Editor's Award Tribute
February 26, 1999

Drake Hogestyn:  Now, the Prestigious Editor's Award. In our audience tonight, the Editor In Chief of Soap Opera Digest, Lynn Leahey.

Deidre Hall:  Ladies and gentlemen, the actress who created the unforgettable character of Jenny Renaldi on One Life To Live, Brynn Thayer.

Brynn Thayer:  Thank you. The recipient of this year's Editor's Award is one of the most powerful actors in the history of daytime television. Michael Zaslow left a lasting legacy [interrupted by applause]...Michael left a lasting legacy as a performer and a human being.  

Michael was one of the most popular actors in soap opera. Whether the hero or the villain, his fans loved seeing him year after year.

Brynn Thayer:  Michael's journey began with his birth in New York City and his boyhood days were spent in other big cities like Chicago and Los Angeles. He graduated from UCLA with plans to become a lawyer, but luckily for us, acting won out.   Some of his later work included major roles on "Law & Order" and movies-of-the-week.  From the start, he made his presence known. For example, on this series, still shown all over the world:

Darnell: "Mam, if I didn't know better I would swear that you were someone I left behind on Wrigley's Pleasure Planet"
McCoy: "A little less mouth, Darnell."
Darnell: "Well, I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to, uh, uh..."
Kirk: "Why don't you step outside Darnell."
Darnell: "Yes sir."

Brynn Thayer: "Star Trek" was an appropriate start for Michael, because as an actor, he did "boldly go where no man had gone before".   I found that out when we worked together on "One Life To Live", where Michael played musician David Renaldi, a character who was heroic, romantic and inspirational.

Michael as David, 1986:
"I wanna tell the whole world that David Renaldi is the luckiest and the happiest man alive!"

Brynn Thayer:  Michael proved he could handle the opposite kind of role when he played the villainous Roger Thorpe on "Guiding Light". To tell of those years, Roger's wife Holly, Maureen Garrett.

Maureen Garrett: As Roger Thorpe, Michael Zaslow created a rare soap opera villain. He instilled in his character the kind of sensibilities that made you root for him in spite of yourself.

Roger to Holly, 1993:
"You can make love to me, but...I mean, the effort of returning a phone call is somehow beyond you."

Maureen Garrett:  Michael was one of the first actors on soap operas who made an anti-hero into a heartthrob.

Roger: "How could I have destroyed what I loved best,
 and made even the loveliness of it so ugly to you?" 
Holly: "Not all of it."   

Maureen Garrett: Year upon year he added layers to his performance, and for over a quarter of a century, Roger Thorpe was fascinating, and always surprising.

Roger to Jenna:
"You're not gonna escape. You understand?
There's no place on this earth that you can run."

Brynn Thayer: Michael's strength as an actor was at its peak.  He was known as a total professional and a perfectionist. Then things began to change. He started to have trouble with dialogue. Gradually his health grew much worse. Michael was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, an incurable illness that disables the muscles. But that didn't stop Michael. Even when he could no longer speak, he continued to act, by communicating through a computer.

David: "This disease is degenerative."
Robin Strasser as Dorian: "We'll deal with that."

Brynn Thayer:  That scene was from one of Michael's triumphant returns to "One Life To Live". And to tell us about that, here is Michael's co-star and my dear friend, Robin Strasser.

Robin Strasser: Thank you.  Working with Michael again I was witness to so much courage, not only from Michael, but from his special family: his wife Susan and his daughters Marika and Helena.  

It was a great day on the set when Michael returned to "One Life To Live". Once again, he was going to play David Renaldi, but this time a Renaldi with ALS. But Michael was still a powerful actor.

Dorian to David:
"What I see is a man who still has a tremendous amount to offer the world."

Robin Strasser:  As the end grew nearer, Michael became even more passionate about his cause. Joining us from New York, one of Michael's closest friends, especially in those last days, Alec Baldwin.

Alec Baldwin: Thank you. The Michael Zaslow that I knew was a person who tried to make things better for just about everybody else. Throughout the worst days of his illness, Michael continued to keep appointments for personal appearances, interviews and charity work, all focused on raising awareness for ALS so that others would be spared such pain.

Years ago, long before his illness, Michael said that in a crisis, it takes bravery, a fighting spirit and humanity to survive with dignity. To me, that is how he always lived his life, and tonight we celebrate him as that rare person whose life truly made a difference.

MUSICAL MONTAGE 
Green Days' "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road.
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go.
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why.
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time.
It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf of good health and good time.
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth, it was worth all the while.
I hope you had the time of your life.    

Roger to Meg, early 1997, in his first conversation with Holly's daughter,  who was born with Down Syndrome:  "You ever have any problems with anybody, I want you to come to me, all right? OK? Because I know how to be tough when it's necessary."

Montage ends to Sarah McLachlan's "Angel":

"In the arms of the angel,
may you find some comfort here".

Robin Strasser: Tonight, we honor Michael Zaslow. We honor him not for the way he died, but for the way he lived.

Brynn Thayer:  To accept this year's Editor's Choice Award, please welcome his wife Susan and his daughters Marika and Helena.

Susan Hufford: 
Thank you so much.  Marika , Helena and I thank NBC, Soap Opera Digest, Dick Clark Productions and our family at ABC, including the wonderful cast, everyone from David at the front desk to President Pat Fili-Krushel for this great honor. Michael especially sends his love and thanks to all of you fans. It was you, the fans, who kept him going during his darkest hours. You did not desert him. And I know that you will not desert him now. ZazAngels continues raising funds for ALS research so that this dreadful, horrible disease -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -- can finally be eradicated.

You know, Michael was right when he said, "I have lost my voice, but in the process I have found larger, louder voice."   His message remains clear: ALS is not a rare disease. It strikes 5 times as many people as Huntington's Disease and is equal to MS. And, there is growing evidence that it is striking more and more people at a younger and younger age. A cure for ALS means a cure for Parkinsons and Alzheimers. We are on the verge of an enormous scientific breakthrough. With your continued support , you can make Michael's goal a reality.

Please, as you go about your lives, remember Michael's fighting spirit. One of his favorite quotes is from Victor Hugo: "The onward march of the human race requires that the heights around it constantly blaze with noble lessons of courage.   Deeds of daring dazzle history and form one of man's guiding lights. The dawn dares when it rises."  

Michael started us on this road to victory. It is our job to cross the finish line together. Thank you.

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Copyright © 1999 by Michael Zaslow's ZazAngels. All rights reserved.
01/04/06 05:14:22 PM