When John joined the cast of Y&R in 1976 after having worked extensively in the world of musical theater he though the role would give his vocal chords a nice break. But don't get your hopes up too soon! “I had to sing the first day I was on Y&R, and I freaked out,” he laughingly recalls these days. John’s first song on Y&R was Cole Porter’s “It’s All Right With me” and three or four songs each week were to follow.

When B&B premiered in 1987 John was 42 and there was one big problem about him playing Eric Forrester. John simply looked too young to play the father of four grown children and the soap’s patriarch. So, unlike the legions of most of the soap stars who color their hair to hide the gray, John had to add silver highlights!

The strong bond Susan Flannery and John’s characters Stephanie and Eric Forrester share on B&B also continues off screen. One day, after more than 12 years of co-starring Susan finally realized while running lines together with John in his dressing room how she really feels about him. “I just looked at him and said ‘I never told you this before, but I want you to know how much it means to me to have you on this show with me.’ ”, Susan recalls. Though surprised, John was moved and his eyes even welled up a bit.

In October 1989 Teri Ann Linn (ex -Kristen Forrester, B&B) and well known fashion photographer Richard Hume got married on a friend's mansion in Hollywood/L.A.. Among the guests where John and his family. It was a fairy tale night wedding and John's kids even acted as flower girl and ring bearer.

While he loves watching “Frasier”, “Seinfeld” and “Chicago Hope”, John never turns in for the “Jerry Springer Show”. “I refuse to watch Springer’s show; I just can’t abide it,” he comments.

In 1994 John and B&B’s Jeff Trachta, Bobbie Eakes and Darlene Conley gave their already legendary concert in Rotterdam, Holland with parts of it also shown on B&B. Of course John brought along his wife Laurette and made sure she would never forget this trip. While singing ‘Have I told you lately that I love you’ John brought Laurette on stage. He sang the rest of the song directly to her and even whispered parts of it in her ear while holding her close in his arms. Afterwards he introduced Laurette to the audience saying that although he has many wonderful things in his life, Laurette is the most important of them all and that she means more than anything else in the world to him.

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