McCooking’
With Class
John
McCook Loves His Meaty Role On B&B, But His Real Life Is Sizzling, Too
When
you watch John McCook on BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL, you get the feeling he is having
the time of his life playing Eric Forrester. And you know what? He is.
„The
funny thing is, I said ‘no’ when [Co-Creator] Bill Bell first asked me,“
recalls McCook, dimples sparkling. „Then I ran into Bill, and he said, ‘Oh,
I thought you’d look older. ’ He was looking for me to play the patriarch of
this family, and at 42 I looked like I could have been a European fashion
designer. But to be the parent of four grown children at the end of a 30-year
relationship, that was stretching it a bit. So I said, ‘I’m not sure I want
to do it.’ And he said ‘I’m not sure you can! ’ “
But
by this time McCook wanted the role, so with a little gray hair added to his
temples, the rest was Forrester history. B&B debuted in 1987 and caught on
with viewers (especially YOUNG AND RESTLESS fans) almost immediately. „I
thought it would be great to play a fashion designer, the head of a family
who’s creative and not a manipulator or a Quartermaine,“ explains McCook.
„Bill’s version of Eric was the man behind the wooden desk at a big company,
worrying about his children. It went like that for a couple of years until at [my
wife] Laurette’s insistence, I lost some weight and pulled my self back
together. Her theory was that if I looked the leading man part again, it
wouldn’t be right form me to be sitting at a desk worrying about the children.
She was right.“ McCook began doing more scenes with Katherine Kelly Lang.
(Brooke) and now makes more love connections than on-screen stud/son Ronn Moss
(Ridge).
„I
used to worry about playing 10 years older than I
am, but now it’s fine. I don’t need to put gray in my hair anymore; I tell
Susan Flannery [Stephanie] she’s responsible for it!“
Alter
ego Eric will be lucky if gray hair is all he gets from new bride, Sheila. „
was really lucky that they hooked Kimberlin [Brown] up with me,“ praises
McCook of his TV wife. „We work together really well. She’s real pro and
very inventive in scenes, as am I. We’re having a great time.“
Brown
echoes her newly wedded husband. „John has a great sense of humor,“ she
gushes. „He’s wonderful to work with, and it’s neat to work with someone
who is a excited about the work as I am.“ Anything else? „He’s got really
soft lips,“ Brown giggles.
As
happy as he in on the set, it’s clear that McCook’s greatest joy comes from
his family. „They’re funny and wonderful,“ nods the proud husband and
father. „My kids are not exactly impressed with the work of a soap opera. Now
when I do FAMILY FEUD, that’s something,“
he chuckles. A check of the B&B set reveals that Dad’s dressing room is
one of the younger McCooks’ favorite places. „They love going to work with
Daddy. It’s like I used to love going to the oil fields with my dad. No matter
what your dad does, or your mom, it’s neat to go with your parents and see
what they’re like when they’re being adult.“
McCook
didn’t have much chance to spend with his parents once he was grown: He bolted
for New York practically after the pro. „I was cast in a Broadway revival of West
Side Story in 1964 at City Center. It was amazing that I was in New York
about six hours and I got that role,“ he remembers, still incredulous. And his
career has come as far as the quality of his living quarters since his first
apartment. „I lived for a while with friends in fourth floor walk-up on 48th
Street; I nearly lost all my genitalia to a very large rodent near the bowl. I
mean, I’m from Ventura. There was no electricity in this bathroom, just an old
Chianti bottle with a candle in it and a couple of kitchen matches. I struck the
match and out of the corner of my eye I see this thing move; it was in the bowl,
completely wet. That was where I lived! It was great.“
McCook
spent the next decade in musical theater and working with then-wife Juliet
Prowse on her Las Vegas shows. (Today, McCook says he and Prowse are „friendly,“
and that he is „close“ with their son, Seth.) He was introduced to daytime
as Y&R’s suave Lance Prentiss in 1976. „It seems like I’ve been on
daytime for a long time, but I really haven’t,“ McCook says. „I was on
Y&R for about four-and-a-half years, and now six years on B&B. I left
Y&R when it went to an hour in 1980 because it was a good time to get out
into the workplace.“ During that time, McCook married Spang and began his
second family. When it is pointed out that he has been involved with 40-year.old
women for most of his adult life, he laughs. „Always have! Still am! I was
younger than Juliet and now older than Laurette. But always with a
40-year.old.“ McCook was also busy professionally during this time. „ For
those seven years I did tons of episodics, pilots, guest stars. I was in the
pilot for L.A. LAW - I’m really proud of that. And I was in every sitcom in
town. No one had ever seen me in anything but a tuxedo; I wasn’t an A-list
actor, but I was a B-list actor. And I worked a lot.“
Fortunately,
the „B-list actor“ was coaxed back to daytime. „The first reason I came
back was that the Bells had been very good to me. And the other was steady,
continuous work.“ McCook has grown al lot - as an actor and a person - since
his first daytime stint. „I don’t have to be the hunk anymore, but I get to
have as many stories, which is better. So I’m feeling very secure. And proud.
Not cocky, but secure.“
Where
would he like to be in 20 years? McCook pauses. „I’d rather be Macdonald
Carey than getting a starting time at Pebble Beach for gold.“
By Carolyn Hinsey
Soap Opera Digest 07/06/93