic because you're leaving the people you feel are your family.

 

C.Z. Your next soap role was Susan Pritchett, R.N. on the short-lived NBC soap « How to Survive a Marriage ». When you joined the show in late 1974, it was already on its last legs as it ended in April 1975. Susan was a vixen character, a foil for Jennifer Harmon’s character, Chris Kirby. What do you remember about this role ?

 

V.G. : I had been in Los Angeles doing work out there when I was cast as Susan Pritchett. The most interesting part of doing the show was that Jennifer Harmon and I knew each other from childhood. I had a photograph of us at a birthday party together when we were five years old!  The other incredibly wonderful thing about doing that show was meeting Gene Bua (Note : Gene Bua, best-known for his role as Bill Prentiss on Love of Life from 1967 to 1972 was Dr. Robert Monday on HTSAM) who became an acting mentor for me. I studied both acting and singing with him for years until I moved out to Los Angeles to do « The Young And The Restless ».

 

C.Z. : When NBC cancelled the show, you moved to « Somerset » and you created the role of Victoria Paisley. Is this where you met your great friend, late Joel Crothers (Note : Julian Cannell in « Somerset », later Miles Cavanaugh on « The Edge of Night ») ? Would you share any memory about him with us ? He was very much beloved.

 

V.G. : The way I got on « Somerset » was Lyle Hill's (Note : « Somerset » executive producer for its complete run from 1970 to 1976) wife had seen me on HTSAM and recommended to him that he try me out for the part of Vicki who was a milder vixen than Susan. So they called me in to do a role as a nurse at a hospital just to see how I looked on camera, and then I was just cast. I knew Joel from CBS because he was on « The Secret Storm » (Note : Joel Crothers played Ken Stevens in TSS from 1969-1971) when I was on « Love Is A Many Splendored Thing ». We would see each other in the halls. When I met him on « Somerset », I had a chance to find out what a really fine actor he was and what a wonderful human being. He played these very serious saturnine roles, but he was full of fun! During the breaks for lunch and whatever, Joel and JoBeth Williams (Note : Carrie Wheeler from 1975 to 1976) and I and sometimes Ted Danson (Note : Tom Conway from 1975 to 1976) would go into the Producers office and play $20,000 Pyramid as it aired.  I think we played Family Feud, too.  After the show ended, Joel and I started dating and our friendship began to develop into a romance. I left New York and went out to Los Angeles to work on « The Young And the Restless » and not long after, Joel came out to work on « Santa Barbara » (Note : While Veleka Gray was on Y&R for most in 1983, Joel Crothers appeared on EON until its cancellation in December 1984 before joining « Santa Barbara » in April 1985) and called me and our relationship got serious then until after we were engaged to be married.  Then, he suddenly disappeared for a month and I couldn't find him and was finally told that he was in the hospital with lymphoma.  It was a very heartbreaking and excruciatingly painful time because we had made plans to have a child and I knew then that it would never happen. (Note : Joel Crothers died on November 6th 1985).

 

C.Z. Vicki’s storylines involved being in an affair with much married Tony Cooper (Barry Jenner) or discovering that Julian’s wife Kate (Tina Sloan) aborted their child. Vicki and Julian found their way back together when the show ended in December 1976. Do you have any special recollections of these storylines ? Was the pending cancellation a glooming atmosphere for everyone involved ?

 

V.G. : I enjoyed having the affair with Barry Jenner because he was such a darling kind man! The special thing about « Somerset » as compared to any other show I ever worked on was that every one of us were family to each other. Not just the actors, but the production people and the crew, too. Usually there is a strong division between cast and grew. I don't know why, it's just the way it's always been. But not in « Somerset ». We were an incredible team and the fact that we were canceled was very hard especially for me because I was so in love with Joel and I didn't know if I'd ever see him again. It was great for Sigourney (Note : Sigourney Weaver played Avis Ryan in 1976) and Ted and JoBeth because they went out to Hollywood and got nice careers going out there. So did Jameson Parker (Note : Dale Robinson from 1975 to 1976). But for me it was so disruptive because I didn't know what was going to happen with me and Joel, kind of like Vicki didn't know what was going to happen with her and Julian.

