December 24, 2024 • 58 mins
Listen to a conversation filled with inspiration and reflection with beloved actress and author Barbara Rodell.
Known for her unforgettable roles as Lee Randolph on Another World, Jill Clayborn on The Secret Storm, Leslie Jackson Bauer Norris on Guiding Light, and Joyce Colman on As the World Turns, Barbara has left an indelible mark on daytime television.
Barbara will also share the spiritual journey behind her new memoir, Heaven Is Now: A Spiritual Journey of Self Realization through Grace. Inspired by angelic guidance, her book reveals a profound exploration of faith, love, and resilience. With heartfelt reflections, Barbara offers readers a window into her soul, inviting us all to discover understanding, forgiveness, and a deeper connection to God.
Don’t miss this intimate conversation with Barbara Rodell, whose story will inspire anyone seeking grace through life’s joys and challenges.
Known for her unforgettable roles as Lee Randolph on Another World, Jill Clayborn on The Secret Storm, Leslie Jackson Bauer Norris on Guiding Light, and Joyce Colman on As the World Turns, Barbara has left an indelible mark on daytime television.
Barbara will also share the spiritual journey behind her new memoir, Heaven Is Now: A Spiritual Journey of Self Realization through Grace. Inspired by angelic guidance, her book reveals a profound exploration of faith, love, and resilience. With heartfelt reflections, Barbara offers readers a window into her soul, inviting us all to discover understanding, forgiveness, and a deeper connection to God.
Don’t miss this intimate conversation with Barbara Rodell, whose story will inspire anyone seeking grace through life’s joys and challenges.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi everybody, happy to have you here this evening with me in the locker room.
(00:09):
I'm Alan Locker.
But love, actress and author Barbara Adele is here tonight to look back at her unforgettable
roles in daytime television, including Lee Randolph on another world, Jill Claiborne
on the Secret Storm, Leslie Jackson-Bauer-Narris on Guiding Light, and Joyce Coleman on As of
the World Turns.
Barbara will also share the spiritual journey behind her new memoir, Heaven is Now, a spiritual
(00:33):
journey of self-realization through grace, inspired by angelic guidance from Brooke Reveals,
a profound exploration of faith, love and resilience.
With heartfelt reflections, Barbara offers readers a window into her soul, inviting us all
to discover understanding, forgiveness and a deeper connection to God.
Please help me welcome to the locker room, Barbara Adele.
(00:55):
Hey Barbara.
Hi, what a beautiful introduction.
Now all the nerves have left my body.
Thank you.
Well that is terrific.
I know the fans are really excited to see you, so thank you for doing this.
Absolutely.
So let's talk about your book.
(01:16):
You released your memoir, Heaven is Now Back in June.
What inspired you to write the book?
I knew you were going to ask me that question, and I have given it some plot, and I wish I
could give you a precise answer, but I can.
I know I was divinely guided to write it, because I wanted to share my life from the viewpoint
(01:41):
of being open to spirituality, however each person feels about that, because there are many
religions and many ideas about it.
But for me, everything in my life was connected to a purpose, a soul purpose, and there are
no mistakes.
(02:05):
When did spirituality, your faith take hold?
Was it from a young age, or a certain point in your life?
Yes.
I'm a little hesitant about giving the answer to that.
You don't have to.
No, no, but I will.
I was a young teenager, and my father took me to see the greatest story ever told.
(02:31):
Not the newest one, but the one way back.
I was just taken aback by the beauty of the film and the message of Jesus Christ, who's
a Jew.
I am Jewish.
And in no way do I ever make me--
That's too me too.
Okay.
I never negate that in my heart.
(02:54):
And when I came out, and I was probably in a certain state, which I don't remember, but
I do remember my beloved father are saying to me, "Are you okay?"
And I remember my answer, and it's in the book.
And I said, "Oh, daddy, that's the Messiah.
That's him."
(03:15):
And that's where it began.
You know?
That's the story.
Yeah.
I love that.
Was it easy writing the book?
Not really.
It wasn't hard either.
It took a couple of years.
And then when the pandemic happened, there were no more excuses.
