Marking Milestones in The Underworld

Hello my loves! We've been scarce for the last couple of weeks, but there was a method to the madness. You see, this is Poseidon's Underworld's 700th post (!) and I wanted to mark the occasion with something a little different and special and it took a bit of time coordination. I think you'll have to agree that this is what has come to pass because we're celebrating the occasion with this site's very first celebrity interview!

Thanks to one of our dear and loyal readers, we found ourselves in touch with one of the 1980s' busiest young actresses, who left her mark on several films with cult followings, was featured in some high-profile TV miniseries and who is still working today (and looking sensational as ever!) So we offer our gratitude to one Barry Langford. And now proceed to today's guest, the lovely Miss Catherine Mary Stewart!

Stewart burst onto cinema screens with the leading role in 1980's The Apple, a staggering futuristic musical that has run the gamut from riotous flop to sought-after collector's item and fan favorite. (Miss Stewart agreed to speak with us even after the lambasting we gave this outre film in the early days of Poseidon's Underworld!) This was followed by a short, but popular, stint on Days of Our Lives. Then came a pair of sci-fi oriented movies that left her with a substantial cult following, The Last Starfighter and Night of the Comet (both 1984.)

She next had featured roles in two of televisions most delicious miniseries, Hollywood Wives (1985) and Sins (1986), before joining in the shenanigans of yet another cult favorite, the whacked-out Weekend at Bernie's (1989.) Marriage and family took precedence for a while after that, though she has continued to work all along.

Kelly Preston, Doug McKeon, Chris Nash and Stewart in 1985's Mischief.

The daughter of two highly-educated Canadian college instructors, she broke a bit from the family's academic mold through her love of performing. She enjoyed singing, acting and particularly dancing and eventually wound up studying performing arts in London, England. This is when her professional career unexpectedly came about and where we begin our Q&A:

You intended to merely dance in the 1980 musical spectacular The Apple, but were instead handed the leading role! Just how heady an experience was that for you? Was it overwhelming at times or were you energetically along for the ride? After the movie's release, did you ever again see or hear from costar George Gilmour?

"I just happened to show up for the dance audition for The Apple with a couple of friends who I met on their way there.  I decided to tag along.  I was completely unprepared but wanted to experience that kind of professional audition as a dancer. The director thought I looked right for the lead role, so he auditioned me right there and then.  It was a crazy experience, like nothing I’d ever experienced before, but it all happened so fast that I didn’t really have time to think about it.  I just went along for the ride and I loved every minute of it!  I did see George once or twice after filming but I haven’t seen or spoken to him in decades.  He is a wonderful, talented man."

In the wake of The Apple, now situated in California, you had the occasion to appear in a teensploitation/party type of flick called The Beach Girls (1982) in which your chief contribution seemed to be kissing a fellow actor for a lengthy take and then gathering around a bonfire. Was that a fun and frolicsome time on set or was it a hot mess?
  

"Yes, I had a tiny role in the movie The Beach Girls.  By uttering a couple of words I was able to apply for my Screen Actors Guild union card.  If you blink you miss me.  I think I said something like… 'Who cares…?'  I was probably on the set maybe half a day so I really had no concept of how the shoot was going.  I always love being on sets. From that perspective I’m sure I had fun."

Stewart is seen at far left.

You soon began appearing on Days of Our Lives as the first Kayla Brady, a young, forthright nurse. Was there a family atmosphere among the long-term actors on the show or was it more about the work and getting it done?

"I think long running soap operas with the same cast definitely becomes like a very close family.  It is tough work so it’s great to have a good support system!  DOOL was probably the hardest job I had in acting.  We shot a 60 minute show in a day.  If you have a big storyline you might need to know 50 pages of dialogue for one episode.  Memorizing that kind of thing is hard!!  I am in awe of soap opera actors!" 
  

Before too long, big screen opportunities came calling again, including The Last Starfighter and Night of the Comet (both 1984.) These are but two of several fondly remembered sci-fi oriented films of yours which have amassed a cult following. Do you attend conventions and, if so, do the fans surprise you with their enthusiasm and knowledge of the movies in question? 
  

"I have attended conventions and the fans are astounding in their knowledge and enthusiasm.  I often joke that they know my characters and movies way better than I do.  I am so grateful to have been a part of these charming, character driven movies that have touched so many people in an often profound way.  I love talking to the fans and hearing their thoughts.  I never expected that these movies would have the impact that they have to so many people.  It’s incredibly gratifying."
  

[Editor's Note: Night of the Comet had the distinction of featuring two young female leads against not only a horde of zombies, but a sinister group of scientists, making it a unique action film of its time - and after!]

