Some of the comments in this article wouldn't fly today.
Watertown Daily Times, Tues., Nov. 2, 1976
TUNE IN TOMORROW By Jon-Michael Reed
NEW YORK — There's a young lady out in Hollywood who's living every compulsive eater's ultimate fantasy. She's being paid for being fat and stuffing her mouth with caloric goodies .From "The-Young The Restless" pen of William Bell, who brought viewers such juicy characters as a prostitute turned nun, a rich-bitch alcoholic matron, a mastectomy patient and a concert pianist who lost her marbles, comes the delicious tale of JoAnn Curtisynski. JoAnn is an overweight waitress who turns to Jellies when her errant husband turns his attention to another, untubby woman. JoAnn vents her spleen on the dessert tray in frustration and futile retaliation whenever she feels threatened or insecure, which occurs often on the CBS soaper.
It's a plum role for a suitably endowed actress and Kay Heberle filled the bill to an 0. It was Kay's excess poundage that was instrumental In her winning the part. The producers needed an overweight and talented actress and one who was willing to gain more weight for the beginning of the storyline and then to lose drastically during the plot progression as JoAnn becomes independent of her husband and discovers the joys of slimness.
"I will not tell you what I weighed when I was cast In the role," reveals Kay in an exclusive interview in Dally TV Serials magazine. "And I prefer not to tell you' what I weigh today. But I'm dropping an average of two pounds a week. My goal is to reach 112." Viewers will not see Kay's new svelte figure tor many weeks yet, because JoAnn is still being tempted by and succumbing to tasty temptations. In the meantime, Kay is appropriately padded under her apron strings, albeit In lesser degree as the days wear on and the fat wears off.
Naturally the bulk of Kay's fan mail is from other overweight folk who plead for her diet recipe. As a doctor's daughter from Burleson, Tex., Kay is aware of the dangers of prescribing for other people. Therefore, she declines to reveal her secrets. She does, however, admit "I've been on thousands of diets in the last few years. I've simply changed my eating habits. I'm learning to cook and enjoy fresh vegetables. I drink lots of fruit juice, I don't eat too much beef, but I do like fish which is less fattening. I'm not measuring my calories, but I am taking lots of vitamins, because I want to be healthy, feel good and get slim," she emphasizes.
Until Kay reached high school, she didn't know what a weight problem was. But then there were changes in her metabolism, which didn't take shape until after she became a cheerleader and editor of the school annual. Kay traces her decline into bad eating habits around the time she became active in the Future Homemakers of America course. From North Texas State University, Kay studied acting with Lee Strasberg, topped off with a summer at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. She returned to the U.S. to enrol at UCLA where she later won both the Natalie Wood and Beulah Bondi acting awards.
The lady is loaded with talent, but it wasn't until her professional debut on "Y&R" that she considered the errors of her munching ways. "Now I'm acting, working, getting paid for it, and getting thin at the same time," says the actress who has forsaken midnight wanderings to the refrigerator.
It's paying off in other ways, too. Kay recently appeared in a UCLA student production of "The Boom-Boom Room," in which she starred as a scantily clad go-go dancer. On the serial it will take a while for Kay, or rather JoAnn, to reach that state of grace. Tune in tomorrow and behold as she skims off the lard right before your very eyes ...
By
Paul Raven ·
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