(03:37):
But when you're writing, and you're writing from, let's say, your heart and your truth as
much as you can, you have to take deep breaths because it was an actress and enough saying
just because I'm an actress, you relive it.
And so like my mom and dad were no longer here.
My brothers are not here.
(03:58):
My sister-in-law is not here.
There's that heartache, you know?
Yeah, I'm sure.
It brings up a ton of memories.
That's right.
And I didn't mention earlier, but the book is available on Amazon.com.
And you do cover your career in the book as well, correct?
Of course.
Nothing, everything in my life is connected to my spirituality.
(04:22):
I wasn't aware of that when I was very young because when I left home at a very young age,
not quite 17 and a half because my father who adored me was very frightened that I was
entering a very dark world.
A theater of acting, right?
(04:44):
And I said, well, daddy, I'm going anyway.
You know?
And so I followed that.
I don't know where that courage came from, but I think in our individual lives, courage
comes to us when we need it.
You know?
Absolutely.
Well, that leads to the perfect question that you left home for this calling that you
(05:09):
had.
Right.
Where did that love of the theater begin?
Was it?
I'm not going to have acting.
Where did that come from?
Yeah.
I really don't know, but I just knew I knew how to do it.
I knew I knew where to go within myself emotionally.
I mean, I'm a young girl.
(05:31):
I don't have a lot of life experiences, you know?
Yeah.
And I just follow that, you know?
And I think I mentioned in the book and I mean this at my older age now.
I was much more honest in my acting than I was in my real life.
I was kind of timid and shy.
But when I was playing a role, I could let all that come out from, I don't know, I guess
(05:56):
a divine place, you know?
Yeah, absolutely.
And I've heard many actors say that, you know, they are timid, they are shy, you know,
but they come to life when it's the role.
I mean, before we go on on the drama part, what was, you know, you're a true, true, born
(06:19):
and bred New Yorker?
What was it like growing up in New York City when you were a kid?
What did you do?
Well, I don't know, you know, I have a granddaughter, Samantha.
Wow.
We'll be 10 years old.
But when I think about myself at that age, New York City was very joyful.
(06:41):
I mean, we used to, my father came from a large family of brothers and one sister all gone,
but we would all play, you know, sit on the benches at Central Park, bring our little
food, you know, and you don't see that.
But I always try to look at the positive side of life.
(07:02):
And it's different now, but if you bring your intention of peace, then that's what you
receive.
That's what you give yourself.
And hopefully I try to impart that in my relationships.
Do I have it right that you started studying at the dramatic workshop?
(07:25):
Wow.
You really did good research.
I'm just there for a very short time.
I mean, there I was, a young girl.
Someone told me to go there.
And I can't even remember who it was, had me do a monologue and said, well, we did, we'll
accept you in the program.
And then I said, I have no money.
(07:45):
And they took me anyway.
But I wasn't there very long.
Did you study elsewhere?
I studied with Uda Hagen in her professional class.
Wow.
Yes.
And she was dynamic.
I read her book and I don't remember what that book is called.
No, I don't either.
I think I took some classes.
(08:06):
I was never an actor, but I did take some acting.
Well, the Herbert, Herbert Berkoff, a studio that was her husband, you know, and she, her
career was mostly on stage.
But she was hilarious as a teacher, you know?
And yeah, I studied with her for a little while.
And then my acting, study part of my acting, I was trying to get an agent.
(08:33):
And I was having a, in those days, if you wanted to get representation, you would go to the
different addresses equity, had a whole list.
And you could walk in and knock on the door and just be joyful and dynamic as you could.
Because a presentation is very important, you know?
(08:55):
And an agent sent me to a professional class, which was, the teacher was Joe Cardi.
And he produced "Love of Life" or one life, I can't remember the other one.
Joe, Joe Cardi produced the show.
They produced it, yeah.
(09:15):
Yeah, but didn't he produce the first show you did a flame in the wind?
That's right.
And that's one day after class.
I mean, this is how your materialistic life and your spiritual life come together.
You never know what's happening behind the scenes.
There I was, a young girl.
And by the way, in that class, we're two men who were instrumental in my professional
(09:39):
life.
