TVGUIDE

TRIBUTE

A FIGHTING SPIRIT: His bad boy battles on the soaps won over fans, but Michael Zaslow's true courage showed itself against a very real foe -- Lou Gehrig's disease. His final interview.

By Michael Logan
TV GUIDE, DECEMBER 19-25, 1998

Michael Zaslow, an immensely popular, Emmy-winning soap star, died December 6 from complications of the disease he so valiantly battled, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The actor, who was 54, was diagnosed with this degenerative neurological disorder, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, just a little more than a year ago. It not only robbed him of his voice and physical mobility, but also the role he played, on and off, for 27 years, the strapping bad boy Roger Thorpe of CBS's Guiding Light. But the fiercely determined Zaslow, who at the end of his life moved about on a battery-powered scooter and communicated by typing into a voice-synthesizing computer that spoke for him, was not robbed of his will to live or his desire to remain a vital performer.

In fact, Zaslow had recently returned to ABC's "One Life To Live" as the concert pianist David Renaldi, a role he first played during a break from GL in the mid-'80s (to accomodate the actor's limitations, Renaldi had also been afflicted with ALS). The dark side of this inspiring triumph was that most doctors today predict only a two- to five-year life expectancy for those stricken with ALS. But Zaslow, to his final days, would have none of that.

"I am not preparing myself or my family for anything but life," said the actor in a TV GUIDE interview conducted at his New York City apartment on November 6. Zaslow sat cuddled in a corner of his couch with his wife of 23 years, psychotherapist Susan Hufford (they have two adopted daughters, Marika, 16, and Helena, 13). Although many of the muscles in his face had atrophied, Zaslow had no trouble flashing a stubborn smile. "There is much to be hopeful for in terms of ALS research," he insisted. "We now detect optimism on many fronts." On a table in the Zaslow family's living room is a large ceramic platter on which lie stones that have been naturally smoothed by decades, perhaps even centuries, of flowing waters. Arranged with simple, Zen-like artistry, each is engraved with a single word: LAUGH. LOVE. MAGIC. COURAGE. FAITH. IMAGINE. They were --- and they remain --- the bylaws in this home. Said the actor: "ZazAngels [his Internet-based organization dedicated to increasing awareness of ALS] has a slogan: A cure by 2000. I think we will make it."

Since the diagnosis, Zaslow and Hufford had exhaustively campaigned for ALS research funds. Hufford will continue to do so: On January 25, she will host an ALS fund-raiser at Broadway's Royale Theater, honoring ABC president Patricia Fili-Krushel, Larry King and New York City's first lady, Donna Hanover, for their support of ALS research. Also on the bill are Zaslow's buddies Alec Baldwin, William Baldwin, Blair Brown and Jane Alexander.

Together, Zaslow and Hufford rode herd on the ALS Association, which, to their disappointment, has declined to fund a study of a physical-therapy treatment called proprioceptic neuromuscular facilitation that Zaslow said "has helped me move facial and body muscles that were hopelessly stilled." (Citing budget limitations, the ALSA says they hope to support a study next year). They publicly railed against the injustices of the insurance industry. As a result of his OLTL appearances and the media attention to his plight --- including segments on 20/20, Today and an entire hour of Larry King Live --- a few companies are covering voice synthesizers after refusing to do so for years.

"The hardest part of all this for our family is the loss of communication with Michael," said Hufford in the interview. Zaslow, clearly moved, reached out his hand and clutched Hufford's knee, then patted it with warm reassurance. The couple's journey to this place would have defeated those with weaker constitutions. In September 1996, Zaslow began experiencing slightly slurred speech on the set of GL. Over the next few months, as he began to lose weight and the slurring escalated, he underwent a battery of tests (doctors suspected everything from myasthenia gravis to Lyme disease). In April 1997, Procter & Gamble, which produces GL, took Zaslow off the air because of his condition and eventually replaced him with another actor. He filed an arbitration against P&G that ended last December -- a month after his ALS diagnosis -- in a settlement he termed "fair" (he was not allowed to discuss specifics). It could be argued that it was much easier for ABC, which hired him after the ALS diagnosis and used him only once or twice a month, to support him in his crisis than it was for P&G, which was faced with a front-burner actor suffering a mysterious ailment.

Zaslow didn't buy it. "If I had been diagnosed with ALS while I was on GL, I do not in truth believe it would have gone down any differently," he asserted. "I think they would have booted me out of there even faster out of fear. It takes brave people with a sense of fighting spirit and humanity to behave with dignity in a crisis. Those at the top [of P&G] were not up to it." (P&G has refused to comment).

"Michael was a warrior," says OLTL star Robin Strasser (Dorian), who brought his desire to work to the attention of ABC brass. "He used his heart and soul and righteous indignation as jet fuel." Close pal Brynn Thayer, who played opposite Zaslow on OLTL in the '80s and was with him when he got his ALS diagnosis, says, "Michael immediately wanted to turn his horrifying news into something hopeful. And he knew that if he stayed in your face, you'd have to pay attention.

The actor credited his tenacity to his parents, Edith and Milton, who died, respectively, in 1995 and '97. "Mom worked in the sweat factories and was jailed for supporting her striking workers," he said. "They were both activists for human rights. In their 80s, they were passing out pamphlets in shopping centers, still working for the underdog. They never stopped. And I will never stop."

He glanced lovingly at Hufford, then down at the floor at his springer spaniel, Lilly, who, hoping for a dog biscuit, rolled over on the rug and looked adoringly at her master. Zaslow let out a big, boisterous laugh, one that needed no translation by computer. "If you love your life," he said, "you have to fight."