 
As pretty as you are, was this really the best date you could find to the Starfighter premiere?
  

Very funny, regarding the 'date!!'  Hey, that thing was cute!"

   

In the mid-1980s, you entered the world of the then-popular TV miniseries. First came Hollywood Wives, a star-studded, highly-glitzy affair in which you were the wide-eyed young girl tossed into a world of money, power and fame (and, if I recall correctly, drugs!) First of all, what were these photo shoots like, in which you were elbow to elbow with a variety of famous and sometimes infamous actors and actresses? Any competition for the center spot, etc...? And what did you think when you first saw Andrew Stevens in his alter-ego role of the deranged, bearded twin? 
   

Predating the Geico caveman, Andrew Stevens as his own evil twin...

"I can’t believe how incredibly lucky I was to work with some true legends.  I worked with Rod Steiger twice!!  TWICE!!  The 80’s were a huge decade for mini-series like these and I was SO fortunate to be up and coming at the time and filled the niche of the young innocent that seemed to appear in many of them.  I was young and innocent but I so appreciated the likes of Candice Bergen, Angie Dickinson (who took me under her wing), Anthony Hopkins, Roddy McDowall, Robert Stack, etc., etc.  It was mind blowing!  The joke was Andrew Stevens as his alter ego looked like Charles Manson.  It was so creepy!!  He went for it, man!  The photo sessions we did for Hollywood Wives, just cemented the wonderful experience of working with these talented actors.  There was literally no competition between the actors.  I was very shy and intimidated and in awe of the cast.  I was so grateful to Angie Dickinson for making me feel comfortable.  She is a saint."

Stewart, alongside Mariette Hartley, in her second project with Rod Steiger, the 1989 TV-movie Passion and Paradise.

This same telefilm had her hurled into the arms of one Armand Assante, at the time riding a wave of successful TV projects such as Rage of Angels (1983), Evergreen (1985) and Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987.)

Not long after, you were selected to play the teenaged version of Joan Collins' character in her miniseries Sins (1986.) Did working on her sister Jackie's Hollywood Wives play into this in any way? Were you selected by Joan (who was also producing) personally? As young Helene, you had to endure a lot of the torment of the character that later became vengeful once Joan took over. How harrowing was that?
   

"I don’t think being in Jackie Collins' Hollywood Wives had anything to do with getting the role in Sins in terms of Joan and Jackie’s relationship.  I was working a lot at that time and certainly it didn’t hurt that I was in Hollywood Wives.  It showed that I was a popular commodity. I loved playing the role of the Helene Junot in Sins.  It was a complicated, emotional role so quite challenging.  We shot in Paris and the surrounding area.  That was absolutely fantastic!  It was an incredible experience and another legend-filled cast!  I’m still in touch with Joan through a good friend of mine to this day.  She is an icon."

Stewart's Sin-ful selection led to an article in TV Guide wherein she shared recipes and dished about getting to meet La Collins!

Photographer John Findlater and Stewart divorced around this time after two years of marriage. It is her present husband Richard Allerton (who she wed in 1992) with whom she shares two children, Hanna (born in 1993) and Connor (born in 1996.)

You seem to have worked with some really well-regarded actors in your early years, from Robert Preston to Robert Mitchum, Karl Malden to Shirley Knight to Rod Steiger, Also up and comers like James Spader, Holly Hunter, Jon Cryer. Are there any particular things that you learned from any of these people (or from others not mentioned) or that you particularly enjoyed about them?
   

Robert Preston in The Last Starfighter (1984.)

"Working with these actors you see why they are as highly regarded as they are!  Robert Preston was a lovely, kind, giving actor. Lance Guest always speaks of him with such love and respect. I only met him on the set once because I had no scenes with him, but he literally seemed to glow.  He kissed my hand!!  Some of these actors would challenge me, some intimidated me but they were all amazing, professional actors that knew what they were doing.  I tried to learn as much as I could just being around them.  I still carry many lessons to this day!"
    

Little known is the fact that you, joined with Julia Campbell and Ally Walker, filmed a TV pilot for The Witches of Eastwick (in the role originated by Michelle Pfeiffer.) The vast majority of your acting career, however, has been split between features, TV-movies and miniseries with only the very occasional American primetime TV series appearance (for example, no guest roles on one of the big soaps, on the almost obligatory Murder, She Wrote, a girlfriend of Jerry's on Seinfeld, a killer or victim on one of the endless CSI programs.) Is this by design or just the way things worked out?