Keith Charles and Connie folks.
They were both in that class.
Little did I know that they would both play my husbands on different soaps, you know?
That's it.
Yeah.
One day after class, Joe called me up and he said, "Do you have an agent?"
And I said, "Well, I'm freelancing with someone so."
(10:00):
And he said, "Well, I'd like you to audition for something."
And I was just very naive.
When did the audition?
Didn't go back to class that night of that day.
And Joe called me and I lived in a three-floor walk-up.
And I didn't go because I thought I had done a terrible job, you know?
(10:21):
And Joe was on the phone and he said, "Why didn't you come to class tonight?"
And I said, "Well, I don't think I did very well."
He said, "Really?"
And I got the part.
Yeah.
That was your first part.
Were you familiar with soaps at that time?
I mean...
Yeah, I would watch them a little bit.
And I did watch another world, you know?
(10:42):
So that when fortune came my way, and again, I replaced another actress.
And I was familiar with...
Even though they didn't have her name on the sides, which is what we read from when me auditioned.
When I read the material, I thought, "I think that's the daughter of the main family."
(11:06):
And it was.
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
And Agnes Nixon was that day.
She created that role.
I mean, she started on NBC.
Agnes Nixon, creatively.
Yes.
Wow.
I didn't realize that.
Yes.
Talk about a genius.
That's right.
Talk about a genius.
(11:26):
What do you remember about your time on another world?
Well, it was a very intense role because they dealt with the character and the Randolph.
One of the other characters, a wicked kind of character, put LSD in her coffee.
(11:47):
And so they dealt with a whole aspect which I didn't think was ever shown on TV before.
And so it opened.
I had to go deep.
And I didn't know how to, in those days, to control the emotions so that when I finished
my day, I couldn't let go of it, you know?
(12:07):
You could get home.
That's right.
I couldn't let go of it.
But as I grew up and grew older and hopefully wiser, I understood.
I understood my acting in a very different way.
And the first show that you did with Joe Hardy, you were on there a short time, correct?
Right.
(12:28):
Yeah.
And it was only on there a year.
The show went off the year.
You know?
You know, the coming from stage is so different doing us so.
Yeah.
I had done some of stock and everything like that.
But yes, it was.
I don't know.
And those, I don't know what makes a person fearless, but I was never afraid.
(12:49):
And you say, you say, I think sometimes it does that too.
Were any of the shows live when you were still doing them?
I think another world for a little bit.
Wow.
And I may be flame in the wind, but I don't remember.
Yeah.
It's, it's a couple years ago.
Yes, right.
(13:10):
It's definitely, what do you remember about Beverly Penberthe, Jordan Charney and Ann Wedge
World?
Beverly was played my mother.
Yeah.
I didn't have a lot of scenes with her.
Michael Ryan.
I had a lot of scenes with my father.
She's very beautiful, you know?
(13:31):
I remember my first show on another world.
And I had the majority of the show that day.
It was a turning point in the story line.
And I was standing there.
And the announcer said, the role of Lee Randolph will now be played by Barbara Rodel.
I remember, I think I took a deep breath.
(13:51):
I said, is this really happening?
You know?
I forgot.
Because they, they didn't live to tape or that might have been lying.
And that day, in that day, a rest is so Michael Ryan who played my, my father, went up on
his lines.
And I, for that, for some reason, I never moved from where my position was.
(14:17):
And I had lived.
And I said, Daddy, I don't think you understood what I just said.
And I got him back on, and then the show was over.
And Len Valenta, who directed me for years and years on different soaps.
I was sort of like an adopted daughter to him.
And he said, "Protect our en gamble, love you."
(14:41):
And Michael came and apologized.
But I had so much to do.
I couldn't be nervous.
You know?
I mean, it's, it's, it's amazing.
Who, who are some of your mentors along the way?
When you say mentors, you mean as actors?
No.
People who helped guide your path, you know, helped you.
(15:02):
Sounds like Joe Hardy was very helpful.
Yeah.
I'm trying to really know how my mentors, I don't think it was anybody, any actors, but I think
it was my mother and father, who I know always had my back and loved me dearly, did not
(15:22):
understand me.
