
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 2, 1993                   TAG: 9312030041
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: NANCY REICHARDT
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

HESTON ENJOYS BEING HIMSELF

"The Bold and the Beautiful" has scored a major coup - landing film legend Charlton Heston to appear as himself in a series of episodes, which began Nov. 22. The story line is part of a cross-promotion with the American Film Institute (AFI), which was established by an act of Congress in 1965 as an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the heritage of film and television, identifying and training new talent, and increasing recognition and understanding of the moving picture as an art form. Heston, who has been with the institute since its inception, is its president.

"The whole thing was apparently CBS's idea," said Heston, who accepted when the network bigwigs agreed to give the AFI substantial exposure via his appearance on the show. " `The Bold and the Beautiful' will be running an 800 number on the screen after each episode, in case people want to ask questions about AFI or, preferably, send money." In addition, all proceeds earned by Heston's appearance will go to the institute.

" `The Bold and the Beautiful' is one of the more successful [daytime soaps] on the air," he said. "It plays to some 30 million people a day around the world.

"I've made a number of pictures that haven't played to 30 million people," he added with a laugh. "That is a huge audience!"

Heston admitted that playing himself was a first. Yet it wasn't at all difficult. "I remember what I'm like," he said, grinning.

Having worked on stage and in numerous film and TV projects, the veteran actor found daytime a very professional environment.

"The crew was highly skilled," he said. "They've been doing this for years. They work under enormous pressure doing a half-hour show a day. Technically, that's quite an achievement. They are to be congratulated on the skill with which they've learned to do that."

Heston even found the fast pace easy to adapt to.

"I did live television when it was really live," he said with a smile. "They didn't have two takes back then."

As for the two performers he worked opposite - Susan Flannery (who plays Stephanie Forrester) and Darlene Conley (who plays Sally Spectra) - Heston had nothing but praise.

"They were both highly professional," he said. "I enjoyed working with them. They both really know how to play their characters; they know exactly how to work them through a scene."

Ironically, Heston noted that decades ago he actually tried to land a job on a radio soap opera but was rejected!

"It was when I got back from the war," he recalled. "At that time, Chicago was sort of the capital of radio soaps. I couldn't get a nibble, which surprises me because my voice has always been a useful stock in trade for me. I think I was either too green, because I was a kid, or I was too rusty, because I'd been away in the war for two years.

"Now, I've finally done a soap," he laughed.

Send your questions about soap operas to Nancy Reichardt, "Tune in Tomorrow," in care of the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010-2491. Questions cannot be answered personally, but those of general interest will be answered in future columns.

- United Feature Syndicate

by CNB