 

"I have never had a specific plan for my career.  I feel like that could be limiting.  I never want to limit myself as an actor.  I never want to be 'branded,' which seems to be a 'thing' these days.  Of course there are many roles that I didn’t get that I would have loved to have but I could never complain about the path my life and career has taken.  I am so grateful that I’ve been able to pursue something I truly love.  I feel like there is so much possibility out there and I want to take advantage of it all."
   

In 1993 you worked with both Charles Bronson and Christopher Reeve in The Sea Wolf. Do you have any reflections about that experience with these two actors that almost no one would ordinarily associate with one another (or on Reeve, who was paralyzed only two years later)?
     

"The Sea Wolf was another wonderful experience.  I did a lot of research into the time period and the character was something I hadn’t done before.  It was fantastic being able to submerse myself into this very complicated character with a couple of incredible actors!  Christopher Reeve was lovely, intense and talented.  Charles was kind, sweet and not nearly as intimidating as you might think he is. We became great friends.  Working with incredible actors forces you to really step up to the plate. Sadly, both he and Christopher Reeve have passed.  Again, I feel so fortunate and grateful to have known and worked with these people."
   

Apart from a period in the early 2000s when you were focused on caring for your son and daughter, you have never stopped working! You've acted alongside one-time pretty boys who've continued to hone their craft (such as Grant Show, Rob Lowe, Billy Zane and Alec Baldwin) and I believe even two of The Golden Girls, Rue McClanahan and Betty White! Most recently, you joined Eric Roberts (with whom who worked on a TV-movie eight years prior) for the film When We Dance the Music Dies. What can you tell us about this and what sort of things do you look towards in the future?

 

Miss Stewart in the forthcoming When We Dance the Music Dies, in which she plays the wife of William Ragsdale, once the young lead of Fright Night back in 1985!

"I have been able to keep working pretty regularly, with some terrific actors.  I plan to keep that up and get more in to directing.  That is a passion of mine.  On every set I’ve worked on, I spent as much time behind the camera on my days off as I did in front of the camera.  I wanted to know everything about the technical side to putting a show together.  I love being on a set and I hope soon I’ll be behind the camera directing!"
   

You survived the '80s, a time when RIGOROUS punishment was done to hair and you almost always utilized your own luscious locks for all the many and varied characters you played and yet you still have amazing hair that always looks wonderful... Secrets please for our many female readers?!
   

"Fortunately hair keeps growing!  I’ve had every color, every style, every length under the sun, but part of the reason I’m OK with it is that I know hair will always grow out.  …and it’s really fun!!  I loved the ‘bigness’ of the 80’s.  Big hair, big shoulders, bold colors, big makeup, crazy jewelry.  It was a great time and I enjoyed every minute of it!"

Miss Stewart embracing, while also becoming one of the faces of, the unforgettable 1980s.

You have often been described in the Canadian press as a "good girl." I always think of the words "appealing" and "fresh" when your name comes up. Did you ever play a down and dirty bitch role and, if not, do you want to? 
   

"Absolutely!  The darker characters are the MOST fun.  Certainly, earlier in my career, I was cast as the girl next door but it wasn't long before I broke out of that mold with Night of the Comet. Especially as I get older there are more opportunities to play characters with lots of dimension.  I’ve played alcoholics, bitches, you name it."  

 

We know you like Modern Family and once played the mother of Nolan Gould in a telefilm [Ghoul, 2012.] It would be awesome to see you pop up there in a zany guest role! 

"I would LOVE that!!  I’m primarily in New York so that cuts me out of a lot of the series that shoot in LA.  I plan to be more bi-coastal now that my children are grown."
   

Lastly, can you offer an explanation for this photo? Was it your own wedding?!

"The wedding gown photo was from a photo shoot I did for a magazine.  I got to work with the incredible photographer Harry Langdon on this shoot.  I worked with him several times over the years.  Love him!"

We're so thankful that Miss Stewart was willing to take the time to answer these questions. My own first exposure to her was when she played the first Kayla Brady on Days. I was fifteen at the time and developed a bit of a fixation on her! I remember being so excited when she was later featured amid all the stars of Hollywood Wives. She worked on so many things that we never got to touch on, but I didn't want to take advantage of her graciousness in supporting my li'l ol' site. And she is indeed such a gracious, amiable and - as you surely could tell - kind and appreciative person. We look forward to much more from her, including her efforts behind the camera.

What a Hunley!