And, and this thing I wanted to do, you know, where did this come from?
My father was puzzled.
And one day he said to me, when he came to see me in a show in Summer Stock, ask me, how
do you do that?
That wasn't my daughter up there.
And I said, I really don't know.
I just know, as I said before, I know how to do it, you know?
(15:47):
And I had spiritual teachers that helped me a lot, who guided me.
And we're very strict.
I, there was a man named Larry Morris, who was my teacher in the group that I went to,
a spiritual group.
And again, it was a father-daughter relationship.
And one day I came to his home and I was, oh, I don't know.
(16:10):
I'll never be able to get a agent.
I'll never get a job.
I'll never, and he said, stop it.
And he said, you have to give that all up.
And I said, give that what up?
He said, self-pity.
Just do what you have to do.
Wow.
And it took me.
Mom and dad quite happy when they saw you on the television.
Oh, my goodness.
(16:31):
Oh, my goodness.
Yes, of course.
They were very, well, you were proud.
Yes.
Yeah, I'm sure.
Yeah.
Did you enjoy summer stock?
Well, it was hard work.
I started as an apprentice and then someone took me over there under their wing, Max Fisher,
who was a teacher at the American Theatre Wing.
(16:53):
And again, one day came up to me as I'm painting things and said, there's a role coming up.
I think you can do it.
And I did it.
And I became a member of Actors Equity.
Wow.
Yes.
So that was life-changing.
Because then I had a really substantial credit.
(17:13):
So that agents would see me.
When you first start out, you're a blank page.
You know?
I mean, it's got to be a nice feeling when somebody, you know, like Joe, thinking you would
be great for that part.
We're right.
Max, thinking you'd be great for this part.
(17:34):
Well, we all want to be seen, right, Alan?
We want to be recognized.
Well, you don't have to be an actor.
You can be anything we want to be seen and appreciated.
Absolutely.
Correct.
And after another world you went over to play Jill in the Secret Storm.
Right.
And that happened.
And I want to give him his credit.
(17:55):
The president of CBS at that time was Fred Silverman.
Oh, wow.
OK.
And little did I-- this is what I'm trying to share with my audience.
You don't know what's happening behind the scene for your good, for your good.
And he just admired my work.
And he would be calling CBS and saying, what is her role coming to an end on Lee Reddolph?
(18:20):
And it did.
And then I never had to audition.
They offered me the role of Jill Stevens on a guiding light.
Uh, Jill played one on Secret Storm.
I'd seen the storm.
I'm right.
Wow.
Wow.
So again, that's got to feel pretty good.
Yeah.
And I remember sitting in the conference room in my agent at that time said, do you know
(18:42):
who that man is in the back?
And I said, no, he said, he's a president of CBS.
I said, oh, OK.
So that's how that went.
Yeah.
Wow.
But that role really had nowhere to go.
And that's why the character came to an end at a very early time.
(19:02):
But were you enjoying daytime at the time?
Were you enjoying that work?
Yeah.
I mean, I was married.
And by that time, I had my son, John Epstein.
Now, it was never-- how shall I say, consuming totally, because being a mother was very important
(19:25):
to me.
Yes.
And I remember when I got the part on guiding my through Betty Ray was also a big fan of mine.
I knew I had gotten it.
When I left the studio, tears were rolling down my eyes because my son was not quite a
(19:45):
year old.
And I thought, oh, my-- I knew I had to take it.
And I knew I would take it.
But I had to--
Were you given birth before guiding light?
Yeah.
And when you met with Betty Ray, you knew you'd be going to work.
Yes, exactly.
Exactly.
Did you remember anything about Betty?
(20:08):
She was very lively.
And I liked her very much.
But very business like also, you never knew what the outcome of your audition was going to
be.
So she was not revealing.
But I always felt she was pulling for me.
That's what I've heard a lot of actors say that they're always pulling with them.
(20:31):
Yes.
Yeah.
And I mean, a great thing because I can't imagine the nerves going through an actor when they're
opposite someone like Betty Ray.
Yes.
Yeah.
But I never felt that.
I was always at ease with her.
