Hillary B. Smith (Nora, OLTL; ex-Margo, ATWT, 1983-89)
“I have so many memorable moments from the six-and-a-half years I spent on that show; I think that every year was stockpiled full of memories and laughter. I so loved my experience. I think one of the greatest moments is the scene where [Margo] has to run upstairs and [she’s] holding onto baby Adam, which was played by Phipsy [Smith’s real-life son]. Hal said to Margo, ‘I’ll hold him.’ So I’m standing, looking down at a poignant moment of father holding son, but father doesn’t know that this is his son. He’s looking at baby Adam so lovingly. And Phips at that moment – he was learning how to speak – takes his little paws and places them on Benjamin’s [Hendrickson, Hal] face and says so lovingly, ‘Dada!’ That was it. I turned around and went, ‘That’s why they should be paying him the big bucks! My God, he’s writing the show. You couldn’t have gotten anyone to play that moment better.’ It was priceless.”
Soap Opera Digest
September 5, 2006
Hillary B. Smith
(Nora, ONE LIFE TO LIVE)
It was a sure bet that we were going to prefer whatever story OLTL gave Smith to do over the months they had her languishing in a coma. Unfortunately, that story turned out to be another couple of months of post-op stroke, isolating the character for much of the time from the rest of the action in Llanview. But Smith was able to take those lemons and make lemonade.
Nora has always been a strong, tough lady. Since the hard-nosed attorney first stormed into Llanview 14 years ago, she’s never been shy about speaking her mind, and Smith’s portrayal has proven the actress to be quite the scene stealer. But the stroke changed things by forcing a more subdued Nora, to say the least. Instead of grandstanding in court before the entire town, Nora suddenly found herself bedridden, struggling with the most mundane tasks (speaking, walking) and having to accept that she needed help. It provided us with a number of sweet scenes between her and R.J., whose affection for Nora bubbled to the surface when she needed him most, especially considering that Nora’s best friend, Evangeline, was busy dealing with blindness, a neck injury and a jealous love triangle. It also resulted in adorable scenes between Nora and Matthew, who made his mother proud by showing the maturity to call the newly unemployed Paige to be his mother’s nurse when stubborn Nora fired the last one.
Smith made the most of every one of those quiet scenes. She showed how Nora went from frustrated to determined, and then hinted that the witty, tough woman we have known and loved for more than a decade was on her way back.
“I can get out of bed myself, I can walk, you know?” she told Matthew. “I’m not running any 10K’s, but I’m doing pretty good.”
With a sagging face, slurred speech and weak voice, Smith carefully gave us a glimpse of Nora’s enduring strength, and if anyone failed to jump in her corner at the outset of this ordeal, surely they were rooting for her by the end.
By: Denise Balcarcel
What a difference a month makes! Most of you know that I had the incredible opportunity of attending both the OLTL Fan Luncheon and Catherine Hickland’s celebrity dinner back in August. To say that I walked away from both events with memories that shall last a lifetime is a complete understatement. Susan and I also had the fortune of interacting with many fans about the H.E.R. initiative at different events, which is exactly one of the goals we set out to accomplish. I discussed the initiative at length with fans at Cat’s benefit dinner, and I continue to be amazed by the incredible response we’ve received since launching this campaign. I’ve designed programs for a living for the past thirteen years, but have never received such an overwhelming, positive response to any initiative as I have with H.E.R. Susan and I receive fan inquiries and suggestions nearly every single day, and it’s so humbling when I sit back and realize how many people care about the incredible women who inspired this initiative.
So it is with great pleasure that I announce the expansion of the H.E.R. initiative from three fan bases to five. Effective immediately, the H.E.R. initiative has been re-launched as C.H.E.R.I. (Cat-Hillary-Erika-Robin-Ilene), to include Catherine Hickland and Ilene Kristen. I envisioned adding additional fan bases as I was first developing the initiative, but needed to ensure that the three core bases were successfully in place first. I had the opportunity of spending time with both women at the August fan events weekend. They are gorgeous, warm, witty, funny, generous and gracious – not to mention amazingly talented - and have dedicated years of service to ABC and to the fans. It was devastating for all of us when Cat and Ilene were first bumped to recurring, and we are seeing less of Lindsay and Roxy than we ever thought imaginable. So after receiving numerous requests from many of you, after meeting and spending time with them individually, and after conferring with one another, we have mutually agreed to formally recognize them in the initiative. The new fan base representation is as follows:
Denise: Hillary/Catherine
Debbie: Erika
Susan: Robin/Ilene
I have modified the letterhead/mission statement, and Debbie has redesigned all of the graphics for us. Susan is modifying the Cafepress home page, and redesigning all merchandise to reflect the changes. Since Susan maintains invoice records from those of you who have ordered merchandise, we’re going to send you new C.H.E.R.I. apparel free of charge, as our way of saying “thank-you” for continuing to support us and the campaign.
I was inspired to add Catherine to the initiative immediately after having met and interacted with her back in August. Her charity benefit dinner was so much fun and actually, I prefer these intimate gatherings. For obvious reasons, the OLTL luncheon needs to be executed in a grand, large-scale fashion. This is actually the first opportunity I've had to speak with Catherine, and she is simply fabulous. HBS and Cat did a takeoff on their "Soap Chicks" routine, and I haven't laughed that hard in years. These wonderful women have such great respect and love for one another, and it really shows when you see them interact in person. When you watch the two of them play off one another firsthand, it's an unforgettable experience. It's so humbling, because both of these women are incredibly gifted, yet their limited screen time enables one to forget how far-reaching their talents extend. I must also say that Catherine has some of the warmest and kindest fans I've ever encountered. I met people at Cat's dinner event who were perfect strangers, and by the end of the evening, we all felt like old friends. These relationships have continued ever since, and I have been working firsthand with these same individuals to fine-tune Cat’s addition to the initiative. The incredible friendship and respect between HBS and Cat has obviously rubbed off on their fan bases. How wonderful is that? I felt so proud to be one of several Hillary fans in attendance that evening, and my existing admiration and respect for Cat got bumped to a whole new level after this experience. Susan had a similar experience at an event which Ilene attended that same weekend, and we were inspired to confer with Debbie and add them to the initiative immediately thereafter. I posted specific details about the new initiative on HBS’s board, as well as on SoapCentral, where we currently have a large thread running.
All of you know by now that Dan Gauthier (Kevin) has been released from OLTL. This is incredibly sad news and reinforces how significant fan-based initiatives, like C.H.E.R.I., can prove to be. Dan’s Fan Club President (Deb) has started a campaign for Dan and all of the details are posted on his official website, which can be found on the main page of HBS’s site via the links section. Dan may not be a veteran of OLTL, but he made his mark on the canvas and earned a place in our hearts. I will keep you posted with any pertinent updates, as I have reached out to Deb via e-mail, but again - this is why fan initiatives are so important. Our efforts have kept actors on the canvas, and we have saved characters from destruction and demise. The most important thing we can do at this point is remain steadfast and consistent in all of our efforts. We are fighting to save individuals whose contributions are crucial not only to OLTL, but who are vital to perpetuating the daytime medium as we know it.
-Lauri Hogan (The show’s
publicist)
-My agent
-I also have everybody that I call a lot. Or people that I don’t
all a lot but I always have trouble finding their number. Or
people who have just given me their number, I’ll go, “Wait, hold
on,” and I’ll quickly program it into my phone. It’s faster almost
to plug it into your phone than it is to find your phone book and
write it down. I have 72 locations, with about three numbers on
each location.
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