Catch Up With Three Former Soap Stars

Linden Ashby
(ex-Coop, MELROSE PLACE; ex-Curtis, LOVING)
     Not too many actors would feel "fantastic" about losing a job. But then again, Linden Ashby, who played Dr. Brett "Coop" Cooper on MELROSE PLACE last season, isn't like most actors.
     When the call came that he was being let go, Ashby says he felt sort of relieved. "Well, not at first," he admits. "I was surprised, but I got over it real fast. I'm totally over it. Ultimately, I knew it was for the best. They didn't know what to do with Coop. He was good; he was bad; he was manipulative; he was the victim. Coop didn't really ever fit in. He was all over the place. Of the 32 or so shows I did, I felt that maybe five made sense to me. The whole thing spiraled into absurdity. They finally got me with Megan and that was a lot of fun. But by the time the writers got a real handle on who Coop was, the decision was already made."
     Ashby had no trouble going home - his real-life wife is Susan Walters (ex-Lorna, LOVING), who also appeared on MP last season (as Christine). "I watched the show a lot, but this season - and not because we're not on I can't really get into it," he says. "Killing Matt? What was that about? I think the show is lame."
     Never one to mince words ("I've always been this way), Ashby doesn't mind being candid. And lest you think he is bitter about his MP experience, think again. "I made over a million dollars last year on that show," he laughs, "and hey that's a lot of f---ing money. I'd still come back and tie up the character if they asked me. There are a lot of good people there. I have no complaints. That show allowed me to be in a position to take the jobs I want."
     That includes roles in two TV movies. "I did a small part in one for CBS called BEAUTY with Janine Turner [ex-Laura, GENERAL HOSPITAL]. And, like I have to say this, but she is the beauty, not me," he chuckles. "It's a modern-day Beauty And The Beast story. I play her boyfriend, and she finds true love with this other guy, a beast.
     "And I just did a movie for ABC. It's about a cat who solves mysteries. I think they might be calling it MURDER, SHE PURRED. A Sunday-night thing for Disney. There are talking cats and dogs. It was a really fun script, and I figured my kids would love it. Plus, I got to work with Ricki Lake and that was a real hoot."
     Next on the agenda? Ashby and Walters (who just starred in the UPN TV movie, I MARRIED A MONSTER) are talking to writers about developing a project for them to star in. Even when they were both on LOVING (where they met and played cousins), they didn't work much as a tandem. But right now, Ashby is enjoying a mint-vacation. "Susan and I worked all summer." he explains. "So now I've been hanging with the kids, doing a lot of stuff around the house. I love my life. I have a beautiful wife, two beautiful kids and I get work in a very tough business."
     Of course, Ashby also has time to play. "I've been doing some surfing," he smiles, "and this aftemoon, I feel like flying, and I'm hungry, so I'm going to fly my plane to Santa Barbara for a hamburger." Fly a few hundred miles for a burger? Most people would drive a few blocks to McDonald's. But then again. Linden Ashby isn't like most people.