And was guiding light-- do you remember was it 26th Street at that time?
No, we started at 57th Street.
(20:53):
At CBS.
Right.
And then we went to that tiny little studio on 26th Street, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
Talk about some of your co-stores, Don Stewart, Mark Hullswitt.
Well, Mark was a darling.
And is a darling.
You know, just the character he portrayed is really who he was.
(21:19):
That kindness, concern.
They were-- that show-- I felt I was really part of a family because they were very caring
about my having to get home as a mom.
And my dad was going through a health crisis.
It was just a lot of caring.
(21:40):
And I would say Leslie Bauer was closest to my own nature.
Yeah.
So very easy to connect with her.
I love that.
You also worked with Michael Zaslow, Roger?
Yes.
And Michael, who was a really-- I mean, the biggest daytime sign store ever.
(22:05):
Your audience know that.
And very overpowering.
And he frightened me a little bit.
And we did a lot of scenes together.
And so I was very standoffish with him.
And yet, at one time, I produced an event for the Catholic Guardian Society and involved
(22:26):
the adoptive children and had to adopt children.
And I knew that he had adopted two girls.
He, yep.
He had a birth.
And I went to him very shyly.
But this wasn't as an actress.
This just was as a human being, so to speak.
And I asked him if he would come to the event, which was a lot of other daytime stars.
(22:49):
And that changed my relationship with him because we became very good friends.
Yeah.
I love that.
I love that.
And yeah, he did his beautiful daughters.
Your father was played by Stefan Schnabel, right?
Not my father.
Yes, that's right, he was, right.
(23:11):
Yeah.
My doctor, Stephen Jackson.
That's right.
Right.
You know more than I do.
But I didn't have a lot of scenes with him.
And God Stewart, who played Mike Baton.
Yeah, well, he was a flirt, but sweet, you know, very handsome.
Don Stewart?
Yes.
(23:32):
I don't mean that in a negative way.
Yeah, I don't know.
I know.
And very understandably, you know, he, he, he liked me.
And I was definitely let him know that that would not be possible.
(23:52):
A personal relationship would not be possible.
Yeah, professional.
That's right.
Professional only.
Tommy said, Barbara, you were great on guiding light in As the World terms.
You were a great daytime actress.
Oh, thank you.
Well, great's a big word.
I did my best.
(24:14):
Kevin was asking, do you remember if you were at Secret Storm?
And Christina Crawford was on?
I was.
She, her mother was.
Joe Crawford.
Yes, it was.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think Joan might have even been on there.
(24:35):
And your, your pregnancies were never written into the shows on any show?
No.
As a matter of fact, after I had my son, they
did write in a pregnancy for Leslie, right?
Yeah.
And I went up to the producers and I said, okay.
(24:56):
So, you know, yeah, I carried it through.
Right.
That's so funny.
No, Alan, I think you know, I was pregnant on guiding light.
That's right.
And then I became pregnant after my son was born in real life.
Yes.
Yeah.
So you were hiding it and then you--
(25:18):
That's exactly exactly.
I had, you know, behind your ears holding a purse, pillow, whatever.
Yeah.
That happened all the time.
Yeah.
People would literally be pregnant and then the character gets pregnant.
Right.
Right.
I hope you're still there.
(25:51):
I don't know exactly what happened.
Everything is sort of stopped.
Hi, Alan.
Are we still filming?
Can you hear me?
(26:11):
Now I can.
There you are.
Yeah, I don't know what happened.
Right.
Just the internet.
Just the internet.
Okay.
Okay.
How did the role of Joyce come about?
Well, the writers had seen me on guiding light.
And Fred Bathalon-Mew, who was a very famous English actor when he was a child.
(26:37):
I think he had been watching.
And this role came up, which was so opposed to any other role that I'd ever played.
You know, very complicated.
I don't want to describe her in any negative way.
Troubled.
You know?
And again, it was not a role I had to audition for, which is very rare in this case.
(27:00):
They offered it to me.
Yeah.
In this business, it's very rare.
Correct.
Correct.
And that's what happened.
Yeah.
Is this?
Oh, that's my son and myself.
Yes.
That's great.
