News
OLTL's Hillary B. Smith chats on Willee-Coppee Fund and Venice!
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
Each Sunday for the next four weeks, On-Air On-Soaps will be rolling out parts of our chat with Daytime Emmy winning actress, Hillary B. Smith (Nora) of One Life to Live for the ebay auction to help raise money for Hillary, and her best friend, Lindsay Harrison’s joint endeavor The Willee-Coppee Fund! Check each weekend for a new auction item that will be up for bids that is something very special and personal to Hillary, and fans of OLTL, and especially, Nora Hannen Gannon Buchanan (fill in the rest)…love that name! Right now, you can bid on a great tape of episodes from the 93-94 soap season featuring: Todd terrorizing Nora (in the form of Roger Howarth) through Nora defending Dorian on a murder charge.
Here are this week’s excerpts from my conversation with Hillary on the background of the Willee-Coppee fund and “Dude”, Guya’s special needs dog coming in season two of Venice.
Hillary on how the Willee -Coppee fund was created: “It came about two-fold. Lindsay had her dog Willie, and I had my dog Coppee, who was 16 when she passed away. During her life there were times where Coppee had her various things like Lyme disease, and needed medication that could cost around $400.00. I had the money to do that, but it was the realization that some people don’t. Lindsay works with the Sherman Oaks Veterinary Group and they are really wonderful. The idea for the fund was that hopefully it would catch on and people would do this in their neighborhoods as well. Lindsay and I wanted to find away to honor our puppies, because Willee and Coppee died at around the same time, and we said, “You know what? We need to do a little something in their honor!” So it’s used as a discretionary fund by the Veterinarians in the clinic, and it has been used for lots of wonderful purposes. It all started around three years ago, and it took on its own little life. ”
Hillary on how a pet owner can get help from the Willie-Coppee Fund: “Usually there are people who go to the Sherman Oaks Veterinary Group and when they bring there animal there, it’s based upon the need of the pet owner and if they can’t pay for the care. It’s up to Sherman Oaks to say, ”I think this is something for the Willee-Coppee Fund to kick in on.”
Hillary on her beloved Coppee: “She had gone through so much. Coppee was allergic to everything like grass, and hay, and she had to be on steroids and prednisone. They kept saying this was going to shorten her life. I think what happened was that the dog just did not want to leave us. She always wanted to make us happy and she knew if she died, it would make us sad. So ultimately we had to carry her into the vet and put her down.”
Hillary on “Dude”- Guya’s special needs dog in Season Two of Venice: “In season two, I think you will see Guya in her store, which is interesting because shooting schedules being as they were in season one, there was no store. Instead, we were in New York in Tina Sloan’s fabulous apartment. When I entered her place, I said to myself, “Oh, I have read about places like this!” It’s spectacular. How “Dude” comes into Venice…I think is…that the dog spoke to Guya and she is desperately in need of being needed. You saw her with her babies. There is nothing she loves more than her babies, and that is Gina and Owen. You will start to understand why Gina and Owen are so important. In real life, “Dude” was a product of an owner who decided not to give the dog spinal surgery which would have saved the dogs ability to walk. You understand now? And then the dog ended up being paralyzed and then they could not take care of the dog so they gave the dog away. But Lindsay ended up with him through many twists and turns, and he is just wonderful!”
Days Of Our Lives
Deidre Hall to Guest Star on Season 3 of Comedy Series ‘Hacks’
Days of our Lives star Deidre Hall (Marlena) is set to play a version of herself on third season of Hacks. Look for Hall this month in an episode titled “The Deborah Vance Christmas Spectacular,” to air on May 23 on Max.
Not only will Hall appear in the episode, but so too, will Back to the Future and Taxi star, Christopher Lloyd.
According to EW.com, Deidre will play “a fictional version of herself, who just so happens to be the mom of Paul W. Downs’ Jimmy.”
Photo: JPI
Hacks co-creator and Downs’ wife, Lucia Aniello shared on Hall’s casting, “It made sense to us that Jimmy’s late father, a big-time manager, would have been married to an actress. When the idea for Deidre Hall came up, it just felt right.”
As for Lloyd, he will portray, reclusive writer Larry Arbuckle, who is to have had a rather famous grandfather. In the episode, Hall and Lloyd’s character intersect, which leads to onscreen sparks.
Photo: AP
“We had written some things that were flirty, but the chemistry was palpable,” says co-creator and series star, Downs shared. Hacks stars Jean Smart as comedy legend Deborah Vance.