Diana Barton
(ex-Mari Jo, YOUNG AND RESTLESS)
     Talk about your bad seed. On YOUNG AND RESTLESS, con artist Mari Jo Mason was an entire field of evil. She shot Victor, kidnapped and terrorized Christine, manipulated Jack and Keemo and ... okay, you get the idea.
     These days, Diana Barton, who played Marl Jo from 1994-96, has done a complete 180. She's starring opposite two other soap vets, Lorenzo Lamas (ex-Lance, FALCON CREST) and Scott Plank (ex-Nick, MP; see next story) in the syndicated action/adventure series AIR AMERICA (check local listings). And this time, shock of shocks, she's the nice girl.
     "I play Alison Stratton," explains Barton. "She's this Ivy League girl, sharp and very saavy. She's the manager of Hotel Parador, the only reort in Costa Perdida." For tourists, there is a bit too much unsavory activity (gun-running, drug smuggling, a puppet government and guerilla fighting) to make the hotel a real success. "But Alison is determined to turn this place into a world-class resort despite the odds," laughs Barton.
     Lamas and Plank star as the men who run Air America, the commercial airliner that brings everything into the story, from passengers (read: guest stars) and cargo to attack helicopters on covert missions.
     "Alison is nothing like Mari Jo," observes Barton. While Mari Jo discarded men like used tissues, so far, Alison is only interested in Lamas's character for business purposes. "Romance is possible," she muses. "You never know. I don't think she would admit to wanting or needing him."
     If AIR AMERICA doesn't catch on with viewers (early ratings show a need for improvement), Barton says it's unlikely that she'd return to Genoa City any time soon. And she rules out appearing on other daytime shows. "Once you've been on the best soap in the world, why go anywhere else?" she asks. "If I were to do daytime again, it would have to be Y&R." Like many performers, Barton credits the genre with helping to develop her acting. "In terms of a learning experience, there is nothing finer," she declares. "Working on a soap, you learn what you're made of - and very quickly." Barton is particularly fond of William J. Bell, YR's creator, senior executive producer and story consultant: "He is a wonderful man. I was truly blessed to be on that show."
     In her spare time, Burton keeps up with the goings-on in Genoa City. "After two-and-a-half years of being there, I got personally attached to the show," the actress says. And she keeps in touch with Shemar Moore (Malcolm), Jess Walton (Jill) and Victoria Rowell (ex-Drucilla). If Barton had one frustration with daytime, it was the pace of the plots. "I wished the stories could conclude faster, more like in real life. But that's the soap medium."
     Since Mari Jo went nutso, her departure was inevitable, and Barton appreciated the advance warning. "I was able to prepare emotionally," she recalls. "I was totally shaken when I got the news, but I knew what was going on. I actually went to see [Coordinating Producer] Nancy Bradley Wiard to ask if I was being let go, and they were having the meeting about my dismissal in the next room! It was odd, but I had the sense that my time was up. Thankfully, they treated me like an adult and told me. So I met with Victoria Rowell and Garry Shandling. We went out to dinner and then back to my house to regroup. That was good for me. I learned to move on."

Scott Plank
(ex-Nick, MELROSE PLACE)
     Last season on MP, Scott Plank played Kyle's friend, Nick. Some pal. The sleazoid conspired against Kyle, blackmailed people and tried lo get Kyle's estranged wife, Taylor, into bed. "All he ever did was steamroll people. He was totally dark. The guy did everything but strangle cats," observes Plank. So when the cat went out for a likable character on the new syndicated show AIR AMERICA - an athletic, toothy, hunky type to play bud to star Lorenzo Lamas - the producers were wise not to look at his MP work or they might not have considered him. Sure, he had the athletic and hunky thing down, but nice? Nope.
     On AIR AMERICA, Plank plays Wiley Ferrell. The first name is no accident. "Wiley likes to play games. He is a real prankster. He is wacky. A real pit bull, but wacky," explains Plank. "I love this show. I call it BOYS WITH TOYS. And I save the 'cleavage-of-the-week.' Lots of explosions, physical stuff. Lots of surprises."
     The element of surprise is something Plank enjoys. "I loved meeting people when I was doing MELROSE PLACE, especially women in supermarkets," he recalls. "They would usually come away going, 'But you're so nice.' They were always shocked.'" Here's another stunner: Plank's background is musical theater. Not many action heroes and TV and film tough guys got their star in tap shoes. A decade ago, Plank was on Broadway in hits like A Chorus Line and then Dreamgirls ("I was easy to spot," he laughs. "I was the white guy."). When he got his break in Chorus Line, he celebrated by taking off all his clothes and running around the stage. "I've always been a free spirit," he grins. His dance training now helps when it's time for stunt work. "I can still do a full split," he brags. "I'm very flexible."
     It goes without saying, or it should, that Plank was a class clown growing up in Virginia. "I was a clown, and I'm also a jock. I am the funkiest [guy] on the planet," he chuckles. Plank's versatility is literally paying off - he can do comedy or drama, and play the hunk or the nerd.
     "It's all about trying to do everything in this business," Plank states simply. "I'm an old dude. I've been doing this for some years. I have no illusions about being a star. I just want to work. And," he laughs, "I have to do is all before the Ritalin wears off."