What does your son do today?
(27:21):
Well, he was an actor and a really brilliant actor.
But in this acting career, if they don't open, they don't open.
And I mean, I'm so proud of him in every way.
He's in real estate.
(27:42):
He's also an artist.
And he did the cover of the book.
Oh, great.
I didn't tell him what to do or anything.
And it was absolutely perfect.
It's gorgeous.
I love that.
Isn't it?
Yeah.
And if you want to look at his work, you can go into Jay Epstein at Instagram.
Oh, great.
I love Jay Epstein.
(28:04):
Yeah.
At Instagram.
Great.
And that's his passion.
But he's very successful at his real estate career, too.
And he's got a 10-year-old daughter?
Yes.
He's a beautiful, beautiful wife, you know?
And very kind.
He once said to me, you know, Mom, you had to act.
(28:25):
You know, it was something that was so inbred in you.
And he just accepted, I learned so much from him because he's able to make changes in
his life without any regrets, you know?
Becoming a father and a husband, men getting a change in career.
100%.
(28:45):
Yeah.
You got to do it.
You have to do what you have to do.
You did all right.
Talk about how's the world turns?
Helen Wagner, Donna Glocklin.
Okay.
Well, at first Helen and I did not get along.
No.
Because she didn't like my character.
And she couldn't see that.
(29:06):
I worked with Helen.
Oh, she couldn't separate the character from Barbara Rodel.
And but I would like to say here again, if we really want a situation to change, I was at
rehearsal and John was six years old, waiting for me to finish the morning rehearsal and
(29:27):
take him to school.
And Helen said something very, very negative.
I don't even want to repeat it.
Very hurtful.
And I was taken aback and I got John to school.
And I came back and I thought this calls for bravery on my part.
(29:49):
And you know, acting brave and actually being brave in your own life is very different.
And I said, this can't continue because I see this animosity.
She's not able to separate it.
And I went up to the producers and I said, I need to speak to Helen Wagner.
(30:13):
Because she doesn't treat me very well.
And Fred Balthalmue, who said, well, we can do it.
And I said, no, I have to do it.
And I just want to intersect something very important to me.
The person I shared, my dressing room with, with my closest friend, Kelly Wood Adams, who
(30:34):
played Mary Stewart.
I went over to Kelly and I said, I'm going up there and I'm going to tell them that
she can't talk to me that way.
And I have to speak to her.
I went down to her dressing room.
I knocked on the door.
I was shaking like a leaf.
And I said, Helen, I don't think you realize what you're very hurtful.
(30:56):
And you said this morning that you hope they kill the other character.
I said, I'm a mother and a wife.
And I have a family to support.
And I'm not that character.
I'm only portraying that character.
And she got very quiet.
Never, never once again ever said anything to me like that.
(31:19):
And really brought little presence for John.
So it healed.
You know that.
Right.
Right.
That bravery helps.
That word healing.
Even though it appears to be very negative and scary to face it, there is a possible, there's
a healing for everything.
You know?
I love that you do that.
At least that's the way I look at it.
(31:40):
But you had to do it.
You had to do it.
I'm going to say something.
I'm taking a real chance at it on saying this.
The election is over.
People half of the country voted for him and the others for her.
And something came to me in my prayer time this morning.
This is an opportunity to see him good.
(32:04):
And every personal feelings we have to send good feelings toward the healing of our country
and the all will go well.
You know?
I sure hope so.
Yes.
I have doubts.
But I did say yesterday I have to have hope that it's going to be better than I believe.
(32:27):
Okay.
So.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I mean, I don't, you know, none of us want bad things to happen.
That's right.
None of us do.
And hope is the best thing we can all have.
And let's hope.
And all of you know, whoever like myself has doubts, let's hope he rises above those doubts.
(32:55):
Exactly.
Right.
Right.
That's all we can ask for.
Do you remember Don McLaughlin who played Chris Hughes?
Oh, I mean, just the sweetest, the sweetest.
And Papa Bauer, he lived right around the corner for me.
(33:16):
Was that, um, that's, Oh, grandpa, yeah, yeah, yeah, Papa, yeah, yeah, I was thinking.
