When Nora emerged from her coma a few months back, fans were anxious to see the brilliant attorney up and about right away. Unfortunately, as in real life, recovery from a debilitating medical illness can take time. But ONE LIFE TO LIVE headwriter Dena Higley promises us that Matthew’s mother is still making strides with her condition. “The more progress you make, the more rapid your progress is,” Higley points out. “You build on each small step.” With recent fears brought up that Nora might have suffered brain damage, it’s understandable that there’s been some concern about exactly how complete Nora’s recovery will be. However, Higley assures us that there’s no need to worry. “Once she starts making headway,” says the scribe, “the progress will really step up. We are building toward the summer.” So, are there any hints for what we can expect from Bo’s ex in the coming months? “Nora will be doing much better,” previews Higley, “speaking and reacting – she’ll actually be influencing other people’s lives!”
(Soaps In Depth, June 6, 2006)
The
title of this month’s column says it all: it is time to up the ante in
our campaign, my friends. This commentary may be redundant for those
of you who read the blog each week, but I feel this issue is so
important that it must be readdressed. I received numerous e-mails
after HBS’s luncheon, and while all of us agree that we need to kick
our efforts up a notch, we are wrestling with how to do so. I think
one of the most effective strategies we can employ right now is a
media blitz. I e-mailed dozens of letters to soap magazine editors
over the past two weeks, and intend on repeating that effort until we
see results. If every one of us inundates the magazines with letters
about Hillary's back-burner status and Nora's current whereabouts,
those letters will continue to be published and read by ABC execs and
fans alike. I firmly believe that persistence pays off.
Here is my theory. I believe the networks will tolerate and more
readily dismiss feedback within our own personal correspondence, but
the stakes change when these same thoughts and feelings are published
for the whole world to see. Some of us have written wonderful letters
that continue to be published. I cannot imagine that ABC would want
resounding negative publicity from a fan base to dominate the press.
The soap periodicals know that Hillary's fans are incensed over what
has transpired. How do I know that the media is listening and
responding? Ask yourselves this question: How many times has she been
featured in the last few issues of ABC Soaps in Depth (SID)
alone? The answer, for those of you who don't regularly read the
magazines, is lots. There was mention upon mention of her luncheon, in
addition to features with her family, colleagues, etc. Every single
comment from the magazine brass has been both substantive and
supportive. The fact that HBS is being showcased in prominent features
within the magazines, while she isn't even on the front-burner, sends
a huge message. The media is on our side, so we must get
creative and use them to our fullest advantage.
Another goal I would really like to accomplish is getting Hillary's
name back on the Top 5 Poll lists for both SID and SOD.
Why do these polls matter, you ask? First of all, let me say this:
magazine polls are unscientific and people routinely cheat, which is
why some actors constantly dominate the top slots. However, certain
fan bases really use these polls to their advantage, and for this, I
have to give them props. If every single one of Hillary's fans who has
access to the Internet voted for her in the magazine polls, she would
constantly hit and remain in the Top 5 ranking - no question. I think
a lot of fans feel that because these polls "really don't matter", and
because some viewers cheat and vote multiple times, they're not worth
our time. Nothing could be further from the truth. In and of
themselves, the polls don’t mean much, but used as part of a larger
media campaign blitz, they carry weight. Can you imagine how strong a
message it would send if Hillary hit the Top 5 while still on the
back-burner?
I would also like to incorporate heavy correspondence to sponsors as
part of this media blitz. I started putting a new list together back
in March, because I was not satisfied with the partial list that
circulates in cyberspace from time to time. My efforts only got
temporarily derailed with the excitement over HBS's luncheon, and for
those of you who missed my post on the fan boards, the updated list is
finally complete and posted in the "General Hillary Discussion" thread
on her message board. I wanted to provide us with as comprehensive
and accurate a list as possible, and doing so required that I watch
every commercial that aired on ABC and SoapNet during OLTL. My goal is
to target network and cable sponsors in this revved up writing
campaign. The list took some time to compile because of the massive
amount of data I had to organize and process. However, I'm pleased to
say that the list is finally complete, and ready and waiting for you
on Hillary's message board. In addition to sponsors and the
magazines, we have my dear friend Ryan Clements, with whom you can
communicate via SOC's website after reading his Two Scoops
commentaries. Again, his column reaches thousands of people every
week. Most of you are also familiar with Mimi Torchin over at SoapNet.