Today we're finally getting around to one of our favorite TV actresses of the 1980s, Miss Leann Hunley. Poised, articulate, elegant and amusing, she lent her talents to countless programs, though her biggest mark came with key roles in two soap operas, one daytime and one nighttime. Hunley was born on February 12th, 1955 in Washington state in a small town called Forks. The fourth and last child of a commercial fisherman and a beautician, she grew up balancing the nitty gritty of cleaning fish with the splendor of styling hair on a life-size doll head. One of Hunley's life-long attributes has been a mane of incredible hair.

An unambitious teen, she attended college for a while in Seattle, but couldn't set her heart on a particular goal. She dabbled in some school plays, worked as an answering service operator as well as a secretary and posed for a few modeling photos. Eventually moving to Hawaii with a girlfriend on a lark, she began to model a bit, then was entered into the Miss Hawaii contest where she finished second runner-up (but was voted the Best Smile Award!) This led to her very first acting gig, the familiar role of a secretary on a 1977 episode of Hawaii 5-O.

The simple part, consisting of two brief scenes, placed her opposite veteran actress and featured guest star Jean Simmons. Already, though, Hunley's distinct speaking voice and innate poise were in evidence. She did well enough in this part to warrant being brought back later that same season (by now 1978) to play a different character, this time with the exacting series star Jack Lord (shown below.) She also worked in a Hawaiian filmed TV-movie pilot called The Islander with Dennis Weaver that didn't result in a series.

Now with some career direction and the encouragement of a Los Angeles producer, Hunley came back to the continental U.S. and began landing guest roles on show such as Battlestar Galactica (as shown here with Dirk Benedict), BJ and the Bear (seen below with Greg Evigan), Mrs. Columbo and a recurring role on The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo.

There was also this oddity:

The pilot for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was released prior to the series debut on television as a theatrical movie. The opening credits were vastly different from what was eventually shown on the series. For the movie, a sleeping Gil Gerard was shown lying on brightly lit Lucite while buxom babes (including his costars Erin Grey and Pamela Hensley) languidly wallered around seductively. One of the babes was Leann Hunley, though she never appears in the movie otherwise. (The theme song also is performed with lyrics - this has to be seen and heard to be believed! I literally pig-snorted when Tim O'Connor's credit came up.)

Hunley married in 1980 to a Montana real estate developer and was off-screen for a little while afterwards. By 1982, she was ready to get her feet wet again in the acting world and accepted a small role on Fantasy Island (opposite Pamela Hensley.) Get a load of the hairdo she's sporting here, which could only have happened in the 1980s.

More TV guest roles were to follow including Hart to Hart, Airwolf (as seen here with Alex Cord) and Amazing Stories. But Hunley had already begun what would be a signature role for her. In 1983, she joined the cast of the hit daytime soap Days of Our Lives, playing the long-lost wife of Roman Brady (played by Wayne Northrup) and mother of his young daughter Carrie.

Initially a rather put-upon, downtrodden sort (her character had been sold into white slavery!), she soon rewed into the ultra-wealthy DiMera family and from that point on was forever decked out to the nines in jewels, furs, tailored suits and always an ornate head of hair.

The characters of Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis) and Anna DiMera enjoyed a turbulent, complicated relationship filled with intrigue, humor and glamour. Hunley might have been acting her scenes from underneath a landslide of 1980s fashion trappings, but it was always with a liberal dose of humor.

She was, in fact, nominated by Soap Opera Digest for "Outstanding Comic Relief" in 1986, losing to her cohort on the show, wacky Arleen Sorkin. More importantly, however, that same year she won an Emmy for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series." You might find it interesting to know that her work was deemed by the Emmy voting panel to be superior to Kathleen Widdoes, Eileen Herlie, Dame Judith Anderson and Uta Hagen!!
 

By this point, however, Hunley had departed the series. She was guest-starring on Hotel and about to embark on another attention-getting role, this time in prime-time. During her run on Days of Our Lives, Hunley had been chosen to appear on the game show Super Password. One of the games had as its answer "Alexis" of Dynasty. Little did Hunley know that before long she would be working right alongside Joan Collins and all the other Carringtons and Colbys on Dynasty.

Hunley had previously auditioned for the spin-off series Dynasty II: The Colbys, but wasn't deemed right for the role in question. However, the producers made room for her on the parent series as John Forsythe's efficient secretary. She soon was discovered to have come to Denver in order to be near Forythe's son Gordon Thomson, her character having been in love with him long before in Montana.

The story arc wasn't initially meant to be a very lengthy one, but Hunley impressed everyone associated with the show and viewers immediately grew very fond of her. It wasn't long before she was made a regular cast member and inserted into the show's opening credits, now part of the power couple of Adam and Dana, the characters Thomson and she portrayed.