Yeah.
And so, you know, we had this personal relationship.
And he was instrumental, unfortunately, on the day that my father passed away who had gone
through major heart surgery.
(33:36):
And I had called every single day.
And I remember that morning, I said, you know, I'm driving that crazy calling him every
day.
And I said, I'm not going to call today, you know, because he was getting better.
Little did I know that my husband had gotten a call that he had passed away.
My husband had said, don't tell her that her finished the show and send her home and take
(34:03):
it.
And then they went and told the cast that I wasn't coming to that rehearsal that night.
And Tayo was waiting for me to give me a lift.
And of course, he knew what had happened.
But he wasn't, he wasn't going to be the one to tell me that my dad had died.
And gave me a lift back to our area.
(34:26):
He only lived three blocks away from me.
Not knowing that this tragedy was waiting for me.
I said, oh, Tayo, can we stop the car?
There's a little bear I wanted to buy for my son.
And James said, no, no, no, no, no.
And I said, but then he realized, so let me go.
And I bought the little bear for John.
And when I got home, you know, I found that my father had passed.
(34:51):
I'm sorry.
Your rival on As the World Turns was Ms. Eileen Fulton.
What do you remember about working with Eileen?
I love Eileen.
And you know, in her autobiography, she says a little sentence.
She said, I can't, I'm paraphrasing it.
(35:12):
I don't remember too well.
But she said, oh, Barbara, they're so pretty.
And of course, everybody wants to, girls want to know that people see them as being pretty,
you know.
But she was that character from her head to the toes.
Oh, 100%.
100%.
(35:33):
Well, although I have to say, sometimes I didn't know what was coming out of her mouth because
she would add, live a little bit, you know?
I know she's still doing well.
And she is.
Yes.
And she just, thankfully survived the horrible hurricanes in North Carolina because that's
(35:54):
where she is.
Right.
Right.
That was hit where she is, but she was, she was well.
But that, that, I want to go back a little bit, Alan.
That day when Helen was not nice to me and I, I actually couldn't catch my breath and
we finished a scene.
I mean, took me out in the corridor and she said, you're the new kid on the block.
(36:17):
That's it.
She'll, you know, it won't last forever.
She won't, she won't be that way.
So I remember who she hugged me and said, welcome in all that.
So I have a sweet place in my heart for her.
Oh, well, talk about your, your men, Conard Fowkes and James Douglas.
(36:38):
Now James was a Javoud Christian and so I would share with him privately my affection for Jesus
Christ.
And when my character got to be doing really bad, bad things, I knocked on his door and I
(36:59):
said, James, I can't do it.
You know, I'm going to shoot my husband.
I can't do it.
This is the only way I can.
And James said, oh, yes, you can.
You have to do it.
This is, you have to provide for your family and you're very capable.
And no matter what she does, the audience loves you because you bring out her vulnerability.
(37:21):
And I think that's true.
No matter what she did, I tried to bring out her soft side.
So funny.
Yeah.
Do you have a favorite Joyce moment?
I know it's a long time ago, so it could be, you know.
I'm trying to think.
(37:43):
Yes, I do.
It actually, it was a scene with Helen Wagner where I come back into town unexpectedly and
I go to, and Don McLaughlin is there, you know, and I knock on the door.
She opens the door and like, whoa, whoa.
(38:03):
And I try to get her to understand that I'm different, that I've changed, that I've
repented, you know, and that the audience gave me in the next scenes and the next, I think
month or month and a half, they were showing really that was my intention.
(38:24):
But it bothered, not bothered me, but I wish they had let that side of her continue.
The fans are saying Joyce was so real, I always felt her pain.
Right.
Good.
Do you remember this scene that you're describing?
(38:44):
And so does Kai H says, I love that kitchen scene.
Right.
And oh, I would like to say one of the things again, talking has spirituality enters my life.
The scene where I do shoot my husband, Connie Forks, the actor.
Don Hughes.
Don Hughes, right.
(39:07):
It was choreographed, like a dance.
In other words, the gun had to be picked up at a certain time.
There was a momentum to it, right?
And a spiritual teacher that was very influential in my life, just a wonderful, wonderful man.
