"[In September, 1980] I had a friend who put me in touch with Judy Lewis who was the Producer (or EP, don't remember) on TEXAS. Judy made arrangements for me to meet with the casting director at the ad agency that handled AW and Texas. The casting director and I hit it off and she asked if I would be interested in doing the show the following day.
"I was so excited about doing the show that I got an $80.00 speeding ticket in Brooklyn about 10 blocks from the studio. So, the money I made for the day was spent before I got to NBC.
"Behind the scenes that day, there was a light-hearted mood in the studio. The only day pIayers that day on AW were myself and a girl who played Zachary Colton's secretary. I think she actually had two lines. "TEXAS" filmed in the studio next door and their dressing rooms were on the same floor. They had a day player "cast of thousands" that morning (for an airport scene or something) so our dressing room was like a cattle car. You had to put your pants on in whatever space was available - hopefully you weren't shy.
"I saw Constance Ford in the hallway outside the rehearsal room. She said hi as she rushed by. They kept calling the actors names from a loud speaker to report to the studio when it was time to tape their scenes so there was a lot of activity in the hallway.
"When I got into the studio, Victoria Wyndham was trying to grub cigarettes from anyone and everyone who passed by. Although Rachel was quite serious in this episode, Victoria was a cut-up through the entire taping. She was "sick" of doing the flashback scenes and imitated the transition music everytime the scene faded to the pre-taped flashback. It was hard to keep a straight face.
"Douglass Watson and I spoke for a few seconds outside the door of Zachary Colton's office. He was a very nice man! I had watched the show for at least 11 years at this point so you know I was in awe. The rest of the cast that I met was also very nice. Curt Dawson was new to the show and he was still being welcomed by most of the cast. Victoria told him that he was a "great D.A." I remembered Curt from his time on ATWT in the early 70's as Liz Stewart's brother.
"'Brian Bancroft' addressed my character by name when I entered the room - my stage direction was to "say hello back to him without speaking". The prop man admonished me during dress rehearsal to not waste the paper in the stenographic machine. There was no more paper in the building and he had no intention of going out to get more. I always wondered if they used the same roll of paper when Rachel went to trial. I wouldn't be surprised.
"The funniest thing that happened that day was during a break in taping when one of the actors (don't remember his name -- think it was the guy who played Larry) came up to me and asked if I was a court stenographer in real life. I was polite and didn't say "duh" or "Yeah, just like you're a cop" - I didn't know if he was serious or not. I also didn't want to jeopardize any future work that might come my way.
I had been on GL in 1978, and interviewed for Love of Life in 1979 and ATWT in 1981. Nothing ever came of the appointments and the rest is not soap opera history. I left the business altogether in 1982."
