20171105

ACTING

"I think one of the most valuable things in life is the exchange of information. I try to live in the flow of information. I like to one way or another exchange with people or with books or movies or art," Pamela Sue Martin told 'Orange Coast' magazine in 1982. "As an actor you're constantly, just by living your life, becoming more wealthy with what you’re going to be able to do. It’s all about expression, people's expressions. So the more you see of that the more you live it, the more you're able to put forth as an actor. The more we live, the more we have to share. 

"When I was first acting, I worked in only films and I was never very interested in television. My managers were the ones that talked me into going out for something like Nancy Drew which I got and did, and I learned a lot from it. I think that was a big turning point for me because I worked so much during that year (1977), and so hard that I really have an enormous backlog of technical ability in not being put off by any of the things we do on the soundstage. I just worked hard and it's set me on a different course. If you're working that much and you're working that hard, you really reap a lot of rewards even if it isn't your ultimate artistic goal.

"I think the process of filmmaking is an exciting process no matter how you slice it. Everyone who works in it is engaged by it, down to the last grip – everybody on stage. No matter how much they might gripe and groan about the hours and the craziness of it, they are all there for a reason. There is a real spirit to it. It's got a life of its own. It's a living thing.

"I don't think of characters in terms of how similar they are to me, I really don't. I think as an actor you play the role and all the ingredients that have been written into that particular character. I leave myself behind. It becomes Fallon (on 'Dynasty') getting angry and Fallon getting upset or Fallon getting romantically involved with somebody. It's an intimate process.

"I deal with it at kind of an emotional level, I say, 'Well this person feels this way' and so I think about feeling that way when I'm acting the role. But I don't think about it in terms of how it relates to Pamela. It doesn't mean that it's me doing it, because I'm playing out part of a plot that has nothing to do with my life – I'm still reading lines that I've never said or possibly would never say. I don't have that sort of identity conflict. It's somebody else.

"When it's about art, you have to take your time and let whatever is going to happen, happen. I feel like when it comes to any kind of art form, you have to take your time. I rush all my life, but when it comes to my work, I don't like to be rushed. What I do now is a sum total of all the things I've done over the years, so it’s hardly a shock to my system. It’s not really an adjustment, it's part of my work. I know my work pretty well because I've been filming for 10 years now (since 1972). It's a cumulative process of knowledge, not an adjustment. I don't feel pressure about my work because I feel I know what I'm doing. I really enjoy it.

"The whole subject of temperament is often times really blown out of proportion simply because entertainment people are so much in the limelight anyway that anything they do often times is bigger than life or heard about and so forth. But I find most of the people I’ve met over the years have not been temperamental and have not been difficult at all."

It was understood for producers, one factor in deciding whether to renew a star's contract was the TVQ (television quotient) which measured recognizability. Pamela Sue Martin elected not to renew her contract at the end of the 1983-84 season of 'Dynasty', "I realized this animal was getting bigger and bigger and swallowing me up. They (the cast) created these monsters for themselves. People were losing their individuality and becoming images.

"I felt that I had a fairly open door to go back for a while. They originally wanted me back before they went and got somebody else, but I told them I really wasn't up to it ... Once I move on from something, as the old saying goes, 'You can't go home again.'" Aaron Spelling remembered, "She asked off the show. It broke our hearts but you know, you do what you have to do to keep people happy."

On 'Dallas', Linda Gray received good TVQ so when she renewed her 2-year contract for the seasons 1985-86 and 1986-87, she asked for an additional role. In March 1986, Linda Gray made her directorial debut, "Acting is like being a child; directing is like being a parent. You call all the shots, make all the decisions. It's definitely a turn-on, but it's a different kind of rush than acting.

"As an actor, you're more concerned with self. Directing encompasses everything. I didn't know how the crews or the actors would accept me. I went into it very open, hoping for the best. The respect came almost immediately. I know that doesn't sound very humble. But I had really done my homework, and it showed. I didn't come on like a star who had to be baby-sat."

For Pamela Sue Martin, "It's not really a problem. When you're working with a director, you work it out. Every once in a great while you run up against somebody who's really strong and really tries to move you around the room and show you exactly how. The worst thing a director can do is tell you how to say the lines. Sometimes they do it without meaning to, they're in a rush or they hear and see it a certain way and they'll try to put the words into your mouth. But that doesn't happen very often.

"Everybody I work with I like working with. Publicity is sort of the nature of the beast. It’s part of the picture. When I was younger, when I first came out here (to Hollywood) I was sort of pushed off into a few PR tours and showed around from city to city doing every interview in every newspaper. I really didn't know what was happening at the time."

Shaun Cassidy played Joe Hardy in 'The Hardy Boys' in 1977 which alternated with 'Nancy Drew' was the son of Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy. Of publicity, "I think I'm better prepared for it than he (half-brother David Cassidy) was when he began (on 'The Partridge Family'). I've seen what he has gone through. I've seen the good things and the bad things. I've seen it in my whole family. I think I've learned from David, in particular. Hopefully, I'm better prepared if it (being mobbed by fans) happens."

