(Note: Unlike most of the other interviews on this website, this interview is with an actress who was not a star of Dark Shadows, but its subject was one of Louis Edmonds' co-stars on All My Children, so I decided to inlcude it.)
In 1995, I interviewed Eileen Herlie for my book "Big Lou: the biography of Louis Edmonds." She and Louis had become friends when they appeared together on the soap All My Children. I had already met Eileen one long weekend at Louis' Long Island estate, the Rookery. I'd watched Eileen as Pine Valley's dress shop and boarding house owner Myrtle Fargate over the years on AMC, but I was a little surprised to learn that weekend about the long, successful career she'd had before joining the soap's cast. For one thing, she'd portrayed Gertrude in the 1948 classic screen version of Hamlet (which won the Best Picture Oscar for that year.) Before that, she'd already been a huge succcess on the British stage, then on Broadway. The whole weekend, she regaled me with stories about her years in show business. But my favorite moment was when we went grocery shopping... Eileen wanted to prepare a special crockpot recipe, so she and Louis and I went to the local Edward's grocery store to shop. I've been to that same store dozens of times with Louis, and because he's lived there for 30 years, people don't really think anything of seeing a TV star picking out potatoes...but as I made my way though the aisles with Louis and Eileen, I was really amused to see person after person wrecking their grocery carts when they noticed "Langley and Myrtle" shopping for pork chops.
A couple of weeks later, Eileen and I spoke again, this time about Louis:
Craig Hamrick: When did you first meet Louis?
Eileen Herlie: I met Louie for the very first time when he joined the show, and anything I can say about Louie is just knowing him at the show and knowing him out at the Rookery....
CH: Were you already on All My Children when he joined the cast?
EH: I was on before him, and we came
together in the story line because (many years ago, Myrtle) had
been a carnival woman, and he (was playing Lenny Vlasic who) had
been a con artist in the same carnival and had stolen my bag at
one point. So we had met in the carnival. And then the next thing
is, he's (pretending to be a professor named Langley Wallingford
and he's) engaged to Pheobe, (played by) Ruth Warrick. And I have
a terrible feeling that I know him from somewhere, except that
he's changed his name. And I discover that he's Lenny Vlasic.
And it's on his wedding day to Ruth and I get into the car and
whisk over. And immediately after they say "I do," I
come in and say "Hello, Lenny How are you?" (She laughs.)
And that began our meeting on the show, which was fun. And we
had a lot of good fun in the show together. And he's got an adorable
sense of comedy, as you know, and a great sense of humor. And
I love it. And we loved working together. And we became sort of....
I was single at the time, and he was single at the time, and we
became sort of what you might call, "two who went together
to the Christmas parties," things like that. And then the
odd weekend out at the Rookery where we enjoyed each other's company.
And enjoyed walking and talking nonsense. He's also a very serious
person too, as you well know. That's about the sum total of our
relationship. I don't know if there's anything else that you can
think of to ask me.
CH: What was the relationship between your characters--between Langley and Myrtle like? Friends? Enemies?
EH: At first on the show, we certainly were enemies. I had no time for him at all. But that sort of changed because he liked the idea of not always having to be Langley all the time. It was such a relief to be Lenny and the only person he could be Lenny with was with Myrtle. So we became also friends in the show, but very much behind Pheobe's back. Pheobe was never allowed to find out. Not that I remember. But to try to remember the ins and outs of a show that does five shows a week for 25 years....it's not easy at all.
CH: Did you and Louis become friends right away, after he joined the cast?
EH: We became friends very quickly, because you know, you can always tell when somebody is on the same wavelength as you are, you know. He's a very good actor. He's a very good comedian. We worked very well together. And we had the same sense of humor. We had the same idea. We enjoyed, out at the Rookery, going for long walks in the woods and watching the swans in the lake. Things like that. And just we related together. I enjoy his company. I think he thinks I talk to much, but on the other hand, you can't change people entirely. And I think he just tunes out or goes into his garden or whatever.
CH: You mentioned going to parties...