I received an incredibly upbeat and thoughtful letter from her,
written in response to correspondence I had posted in support of
Hillary. I recently posted a list of ABC/Media Contacts on Hillary's
message board, adjacent to the updated sponsor list. Those links
include ABC execs, magazine editors, Ryan's column and Mimi's message
board.
I cannot express how meeting Hillary reenergized and strengthened my drive to fight for her and Nora's character. I am who I am today in great part because of how HBS has touched my life and colored my world. Hillary just exudes strength, love and warmth. She embodies every wonderful quality I had ever read or been told existed, and meeting her just solidified everything for me. There was enough love and inspiration in the room on May 6th to stretch around the world and back again. I have never met anyone in my entire life who is more worth fighting for than Hillary, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. She renewed both my strength and my resolve, and I will not stop fighting until justice prevails. True, we are considered underdogs in this race. We cannot match a network in terms of money, power or influence, but what we lack in that area we more than compensate for in tenacity, drive and spirit. The truth in this situation is on our side, and nothing is more powerful than the truth. So keep brainstorming, writing and smiling - I know I will.
Birthday: May 25
Hails From: West Palm Beach, FL
Fowl Fact: Once owned chickens named Tony, Orlando and Dawn
OLTL Character She'd Most Like to Play (Besides Nora): Lindsay
Brush With Reva: Smith's first day on THE DOCTORS was Kim Zimmer's,
(Reva, GUIDING LIGHT) last day. "We just laughed ourselves silly."
If all had been right in the world on September 12, 2001, Hillary B. Smith (Nora, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) would have been lunching with her Soap Opera Digest interviewer, show publicist in tow, at an Upper West Side eatery.
But because all was extremely not right with the world on that day, she did something else. Trapped on the still-stunned island of Manhattan, she and co-star Laurence Lau (Sam)--who, like the rest of the OLTL cast, found themselves with free time when taping shut down the day before--walked several miles south along a Hudson River bike path.
"It got to where you needed to take it out of the black box," she explains of their hike. "We passed Chelsea Piers, where the triage center was set up; there was a morgue in the ice rink. We watched firemen who had been dropped off at 14th Street [the boundary of the closed-off area], walking to Ground Zero. People were applauding and holding up signs that said, 'God Bless you, you're our heroes." They were even cheering [power company] Con Ed."
By the following day--Thursday--soaps resumed taping, and Smith and Lau returned to their routine. The fantasy world of Llanview, PA; a place not far from a fantasy version of New York that had not just lost more than 6,000 people, two very tall buildings and an innocent sense of safety. It wasn't easy.
"We all felt so silly doing something as inane as a soap opera," admits Smith, who, along with husband Nip, lost six close friends. "But," she adds, "it was gratifying to learn lines and get yourself away from the television set." Executive Producer Gary Tomlin enforced the plunge into the story by insisting that TV monitors be turned off around the studio. "Not because he wanted to keep us in the dark, but because he felt it was important to focus on something other than the tragedy."
And after several days of relentless reality television and 24-hour news coverage, it became safe to assert that a little fantasy was needed. "As silly as we feel being here in the midst of all this tragedy," points out Smith, "we are going to serve a purpose. People want to be mindlessly entertained. That means being engrossed in something you've created, or when you can help someone escape their reality and bring them into your reality. That's our job."
Smith ought to know. She's been doing that job--mostly on, occasionally off--for nearly 20 years, through a marriage to a guy she originally met at age 14, and two pregnancies. She got her start as the feisty Kit on THE DOCTORS in 1982, moved to AS THE WORLD TURNS as the first Margo recast the following year and ended up at OLTL in 1992 in a role that still thrills her almost 10 years down the line. She's taken aback at the realization that she's now played Nora longer than any other character in her repertoire. "I got to create her," she explains. "I got to make her smart--certainly smarter than me--and I got to make her righteous, but also flawed. Flawed is the most important thing."
