Glory Days
Saturday, April 19, 2008 7:51 PM| By Scotty Gore
(SoapOperaNetwork.com) – An examination of Andrea Evans’ popularity in Llanview.
Hello everyone. My sincere apologizes for this column being a few days late, but there has been a lot of excitement around here lately. From meetings and classes to homework and illnesses to an earthquake. Yes, that’s right….I was one of those people who was jolted awake last Friday morning at 4:38 am by the 5.2 magnitude quake. While it caused no damage or injuries here, it did shake things up…..literally. That was the first earthquake I remember going through, and it was both scary and fascinating at the same time. On a separate note, I received some very good news yesterday. For those of you who are familiar with the PRAXIS exams, then you’ll know what I’m referring to. For those who are not, it is a required test in order to become a certified teacher. I have to take three parts of the test, social studies, language arts, and classroom management/discipline (PLT). I take the last two next Saturday. Anyway, I took the social studies part back on March 15th and finally received the results in the mail yesterday. I passed the exam with a 178 (passing score is 149). I am so excited!!!!
So, because of homework, and in honor of Andrea Evans return to “One Life to Live” as Tina Roberts, here is a look back at an article from August 19, 1985 explaining the popularity of Evans and her character Tina. The article was written by Alan Carter and is entitled “It’ll take more than a bubble bath to clean up Andrea Evans’ act as daytime’s diva of dirt.” Hope you enjoy…….
As daytime’s answer to Alexis Carrington, Evans doesn’t wear dresses as fancy as Joan Collins’, but she certainly wears fewer clothes than any other actress in the afternoon soaps. For one recent shower scene, even the ABC censor visited the set. “I thought the scene was very sexy,” insists Evans. “People were coming up to me for weeks after that scene and saying, ‘Were you naked in there?’ and I’d say, ‘Well, do you wear clothes in the shower?'” Despite her sass, in Evans’ case the answer is affirmative: She wore a body stocking for the scene. With Evans, ABC’s “One Life To Live” has undressed for success, now ranking a strong third in the competitive daytime soap ratings. “She makes a tremendous difference to our show,” says producer Paul Rauch. “Her ability makes her go beyond the ordinary viper. In large part, she’s responsible for the show’s recent success.”
Evans sees herself as “a tigress,” which is in marked contrast to the “scared doe” one reporter called her four years ago. At that time the University of Illinois theatre graduate was making news by marrying her older (30ish) “One Life” co-star, Wayne Massey. They Valentine’s day ceremony took place in Evans’ hometown, Downers Grove, Ill., and was attended by her mother, Audrey, a piano teacher at Chicago’s American Conservatory of Music, and her father, Robert, a semi-retired apartment building manager. “I was very young then,” says the strawberry blonde. “I depended upon Wayne quite a bit. He took more control of things and I was like a scared doe. Now I’m on my own. The scared doe doesn’t exist anymore.”
Having played Tina Clayton since 1978, Evans left “One Life” in December 1981 with Massey, and the couple moved to Nashville. While Massey pursued a career as a singer (he now duets with his new wife, country crooner Charly McClain), Evans took it easy for a year. Then she landed the role of Patty on CBS’ The Young and the Restless, which is filmed in Los Angeles. “I don’t think it’s possible to run a marriage across the country,” says Evans, and hers didn’t travel well. The couple divorced last year.
Evans returned to “One Life” last January. “I’m more confident,” she explains. “I’m able to have fun with the character and have fun with myself.”
Like Tina, she’s also shrewder than she was in an earlier incarnation. In the tradition of her trade, Evans likes to shave four years off her past and give her age as 24. She insists that there is a typo in her college records. While in college she entered and lost the Miss Illinois pageant back home. “I’m not against beauty pageants,” she says now, “but I’m torn because I tend to be feministic in a lot of ways. Is feministic a word?” Savvy about cross-promotion as well as self-promotion, Evans recently signed with the Elite agency as a model. On the subject of romance, she is circumspect. Her current man is a publicity-shy L.A. producer. Though her marriage couldn’t withstand long distance, this relationship “gets a lot of help from GTE Sprint, People Express and MCI,” says Evans.
The steadiest males in her life are still Grompit (a nonsense word used by her father) and Uff da (a Norwegian expletive). The dogs even accompany Evans to work. “They sit in the makeup room under a sign that says, ‘Permanently reserved for the Evans boys.’ Bob Woods [a “One Life” co-star] said that if he’s ever reincarnated, he wants to come back as one of my dogs. Of course he said that after he found out they sleep with me.” Arf, arf.
Saving the best for last, it’s time to take a quick look at some of the plotlines coming up on “OLTL” a couple of weeks down the road. A jealous fiancé is responsible for bringing unwelcome visitor to town. Llanview’s leading lady convinces her enemy’s puppet to stop his attack on BE. A cop is tempted by cash recovered in a drug bust. And, as one couple goes on the run, another nearly gives into passion.
Well, that’s all for this edition of the column. I hope you enjoyed this edition of the column. That’s all for now; please be sure and join me again on April 30th. See you next time.
And until next time remember, we only have “One Life to Live” …..