EH: Once when we were off together to (an All My Children) Christmas party at the Waldorf. I said, "Louie, let's get the limo, but let's get a real stretch--one of these that stretches the whole block." Which he did. It was snowing and it was wonderful. I said, "Let's not go straight to the Waldorf. We're in a stretch limo--it's probably our first and last. Let's just go around New York and have a look at New York in the snow," which we did. Then we arrived at the Waldorf. I'd said, "I will put on my evening pants suit, if you'll wear your kilt"...because he's terribly proud of being part Scottish. And he (once visited) Scotland, and I was born in Scotland, so that's also a link. He got himself in the full-dress kilt. All the ladies were in full dress, but I wore pants. I said, "I'll wear pants and you'll wear your kilt. You wear the skirt and I'll wear the pants." So we got to the Waldorf. And we discovered there was a wonderful band playing, and the floor was completely empty. Nobody's dancing, and everybody is huddled around their tables wearing fur coats. I said, "What's the matter?" They said, "The heating's off." It's 15 degrees outside, and I said, "Oh my goodness. and they're all sitting around the table trying to get warm. What a silly way to get warm. There's only one way to get warm." And I threw my fur on the platform of the band, and I said to Louie, "Let's dance!" And the two of us--just the two of us, him in his kilt, me in my pants--danced up a storm, and of course kept wonderfully warm. And in about 10 minutes, the dance floor was totally packed, because everyone realized maybe this was the way to keep warm. But Louie and I had arrived last, since we'd taken a tour around the city in our stretch limo.
CH: (laughing) ...and you in your pants suit.
EH: And, I must say, it's a wonderful evening pants suit! It's just very typical of Louie and me, and it was a great night.
CH: I know it's been awhile since he's been on the show.... Do people still talk about him around the set?
EH: Everyone adores him. We miss him
terribly. But really, the thing is, once a story sort of tapers
off, and the writers don't really know where to take it. ... I've
been there for a number of years. I'm still there because I'm
like a bottle of glue. I stick things together--because of the
boarding house and the dress shop. Those are places for characters
to come together... I started off with wonderful stories, but
you know there's a limit... That's why the young people come and
go and come and go all the time. There are only about half a dozen
people left, out of the 25 years, who have really gone the full
(run of the show).
When a story sort of tapers off, that's it ... As an observer, I can only assume that they had taken the story of Ruth being married to Louie as far as they could. This was considered an amusing story for Ruth, to get them married and get that underway. I've never been married on the show, and I've made it a rule not to get me married, because it's the quickest way out the door! I mean, if they're going to have romance, they want young kids in their 20s and 30s who can jump in and out of bed. They're not going to do that with middle-aged people. They can only go so far with that story. And I know it hurts Louie terribly that he's not with the show. He loves acting, he loved his work and he loved being with all the people, and he was extremely popular, because he's a very amusing, delightful person to be around. And I think having gone through this terrible operation and to find that things have tapered off, has been a very depressing situation for him.
CH: Were you around Louis during the time he had the cancer surgery? What was that like? (Note: Louis was written out of the story line of All My Children for about a year in the late 1980s, while he dealt with throat cancer surgery and radiation treatment, for which he returned home to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.)
EH: It was a really, really difficult time for him. I can only imagine how painful it must have been.... It's been a very harsh experience for him. I think truly, (it's been) the harshest and worst experience of his life, because, he is by nature a very happy, active person. And he hates the feeling that we all hate, that our 20- and 30-year-old energy begins to get a little depleted, you know.
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Eileen Herlie with Laurence Olivier in the 1948 version of Hamlet, which won the Best Picture Oscar for that year. Although she was much younger than Olivier, she played his character's mother. |
CH: Did you keep in touch with him while he was recuperating?
EH: I called him regularly (while he was in) in Baton Rouge, but for some time his mouth had to be stitched so he was not able to speak. I always keep in touch with him--sort of once a month or so, whether he's in Baton Rouge and New York. I talked to (his sister) Alma on the phone and got to know her that way before I met her. She was taking great care of him.
CH: I know he's better, but he's still kind of weak...
EH: Now he's fine, but he still needs to gain weight. He's still thin. For a while Louie had not been eating much because he said he can't taste anything. He said, "Eating is such a bore, because I can't taste anything." So I was so delighted the weekend that you and I were out at the Rookery and he ate so well...because that crockpot dinner I made was the first one I could remember him saying he'd been able to taste since the operation. God knows, I filled it with enough herbs and spices. If he didn't taste that, he was never going to taste anything!
CH: You gave him that crockpot several years ago, right?
EH: Yes, I gave him the crockpot because I know how he loves gardening and he loves his precious garden. I had a crockpot for years.... It was a great thing because I was always very busy during the day. And if I put it on, the meal took care of itself....
I know Louie gets out in that garden. And I don't think he'd ever get a prize for cooking. He'd get a great gardening prize, but his cooking is not quite the same. And I said, "What do you eat after a day in the garden?" And I said, "I'm going to give you something that you'll find very useful." And he fell in love with it, because before he started his work in the garden, he'd put his dinner in, and when he finished his work and it was getting dark, he'd come in and his dinner was ready.
CH: Well, hopefully we'll all get together again at the Rookery. That was a lot of fun.
EH: Indeed!
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Interviews with Dark Shadows stars
CollinWeb links to the official webpages of Dark Shadows stars Diana Millay, Louis Edmonds, and Nancy Barrett--plus much more!
