Honoring A (ZAZ)Angel

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Honoring A (ZAZ)Angel:

Alec Baldwin Leads An All-Star Lineup In Paying Tribute To The Late Michael Zaslow
Soap Opera Magazine, February 16, 1999

Hundreds of actors and fans gathered to honor the life of legendary daytime actor Michael Zaslow (ex-David, One Life To Live; ex-Roger, Guiding Light) on January 25 at New York City's Golden Theatre (which, by the way, is the same Broadway theatre where Christian Slater, Zaslow's godson, is starring in SIDEMAN).

Awards were presented to ABC Television President Pat Fili-Krushel, journalist and New York City's First Lady Donna Hanover, and ALS patient Knut L. "The Viking" Kristensen, whose candid and lively correspondence was an inspiration to Zaslow. (Krushel and Kristensen were not in attendance). Topping off the evening was a performance of A.R. Gurney's play "Love Letters", which reunited film star Alec Baldwin and Kim Zimmer (Reva, Guiding Light), who co-starred as Billy Aldrich and Nola Dancy on the daytime soap The Doctors in the early '80s.

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The two were reunited with another former Doctors star, As The World Turns' Elizabeth Hubbard (Lucinda), who played Althea Davis on the now-defunct soap. "Alec Baldwin, Kim, and I go way back in the soap world, and it's nice they're reading together tonight," said Hubbard, who didn't forget the real reason they were there. "Michael was very special. He was wonderful. He did so much [for ALS] and had strength and courage. I wish he were here and doing the play reading."

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Also attending were Zaslow's longtime GL co-star, Maureen Garrett (Holly), and Dennis Parlato, who took over for Zaslow as Roger on GL. "I felt that attending was the least I could do," said Parlato. "I stepped into his role, and while it was an awkward thing to do, Michael was gracious. After everything that happened, I think it was right not having anybody continue playing the character. Just knowing what I had heard about how he handled this incredible challenge, I wanted to show my support."

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Although GL newcomer Paul Anthony Stewart (Danny) never worked with Zaslow, he wanted to support the good cause, "and my fellow cast member Kim Zimmer," he said. "We're all getting to show our support in the daytime community for a cure by 2000 for ALS. I just wanted to do my part by being here to give my support."

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Larkin Malloy (Travis, AMC; ex-Kyle, GL) echoed that sentiment. "It's a wonderful charity, a lot of people in the business are coming together to give their support to a disease that hasn't gotten a lot of attention," he noted. "It's always sad when someone's name is associated with a disease, but I'm sure Michael would be very happy that people are picking up the banner."

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Two of Michael Zaslow's dear friends and onscreen loves from his One Life To Live days, Brynn Thayer (ex-Jenny) and Robin Strasser (Dorian), participated in the reading of PALS (People with ALS) letters before the play. "Michael was the one who organized the event," Thayer noted. "He planned it seven months ago, and we're just carrying on with his orders. Michael is directing from above."

Strasser was glad she had the chance to work with Zaslow in the months prior to his death and commended One Life To Live for bringing him back to the show. "It enriched everybody," Strasser praised. "When you see somebody that brave and with that kind of commitment, it changes the way you look at things. He remained a great actor to the very end. That he couldn't walk or talk was just a challenge. They say sometimes good acting is created by obstacles, so he did some darn good acting because he had some obstacles."

Almost $200,000 for Zaslow's ALS charity, ZazAngels, was raised from the evening. To make donations to ZazAngels, find out more online at www.michaelzaslow.com