Pamela Sue Martin continued, "I try to live within these moments of what I am able to do and the opportunities that I have rather than looking ahead to what it's going to be. I think as actors we learn to live a little bit more from moment to moment than in other careers because we go from job to job. Nothing ever stays the same and there is a lot of expectation and unexpectedness and anticipation.

"We don't know what is going to be next year let alone 10 years from now. You have to adapt to that and it's probably the hardest thing for people to adapt to in business, I think … I don't think in terms of, 'Well, what about 15 years from now?' You have to believe that all that you want will be there. I've always had so much that I don't spend much time wanting."

Ted McGinley was casted to play Clay Falmont on 'Dynasty' but producers weren't certain he was the right type so "I wasn't going to have to read for the thing, but the next day, I went in and read for them ... That way they knew what they're getting ahead of time. If they aren't happy, it's their own fault instead of yours. In my business, you can't be late. That's the way I live my life. I think that's one reason I haven't settled down yet. I'm impulsive. I drive everybody nuts; I don't like planning things. I hate having to plan. It's just not my style."

Catherine Oxenberg told 'People' magazine, "I had to do about 5 readings between casting directors and producers (for her role as Amanda). They told me it was between me and another girl. But when I got the screen test, I asked the makeup person who the other girl was and she said, 'There is no other girl!'" Catherine told 'Orange Coast', "I think my all around capacity to be interesting on screen has improved tremendously. I've learned to take more risks in terms of directions to take in a performance, and I'm much better with my dialog in terms of what I intend to convey. I think as an actress one has to be versatile. We all have a range of emotion inside us; it just takes guts to project it with any intensity, especially those emotions that are socially undesirable."

The daughter of Jelisaveta Karadjordjevic (or Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia), Catherine Oxenberg's maternal grandparents were Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (who served as regent for his cousin's eldest son King Peter II of Yugoslavia) and Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark. As reported, members of the House of Karadjordjevic "were the last kings of Serbia; they were also rulers of Yugoslavia, from its creation in 1918 until Communists took the reins in 1945."

On March 27 1941, Paul Karadjordjevic was forced into exile as 'The Economist' reported in 2013, "the Nazi war machine was massing on the Yugoslav borders; spies and politicians were manoeuvring to unseat their rulers. Tanks circled the White Palace, poised not to protect but to attack. Peering from the palace windows, the Royal family could see enraged crowds. The Prince was distraught - and with good reason. He was forced to flee the country, branded a traitor, never to return."  

Catherine Oxenberg was also the great-great-granddaughter of Karađorđe, who started the first Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire in 1804 (known in history as the Serbian Revolution). As Elizabeth was the first cousin of the current Duke of Kent and also a second cousin of Queen Sofía of Spain and Charles, Prince of Wales, making Catherine a third cousin of Felipe, Prince of Asturias and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.

Catherine Oxenberg's maternal grandmother Princess Olga was the daughter of Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia and Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, himself the son of another Romanov grand duchess, Queen Olga Konstantinovna of the Hellenes and her Danish-born husband King George of Greece, brother of Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom and Empress Maria Fyodorovna.

Princess Olga was the sister of Princess Marina, who married the Duke of Kent (uncle of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom); and also a first cousin of the Duke of Edinburgh (husband of Queen Elizabeth II) through their respective fathers Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark who were brothers.

'The Chicago Tribune' reported in 1990, Catherine Oxenberg was "indeed the first family member sneaked into (the former) Yugoslavia via television. When the Yugoslavs bought the popular American TV series 'Dynasty', no one in (the former) Yugoslavia was aware that one of its stars, actress Catherine Oxenberg, was a Karadjordjevic.

"Within a few months, however, most Yugoslavs knew that Oxenberg, who plays Joan Collins' willful daughter on the show, was granddaughter of Prince Paul, who ruled (the former) Yugoslavia as regent for 8 years before the German invasion in 1941. For the Serbs, who account to slightly more than a third of (the former) Yugoslavia's (then) 23 million people, her success was a source of pride."

Heather Locklear played Samantha Josephine told 'Orange Coast', "If I tape a scene and can go back over it and watch it, then I'm pleased. But if I can't watch, or I see it once and I'm peeking through my fingers through the whole thing, and I can't see it again, then I'm in trouble. I do that a lot. I think you have to keep yourself down to earth.

"I don't think prominent, wealthy people are any better than people who are poor and in slums. But of course a lot of peole think that. I just think it's sad when you start taking advantage of nice things. You're so lucky for what you have, and you should realize it. If you're going to be in a hole about your situation and think it's awful, then try coming back in your next life and make things better."

Lynda Carter told 'Beauty Handbook' in 1981, "Achieving success in the entertainment field is a very individual process. There's no tragic answer. I think that success starts with discipline, though. If you want to do something, then you do what it takes in terms of your own preparation. If you want to sing, then you listen and learn and you sing and you do.

"If you want to model, learn what you can then go out and do it. Modeling today (in the late 1970s) is very individual, free form and natural. You need to develop your own look - your own style (such as Lauren Hutton). The days of affecting a certain image or emulating another's style is over for both models and actresses. You begin with 'you' so that's what you have to work with. Project your own individuality into your work - acting, modeling, singing or whatever."

Blog Archive