 

C.Z. : You didn’t stay unemployed for long as you moved to CBS « Love of Life » just a few weeks later in January 1977. You played Mia Marriot, a different character from Vicki. How would you describe her ?

 

V.G. : I went to CBS and « Love of Life » a month later. That audition was interesting because the producers didn't want anyone to think of Vicki, the redhead, when they looked at me, so since my natural hair is a golden blonde, they just chopped off all my hair during the audition so that I looked like Mia Farrow and I played Mia Marriott very much like the role that Mia Farrow played in « Rosemary’s baby »… an innocent who married a man who was the boss, as Andrew was the boss in Mia's life. She was into father figures until she met Ben Harper and then her passion for Ben was more between equals even though they fought a lot because he wasn't willing to give in to their relationship since he was married to Betsy and trying to make that work. Mia was hungry for love most of all.

 

C.Z. : As you said, Mia’s storylines involved being married then divorced to a much older man, Andrew Marriott (first the late Richard Higgs, then Ron Harper) whose son she accidentally killed, and a long-time quadrangle with Ben Harper (Chandler Hill Harben), Betsy Crawford (Elizabeth Kemp, then Margo McKenna) and Elliot Lang (Ted Le Plat). What could you tell us about these storylines ?

 

V.G. : The rule in television series of any kind is to find a sore spot and poke at it. They want to find a strong conflict and then just keep making the people crazy with this conflict. If you ever saw the play no exit, it's kind of like that. But we the actors just hung out and enjoyed each other's company while the poor characters that we played were suffering!  A lot of us knew each other outside of the show like Ted and I were in the same acting class together. You asked about the storylines but since we had no control or input of any kind about that, we just did our jobs.

 

C.Z. : When Cathy Abbi became executive producer and Jean Holloway took over head writing reigns in the fall of 1978, did you notice a change in the way « Love of Life » was written, handled ? Did you fear for your job ?

 

V.G. : I was very lucky when there were changes in Producers or Writers because Gaby Upton (Note : Gabrielle Upton was head writer for « Love of Life » from September 1976 to November 1978) who had created my character had helped make Mia, long-suffering Mia, very relevant to a lot of women who were in love with somebody else's husband. In fact when I had an advice column in Soap Opera Digest, the question I was asked more than any other was how to get him to leave his wife! I never did fear for my job on « Love of Life ». Ben and Mia were very popular with our audience.

 

C.Z. : Ann Marcus was the last head writer starting in May 1979 as a last attempt to save the show ? How did you feel about it ?

 

V.G. : Ann Marcus was my first writer. She's the one who cast me as Laura Elliot (Note : on « Love If a Many Splendored Thing »). I had a lot of respect for her, and the death of « Love of Life » they told me was because the network wanted to use our big studio for an election. It's like the reason that « Somerset » was killed was because a certain producer wanted to make his show an hour long and so he took our time.

 

C.Z. : When « Love of Life » was canceled, the show was ended a bit abruptly. Ben was accused of causing Betsy’s miscarriage on a boat accident and Mia testifed that Ben’s mother, Meg, offered her money to testify on Ben’s behalf. The trial remained unconclusive with the last scene being Betsy collapsing. Was there any closure on Mia’s character ?

 

V.G. : The biggest thing about CBS and NBC as compared to ABC was that it seemed to me that ABC kept their actors much longer in general. Like Susan Lucci I think started when she was 18 years old and was there until the end on « All My Children. » There was no closure for Mia's character or for anyone's. To me that's bad programming because it lets down the fans who had been investing their time and love into a show and its characters and then just kills it without any kind of resolution.

 

C.Z. : You were on three successive soaps at the time of their cancellation : « How to Survive a Marriage », « Somerset », « Love of Life ». HTSAM being a very short-lived soap, SOM an established but short-lived soap too and LOL being an institution, was the cancellation felt the same at the three soaps ?

 

V.G. : The cancellation of the shows didn't feel the same to me because of the different relationships I had. Like I was very close to the cast in « Somerset » and I'm still Facebook friends with many of the people from « Love of Life ».

 

C.Z.: A few months after « Love of Life » ended, you joined « As The World Turns » as Lyla Montgomery, a nurse who had met John Dixon (Larry Bryggman) in the past. For the first time, your character was made a mother. Lisa Loring and Margaret Colin who played your daughters Cricket and Margo were only 7 years younger than you. How did you feel about this ?

