Who,
Me? Sexy?
B&B’s
John McCook May Not Buy His Stud Status … But 350 Million Viewers Can’t
Be Wrong!
Call
it a bumpy beginning to what’s turned out t be an auspicious career. John
McCook (Eric, BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL) vividly recalls his initiation into daytime:
The year was 1976, and McCook had been cast on YOUNG AND RESTLESS. In one day,
he’d auditioned and won the role of ladies’ man Lance Prentiss; he was told
to show up to tape bright and early the next day. Oh yeah, and he’d have to
sing Cole Porter’s It’s all Right With Me on-camera, too Whew!
It
wasn’t until a month later that McCook learned why his fist day of work was so
much, well, work. They’d hired some other guy to play Lance, laughs the actor.
He went through all the rehearsals and wardrobe fittings and sang that fist day.
He asked, How often do I have to sing? He was told, Well, three of four times a
week. So he said, I quit! I don’t want this job.
But
McCook did. And he ended up staying for four years, before leaving daytime
altogether. Until 1987, when Y&R’s Creator, Head Writer and Senior
Executive Producer William J. Bell was fashioning a new soap, THE BOLD AND THE
BEAUTIFUL. Bell was casting the dashing patriarch of the wealthy Forrester clan,
and McCook was No. 1 on his. One glitch, though: At age 43, McCook was simply
too young to play the father of four grown
children. So, unlike the legions of soap stars who color their hair to hide
the gray, McCook had to add silver
highlights.
These
days, at 53, McCook no longer needs assistance from Clairol. But his convincing
portrayal of a man with kids well into their 30s is a credit to his acting
abilities. N real life, McCook’s happy second marriage to former television
actress Laurette Spang and their three children keep him younger than his years.
McCook also has a 24-year-old-son, Seth, with his first wife, the late dancer/actress
Juliet Prowse.
“Laurette
and my kids are very energetic,” McCook beams. “They keep me full of life
and humor. I need the structure of family, and I’m very glad to have it.”
He’s
also glad that B&B, which airs in some 93 countries, has made him an
international star. McCook has traveled abroad on numerous occasions to sing at
concerts, perform in foreign TV commercials and appear at publicity events.
But
global celebrity comes with a price. McCook (and any B&Ber for that matter)
cannot freely walk the streets of Italy, Greece, the Netherlands or any
Scandinavian Country without being mobbed by adoring fans.
If that’s disconcerting, so is being considered a 50-something sex symbol. “When my parents were in their 40s, I thought they were old,” McCook wisecracks. “Back then, I thought a sex symbol was a musical instrument.”
His
take now? “I just don’t get the sex symbol thing,” he admits. “It’s
amusing and gratifying that people consider the role I’m playing sexy.”
Still, the adoration hasn’t been lost on him. Says McCook, “When I’m
traveling somewhere in this country that’s outside Los Angeles or New York, I
really fell like a star.”
Closer
to home, however, McCook gets no star treatment form his children, Jake, 16,
Becky, 14 and Molly, 7. “They’re not impressed,” McCook affirms. “They
love it when I get press and when the show does well in the ratings. They
understand how important that is to me and to my job. But I’m just Dad.
That’s who I am.”
If
McCook is sure of who he is, he’s just as certain of where he’s headed. With
B&B going strong, he’s not about to forsake Forrester. In face, 20 years
ago he dreamed of doing pretty much what he’s doing now. “Working a lot and
all the time,” he asserts. “That was always my best hope for myself and it
still is.”
Soap Opera Digest, not dated