Acting was the path Smith always steered toward, even though by the time she arrived at Sarah Lawrence College, her loyalties remained divided: "I went there because they had a program in theater and a program in human genetics. I was going to graduate with my B.A. and my master's at the same time." But genetics did not determine destiny this time around, as Smith discovered she had the interest, but not he passion, to keep up with the field. "Theater was my passion," she says. "I'm still fascinated with biology and physiology--but I'm grateful that no one has to rely on me for genetic information."
She caught her acting break as a senior at Sarah Lawrence, when a school production of Song Night In The City went off-Broadway, and from there she went on to other theater and prime-time TV roles like NO SOAP, RADIO before entering daytime. "I did everything backwards," she recalls. In 1983, she wed Phillip "Nip" Smith. They'd kept in touch since they were teenagers, but only linked up romantically a year before they got hitched. Then along came Courtney in 1985 and Phillip ("Phips") in 1988.
Having a daughter who's older than Smith was when she first met Nip doesn't bother her in the least. "It's more of a concern to [Courtney[," grins Smith. "It gives her pause. I was like, 'If it hasn't hit you now, trust me, you haven't met [the right man] yet.' She goes back and forth between wanting a career as a trophy wife--which I support wholeheartedly because I'm hoping it'll support a lifestyle to which I'd like to grow accustomed--and never wanting to be married and having her own career. Her dreams are all over the map, and that's how it should be. I had real tunnel vision."
Still, that tunnel vision has landed her where she is today--with a mountain of memorable moments and, as Smith puts it, "some interesting detours." One of those detours involved an on-screen train crash last year in which Nora was presumed dead. Smith spent most of the summer in a bed on-set, kidnapped and recovering. "We hit a peak with the train wreck," she remembers. "But after that it was really dark and dismal. There were syringes and lost memories. There wasn't any light or laughter. My character got pushed in directions I didn't agree with, but my job is to say the words on the page, and say them as well as I possibly can. My job is not to come up with the stories--people need to understand that."
Fortunately, life has turned around for Nora, and Smith says she's starting to see some of the "light and laughter" that the show was missing. "We're trying to bring back the original character of Nora, not as a victim, but as a survivor," she explains.
To that end, she has welcomed a recast Sam (Lau) and opened her arms wide to re-welcome Ty Treadway (this time as Troy, not the Nora-obsessed Colin). That, says Smith, is enough to put light and laughter in anybody's day. "We feel it in the building," she says. "It's a very happy place to be now. Recently, one of our production assistants looked and me and said, "I'd pay money to be you.' I had Larry Lau [as Sam] hugging me, Ty Treadway [as Troy] looking at me with love in his eyes, Director Frank Valentini showing Larry how to hold me." She laughs a little. The fantasy holds, at least for now, "I was sitting there, going, 'You know, it's a good day to be Hillary.'"
A Little Hillary History
How do Hillary B. Smith's other daytime roles stack up? Here's a quick
tour:
THE DOCTORS (1982)
Role: Nurse Kit McCormick
Smith Says: "I used to watch THE DOCTORS, and I actually met David
O'Brien [ex-Steve] when he was doing a play down in Florida. I went up to
him and said, 'I watch you and I want to be in a soap opera and how do I
do that?' He was very polite and nice and tolerant and said, 'First,
you've got to get an agent…' So, about five years later, I show up on the
set and my first scene is with…David O'Brien. I walked up to him and said,
'You don't remember me, but…' and he said, 'Oh, yes, I do. I've been
waiting for you.' I loved every minute of it."
AS THE WORLD TURNS (1983-90)
Role: Cop Margo Montgomery Hughes
Smith Says: "My family had never watched AS THE WORLD TURNS, so
they did [when I was on the show] and got hooked. When I started at ONE
LIFE, which was in the same time slot, my sisters and my aunt were like,
'I can't switch over. I don't know what to tell you.' Now, they all
watch…I loved being [at ATWT], but by the time I left, Margo was played
out. I really felt I had taken her in all of the directions I could with
my life experience at that point. New blood was a good thing for
Margo--and I was ready to move on."
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