 

V.G. : I had to laugh that my children were so close to my own age, and Larry Bryggman who played John Dixon was always saying that I got started early like about 10 years old, LOL!  I've never had children in real life, so I truly had no idea how to behave with those actresses in those roles. I just did the best I could to care about Cricket and Margo and Craig and hope that it read as authentic.

 

C.Z. : During your short time as Lyla, your character dated Bob (Don Hastings) but also had to deal with John, who was indeed Margo’s biological father. What do you remember about Lyla ? How was it to play alongside Don Hastings and Larry Bryggman ?

 

V.G. : Working with Larry was tremendous fun. The man is one of the most talented actors I've ever worked with in my life, and our conflicts were great fun. The only thing I remember about the scenes with Don Hastings was the day the writers gave me 100 pages to learn overnight for a scene I was doing with him.  It was a tremendous test of my memory which of course gets better all the time when you have to memorize lines every day, but 100 pages overnight was such a challenge.

 

C.Z. : You left the show during the fall of 1980 and the character of Lyla was recast with Anne Sward who lasted for 13 years in the role. The show was during a transitional time as Bridget and Jerome Dobson were phasing out some veterans. Was it your choice to leave the show ?

 

V.G. : It was not my choice to leave the show at all. I was devastated by what happened. It was because of that that I ended up moving to Los Angeles and getting cast on « The Young And The Restless » instead.

 

C.Z. : The last soap you appeared in was « The Young in The Restless » in 1983. You played two different roles in the same year. First, you appeared as Ruby, a manucurist who were involved with Allison Bancroft (Lynn Wood) trying to find dirt on her stripper daughter-in-law Nikki (Melody Thomas-Scott). After this short role, you were asked back for the contract role of Dr. Sharon Reeves. How did it happen ? Did any fans notice that you played two roles not far apart on the show ?

 

V.G. : The way I got to be both Ruby and Sharon was because of a bet that I made with one of the executive producers. I needed to pay my rent and had contacted Wes Kenney (Note : H. Wesley Kenney was executive producer of « The Young And The Restless » from 1982 to 1987) and asked him to please hire me for some thing while I was waiting for April when my character Sharon would come on the air. He said that would not be possible because Bill Bell (Note : William J. Bell was the creator and head writer of Y&R) would recognize me if I did any kind of role at all other than what I was contracted to do as Sharon, so I made a bet with Wes that if I could fool him and he couldn't recognize me that then he would let me work in another part. So the only thing he had going was this manicurist and I went to Hair and makeup and told him my problem and we ended up putting a platinum blonde wig on me and using make up to change the shape of my face and some other things like stuffing my clothes so that Ruby was a heavier set woman than Sharon and a week later I showed up at CBS where Wes was having a production meeting on set and I was all dolled up as Ruby. I had told him I was going to be meeting him at 4 o'clock on that day, but he must've forgotten because when I showed up he didn't recognize me and eventually after 20 minutes when I realized that I was about to win the bet I went and sat down on one of the stools in the circle where the production people were talking, and finally Wes slapped his head with his hand and said Veleka! and I said I win I win! And that's how I got the part.

Actually a lot of people didn't realize that Ruby and Sharon were the same person. When I left « The Young And The Restless », I started teaching at a college in Chicago, teaching theater classes, and I took the very first scene I had as Ruby and brought it to classes and with every new class as long as I taught at that college for the six years I taught there I would play that scene and then ask my students what they thought of that character, and in every single class there was only one person who knew it was me. It was astonishing how putting on a wig and a Brooklyn accent could fool people!

 

C.Z. :  Sharon was troubled Patty Williams Abbott’s (then Andrea Evans) doctor. Patty had blocked in her memory the night she shot her unfaithful husband Jack (Terry Lester). Was there any closure for Sharon ? She seemed to have vanished from the show.

 

V.G.. As before, there was no closure for the Sharon character. What Bill Bell was going to do was have Sharon and Jack have an affair. And I'm not sure why they changed that, but then, as Bill Bell once told me, he saw actors as mere pawns on his chessboard that he could move around any way he wanted to.

 

C.Z. :  Did you feel a difference in heading to Los Angeles to do « The Young & The Restless » after spending a decade doing older-fashioned New York soaps ?