She was promoted as part of a new generation of characters who were taking the forefront while the stalwarts of Blake, Alexis and Krystle remained on-hand and integral to the storylines.

Hunley possessed an open, empathetic quality and also one of tremendous expression, which really separated her from some of the very staid, controlled actresses and actors on the show. Everything showed in her face and she was never afraid to make some really twisted ones if it was deemed necessary by her.

The show's most pointed hey-day was already past by the time she joined in, but the public had not completely abandoned it. During her tenure, the show won two of its four People's Choice Awards as "Favorite TV Dramatic Program/Serial." (Do take note of '80s fashion victim Heather Locklear - Teri Garber, too - in this backstage shot from the awards ceremony!)

After a sumptuous wedding, the characters  of Adam and Dana faced an infertility situation which led to a somewhat groundbreaking surrogate pregnancy storyline. In the end (by the very beginning of Dynasty's last season in 1988) the couple was split up and Hunley went on her way to new prospects.

Earlier in 1988, she had guest-starred on Highway to Heaven with Michael Landon in a two-part episode that had her helping his angel character regain his faith and sense of duty after having walked away from both.

She proceeded to work on Simon & Simon, Who's the Boss, Designing Women, Matlock and L.A. Law. Then there was the 1990 miniseries Lucky Chances, based upon a Jackie Collins page-turner. The program starred Nicollette Sheridan and also featured Hunley's previous cohort on Dynasty, Michael Nader.

Most of Hunley's work in the miniseries was with young actor Tim Ryan. It was 1990 and glamour was slowly dying in the wake of Seattle grunge and the general downplaying of glitz that came after the Reagan era, but no one told Jackie Collins (nor Leann Hunley) that!

Apart from a couple of TV movies, there was a supporting role in the big-screen redo of The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), with Ms. Hunley in typically tailored, vividly colored attire. Other guest roles around this time included:

Three installments of Murder, She Wrote.

The Nanny, as a snooty, wealthy mother.

And a four-episode turn on Models, Inc. as a wife whose husband has been cheating on her with a younger woman, a model. (How and why? She's gorgeous!)

Then came parts on shows as diverse as Heaven Help Us, Murphy Brown, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Burke's Law and, as seen here, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. This particular episode was the wedding of the show's leading characters and also featured Harve Presnell, Beverly Garland, David Doyle and Delta Burke. Next came a 1997 appearance on 7th Heaven, as shown below.

1998 brought what turned out to be another rather notable role. She played an attractive English teacher in the pilot for the teen-oriented series Dawson's Creek. Over an arc of about six or so episodes, her character becomes inappropriately involved with one of her students, played by Joshua Jackson. She proved popular enough to stage a two-episode return in the second season of the fledgling series.

Just as her 1980 marriage led to a brief interruption of her career, her 2001 divorce led to the same. It was 2003 before she worked on-screen again in shows like Strong Medicine and Just Shoot Me! In 2005, she made two appearances on Gilmore Girls (as seen below.)

Days of Our Lives fans got quite a shock (and quite a shot in the arm) when, after a 21-year absence from the show, Hunley returned to portray Anna DiMera once more. This time she stayed until 2010, working in the occasional primetime appearance on series like Law & Order: SVU and NCIS.

In 2012, she starred in a low-budget independent film called Blissful Lies. The movie had her playing a university chancellor becoming involved with a young male student, recalling the notorious part she'd played a dozen or so years prior on Dawson's Creek.

Just when it seemed that she was done with her iconic character of Anna on Days, she returned to it a third time in 2017 and is still portraying the role as of this writing. Even though I, personally, have not watched any daytime drama since the cancellation of As the World Turns in 2010 (and, in fact, had abandoned it for the most part prior to that), a few of the old shows still hang in, including Days.

Ms. Hunley is now sixty-two. Still rocking a great head of hair and still serving up spontaneous, effervescent performances, admittedly a little fuller in the figure than she once was (but who cares?!)

One thing I always loved about her was that she, in manner, speech and sense of style, reminded me of my best friend of thirty-four years. (One of the classic lines delivered to my bestie once in the late-'80s, when being picked up for a night out with hair much like this at left, was, "God! Do you need some help carrying your hair out to the car?!" Ha ha!) Because my best friend was so similar to Leann, I always felt I knew her even though I don't, but this was also due to her immediate, accessible performances in so many roles.

I hope this stint on Days isn't the last we see of her on-screen. I'd like to think there's even more in store for this dynamic actress as she gets older and even better. She's too likeable and luminous not to be front and center in something great.