Photo: Max
Season 3 of Hacks debuts on Thursday night May 2nd on Max 9 pm ET/6 pm PT.
So, will you be watching Deidre Hall guest starring on Hacks? Comment below.
General Hospital
Lane Davies Joins the Cast of General Hospital Setting up a ‘Santa Barbara’ Reunion with Nancy Lee Grahn
Some very intriguing casting news out of General Hospital. The ABC daytime drama has cast former Santa Barbara favorite, Lane Davies (ex-Mason Capwell), in the role of Fergus Byrne, an attorney who crosses paths with Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn).
According to TV Insider, Davies will make debut the week of May 22nd. As soap fans know, together with the aforementioned Grahn, they created the Santa Barbara supercouple of Mason and Julia Wainwright. Davies portrayed Mason Capwell family from 1984 through 1989.
Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time in Port Charles for Lane. From 2002-2004 he played Dr. Cameron Lewis and also shared on-screen story with Grahn. At that time Davies, played Xander Smith’s father.
Photo: NBC
GH fans are wondering about the last name of Davies new character, “Byrne”. If you recall, Alexis got herself involved with therapist Dr. Neil Byrne, who died when Harmony broke into Alexis‘ house and killed Neil by injecting him with opioids.
Photo:
Taking to her Instagram, Grahn shared her excitement at the upcoming on-screen reunion with Davies, “It never gets old. We do 😂…. but it doesn’t 😍. Lookin’ forward to another romp.”
So, what do you think about Lane Davies returning to GH to play an attorney in Alexis’ orbit? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
News
One Life to Live Alum Jonathan Groff Receives 2024 Tony Award Nomination for Leading Actor in a Musical
Nominations were announced on Tuesday for the 77th annual Tony Awards by previous winners, Renée Elise Goldsberry (ex-Evangeline Williamson, One Life to Live) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
When the dust settled it was Stereophonic (which is loosely based on the story of Fleetwood Mac) and Hell’s Kitchen (Alicia Keys musical) that both scored 13 Tony nominations to lead the pack.
However, Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along made quite the comeback and is nominated for several awards including Best Revival of a Musical and for one of its stars, Jonathan Groff (ex-Henry Mackler, One Life to Live).
Courtesy/Playbill
Groff is nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and will go up against Brody Grant — The Outsiders, Dorian Harewood —The Notebook, Brian d’Arcy James — Days of Wine and Roses and Eddie Redmayne — Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.
In addition to his previous Tony nod for his role in Hamilton, Jonathan was nominated for a Lead Actor in a Musical for his role as Melchior Gabor in the original production of Spring Awakening.
Jonathan co-stars in the revival of Merrily We Roll Along “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe and previous Tony winner Lindsay Mendez.
Back in 2019, Groff visited Live with Kelly and Ryan and discussed his debut on One Life while working at night on Broadway in Spring Awakening.
He shared on his experience on the soap, “I do remember my first day because I was doing Spring Awakening on Broadway at the time, and One Life to Live was my first time ever being on TV. So I got this offer, and I was like, ‘Yes, I would love to be in a soap opera,’ and we finished Spring Awakening at 11:00 p.m. and I woke up the next morning at 4:0 a.m. to walk uptown to go to do One Life to Live, and I called my agent and left a message, and I said ‘You have to get me out of this, I can’t wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning!'” You can watch the clip below.
The 77th annual Tony Awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on Sunday, June 16, with Tony and Oscar winner Ariana DeBose returning to host for the third time.
So, rooting for Jonathan to take home his long-awaited Tony Award after several decades in the theater? Do you remember him as part of teen scene on OLTL? Comment below.
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Aww. I just love HBS. She’s so sweet and funny. Sad to hear about Coopie, but I’m glad Hillary decided to do something positive to remember and honor her. Excited to see what’s in store for Guya in season 2 of Venice. 🙂
Such great insight into a wonderful project!! Dude is one lucky dog!! Of course, Hillary is fabulous, too!!
Michael this is a really great article bringing awareness to animals and ways to help, and Thank you Hillary for doing such a wonderful thing in honor of your beloved dog
Hillary is such a wonderful person, she is one of the most generous, loving & caring person I have grown to love. She is so loving towards her fans. She and Lindsay Harrison are doing a wonderful thing in helping pet owners pay their Veterinarian bills through The Willie-Coppee Fund.