 

V.G. : I had started my career in National television in Los Angeles, so going back to LA was a pleasure. I never ever liked the intensity of New York City. And from my point of view a soap opera is neither new-fashioned or old-fashioned.  A soap opera deals with closely related coworkers and families who experience the challenges of life. I didn't see any difference between any of the soaps, and I was a huge fan of « One Life To Live ». I also became a big fan of « All My Children » and « General Hospital ». But « One Life To Live » always remain my absolute favorite show. It was truly brilliant in a way that addressed the issues of more mature people more than I saw in any other daytime drama. Nowadays, « Downton Abbey » is my other favorite soap opera.

 

C.Z. During your tenure on all these soaps, you went from the live to the live to tape era. How different was it ?

 

V.G. : I once did an episode as a guest star on « As The World Turns » when they were still live, and it was terrifying to me. All the other shows I did, starting with « Love Is A Many Splendored Thing », were taped. We played them as if they were live, but we always knew that if something disastrous happened it wouldn't be hanging out there for millions of people to observe. There is great comfort in that.

 

C.Z. « The Young and The Restless » was your last soap. Was it your choice to have a change in your career ? Did you feel that the atmosphere on soaps changed in your years in daytime ? Do you miss soap-operas ?

 

V.G. : I was crushed when Bill Bell canceled my contract with « The Young And The Restless ». I was truly heartbroken and emotionally devastated by that. It made me think that if a person's whole life can be shattered that quickly then it wasn't the kind of lifestyle I wanted to live anymore.  So after a lot of soul-searching I decided to contribute another way by teaching actors, and I started that in 1986 and I've never looked back. There is a tremendous joy in sharing your skills and your experience with people who are hungry to know what you know.

I did feel that the atmosphere on some soaps had devolved into something that wasn't what I would want to watch or perform in. I do miss « One Life To Live », but there's « Downton Abbey » and other incredible soap operas out there.

And let me announce right now that I am writing my own show, a soap opera that will be staged in Louisiana, with some of my more brilliant students of the past 20 or so years. I am so excited about producing this! We are going to put it on as a web series and then see if it catches fire and goes to television. I'll be happy to tell you more once we have some shows in the can.

 

C.Z. : You have acted storied penned by many headwriters : James Lipton (LIAMST), Ann Marcus (both on LIAMST and LOL), Margaret DePriest (HTSAM), Don Appell, A.J. Russell, Russell Kubeck (SOM), Gabrielle Upton, Jean Holloway (LOL), Bridget & Jerome Dobson (ATWT) and William J. Bell (YR). Do you have any fondness or special admiration for some of them ?

 

V.G. : You rarely meet the writers on a show. The only ones I ever met were Ann Marcus and Gabrielle Upton. But the difference between all of them and what I'm doing now and what I've been doing every time I make a short film with my students is I get input and feedback and collaborate with my actors so that we have synergy and we have fun!

[Paul Raven]

Thanks for posting that. I love to read this sort of thing and get the actor's perspectives.

So Velekka also played a nurse on Somerset and a role on ATWT.

The whole Joel Crothers thing is interesting...

I always thought Sharon and Ruby were on at the same time.

 

[OzFrog]

Oh wow it never clicked that she was Patty’s therapist on Y&R. I had seen her in a 1980 ATWT clip as Lyla (incidentally in Margo’s first scene). I wonder why she got booted in favour of Anne Sward on there.

 

Speaking of that ATWT clip, it’s here at around 13:50.

 

 

[soapfan770]

Thank you for sharing @FrenchFan! Fascinating interview to read for sure.

 

I wonder what happened to her at ATWT? That was rather sad to read. I also wonder about what was planned for her Sharon role. Affair with Jack? I wonder if Sharon’s planned story was rewritten to be given to Lindsey Wells?

[victoria foxton]

Wonderful interview. The story about the bet is cute. I wish there was more of Veleka's work online.

[Soaplovers]

I guess after a decade plus of soap acting, plus being on 3 soaps that were canceled...and let go of two soaps within a few months of starting...no wonder she said adios.

 

From the few clips I've seen of her...she seemed more under stated..which didn't jive with 80s soap opera acting.

[will81]

Did we ever get any scenes with Ruby in the vault uploads? This is the only picture I could find

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