Six-time Emmy winner Erika Slezak (Victoria Lord) joined her former One Life to Live co-star and Emmy winner Linda Dano (Rae Cummings) on Dano's podcast IN with Linda Dano. Naturally, the two ladies dished about their days on One Life to Live and Slezak's experience with Prospect Park. It was not good.
Created by Agnes Nixon, One Life to Live first aired on July 15, 1968, centering around families such as the wealthy Lords, the powerful Buchanans, and the spirited Cramers. Unfortunately, after 43 years on the air, ABC canceled the beloved soap, and the final episode on April 14, 2011, ended the show's run on television. OLTL would briefly return as a streaming series, but legal disputes and poor management ultimately led to its second cancellation.
According to Slezak, Prospect Park failed to pay their actors. She recalled a specific incident when she went to collect her paycheck, which was issued on Fridays. "I waited an hour. I waited two hours. He had no intention (of paying me) until I literally stood over him in his office and said, 'Write my check because I'm not leaving until you do.' And it was the last check I ever got. They still owe me a lot of money. I'm not going to say how much," Slezak shared.
Slezak revealed that she was not alone. "They still owe Tuc Watkins (David Vickers) and they still owe a lot of people a lot of money. They declared bankruptcy. Even though they produced other shows, this was a separate production and such a screw-up. It was such a shame," Slezak said.
When the conversation turned to OLTL's leading men, Slezak made the surprising admission that she would have loved to have had an opportunity for Viki and Asa Buchanan (Phil Carey) to have been romantically involved. "My one regret is that [Viki] was never married to him," Slezak confessed.
Slezak and Dano also reminisced about Clint Richie (Clint Buchanan), who was no stranger to controversy. "I went on a date with him, and my dad, who is like nine feet tall, said to him, 'You're a few minutes late, and that means you're not welcome here again.' He was a bit of a troubled person," Dano recalled of Richie. "Clint, most of the time, was incredibly decent," Slezak said. "He did like to drink at lunch, which was not a good idea. But Clint was very respectful and always very nice to me. He was a lovely man, and he had issues. The bizarre thing is he and Phil Carey died in the same week," Slezak shared.
Linda Dano's podcast drops new episodes weekly and can be found anywhere podcasts are available. You can listen to episode with Erika Slezak below.
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