Soaps In Depth
December 4, 2007
Karma Chameleon
Catherine Hickland (Linday) has learned to adapt at every stage of life.
“She’s not a well person,” says ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s Catherine Hickland of her character, Lindsay. “She killed her ex-husband, has been in and out of St. Ann’s and was always a bit of a loose cannon. And what happens with people in real life is that they have buttons that get pushed…”
Of course, nobody’s pushed more buttons over the past few years than her murder victim, Spencer Truman! “I think of the flashback scenes with him when he was in the hospital bed,” says the star. “He was teasing and goading Lindsay [about revealing that Tommy was Todd’s son], and she just snapped. It was that simple.”
Cat Meets Kit
Although nothing has ever been simple about Lindsay’s life, things started out much easier for her portrayer. “I grew up watching soap operas with my mother and nana,” she shares, “and wanted to be a soap opera actor. When I went to California [at age 18], Michelle Pfeiffer was a friend and was just starting out. And she very specifically wanted to be in films, but my reality was that I was going to be on a soap opera.”
Her wish came true in 1980 when she landed the role of Dr. Courtney Marshall on ANOTHER WORLD, three months before her character and others were spun off onto TEXAS. “I didn’t know what I was doing,” she confesses. “It was my first big job and I really relied on the kindness of the older actors who could mentor me a little bit.”
Hickland proved her acting chops a couple of years later on another soap, CAPITOL, playing the dual roles of Julie Clegg and Jenny Diamond. During this time, she also dated future husband David Hasselhoff – whom she met when he was on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS – and guest-starred on his show, KNIGHT RIDER. “It was always an unstable relationship,” she admits, “and that was a tough time in my life because I had anorexia nervosa. That terrible divorce was a really awful experience for me, so I just had zero self-esteem. After CAPITOL was canceled, I went to Italy to make a movie and thought, ‘Wow, it’s great over here.’ So I decided to stay and find myself.”
Dreaming Her Dreams
After two years of living abroad, Hickland returned to the United States (“I missed my family and everything American”) and tried her hand at acting again. “After you take yourself out of something,” she explains, “it’s not as easy to get back in as you might think. But it turned out that getting back on soaps was really the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”
Not only did Hickland return to daytime as Tess on LOVING and its spinoff, THE CITY, but she also got back into the dating scene and married Michael E. Knight (Tad, ALL MY CHILDREN) in 1992. “He has been the most important relationship I ever had in my entire life,” she points out. “I think we grew up together. And we did something that was interesting: We went to couples therapy to see if we could save this marriage, and when it was clear it wasn’t going to work out, we decided to continue with the goal to separate and divorce with as much love and dignity as we could.”
Once THE CITY got cancelled in 1997, the performer decided not to just rest on her laurels. “You have to reinvent yourself constantly to be interesting,” she offers, “not just to the public, but to yourself. And so I made my CD that year, went on the road with Les Miserables, cut off all my hair and had my implants taken out – I never wanted them in the first place!”
Positively Insane
The place where Hickland landed up a year later – and where she’s been ever since – was OLTL, now home to the legendary Nora/Lindsay feud. “She’s my favorite character that I have ever played,” enthuses Hickland of her institutionalized siren, “and the longest. She has so many layers to her and is so complicated and nutty and loving. Lindsay’s codependent beyond belief, but hello – most of us are!”
FYIFYIFYIFYIFYI
Birthday: February 11.
Birthplace: Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Greetings From Tibet: Hickland’s 6-year-old company, Cat Cosmetics, continues to thrive. “Next year, I’m launching a new line called Namaste,” she says. “It’s comprised of just the basic things that you need, but it’s presented in packaging you’ve never seen before! And it’s of a very spiritual nature.”
One For The Book: In the fall of 2008, Simon & Schuster will release The 30 Day Heartbreak Buster. “It’s about moving beyond and creating the life you want,” shares the author. “I came up with a program for myself after a heartbreak and tried it on many people after that.”
On Lindsay’s Romance With Rex: “That was one of my favorite storylines,” she says, “because it was crazy that Lindsay would be involved with somebody so young. And yet I thought there was an amazing chemistry between those characters.”
On Kathy Brier (Marcie): “We’re great friends and really connected,” Hickland shares. “I admire her so much. Kathy’s a terrific talent and so committed. She’s just a great actress.”
On Working With Robert S. Woods: “I couldn’t ask for better,” she enthuses. “I’ve known him since 1980, and for me, he’s the most comfortable person to be around. And he’s the best actor, so you always feel like he’s a safety net underneath you. It’s just the best experience.”
On Her Previous ABC Stint: “LOVING was a fun show,” recalls Hickland, “but THE CITY was really great. It always made me so riled up that we got one year in a terrible time slot – that show had such potential.”