He was making his transition.
And I remember asking for help from the creator, I'm going to do these scenes even though they
(39:37):
are horrible to me as a person to the letter.
In my reverence to him to be as conscious as possible of this, of this, and I did.
And you know, that was the show that was nominated for an Emmy.
Oh, wow.
And I remember when Alan Fristo, who was the director of that, came out because we taped it
(40:03):
at night.
And over two period, over two days, everybody was exhausted.
And finally the end came and Alan came down from the control room and he said, I'm exhausted.
He said, I want to thank you.
You did everything just perfect.
(40:24):
How did you do it?
And I didn't go into an explanation.
And I just said, I'm glad it worked out.
But there it was.
I got the courage to not identify with the circumstances of the character.
It wasn't me, but my job was to do it as best I could.
That's what you were being paid to do.
(40:45):
That's right.
And you were supporting your family.
Absolutely.
Yeah, absolutely.
Did you get to work with Don Hastings, Bob Hughes?
Not a lot.
But I do have, I always thought that he liked me as a person.
(41:06):
And when I did have a couple of emotional scenes with her actually on my audition tapes,
where I break down and he was there every moment of the way, you know.
And had he not been?
I don't think I would have been able to do it as well.
And you were just saying that you were texting with Colleen Zank.
(41:27):
Did you get to work with Colleen?
No, that was the end of my run.
Yeah.
She had the end of your run, right?
Yes, right.
So you missed each other.
Right.
But we like, I mean, I can tell whenever I post something or she posts back, there's a
relationship.
And it's part of the world turns family for sure.
(41:51):
Yeah, exactly.
For sure.
Any other world turns memories, stand out in your?
Well, I won mention Anne Wedgeworth who played La Homa on another world.
Yeah, yeah.
Right.
We shared the same dressing room.
She was the sweetest, most unpretentious actor I have ever known.
(42:13):
Not me to the ninths.
I know her daughters.
It was never about her acting.
She was all heart.
Just if I can describe her angel-like.
That's all I love about her.
I think that I knew her.
Yeah.
(42:33):
I mean, that's a great way to describe another human being.
Well, thank you, Alan, for understanding that.
Yeah, it's a great way.
I had a lot of people like that in my life.
One of the fans was asking, do you have any memories of Patricia Bruder who played Alan's
Stewart?
Not really.
No.
I mean, again, our paths crossed.
(42:54):
I saw her in a reading several months ago and it was just lovely to see her.
Wow, that's amazing.
I love that she's still working.
Yes.
David says, I loved Anne on Three's Company, which you mentioned to me backstage that she
was on.
Yes.
Yeah.
By the way, thank you for extending this invitation to me.
(43:20):
I'm so glad we could finally make it happen.
I know fans have been asking.
Did you audition after As the World Turns?
Did you want to continue asking?
Yes, I have.
This was a mistake.
Not a mistake.
Not a right choice.
I got a call from the ABC.
(43:47):
What's Alan's example?
No, Slazak.
What was her first thing?
Ericka Slazak.
Yeah.
She was leaving to have another baby.
And I was called to come down and they actually offered me the role until she came back to have
her baby.
And I turned it down.
It was a big mistake on my part because I never worked for ABC but that there's where the
ego, you know, I don't want to replace another person, another actor but it would have been
(44:15):
life changing because then I would have been in.
Right.
They would have seen it.
It could have made another work, yeah.
It could have lead.
It's a, you know, it's a gamble in this business.
I mean, so many actors have had incredible roles like Joyce Coleman and the show wants you
(44:39):
to stay and then you say, no, I want to go try and do this.
And you might not ever hear from that actor again, unfortunately.
Right.
There was a point when I was on I saw turns.
I got a call from the William Morris agency and I was with them for a year.
They wanted me to leave the show and go to LA.
(45:01):
And again, my heart said, I can't take the chance of not having a job, you know.
But I have no regrets, Alan.
I have no regrets about anything.
It was a, I feel the same way.
I have like two but they're very small and just minor.
Yeah, they're not like major things.
(45:23):
I just want to say this in respect, there was a point where I lost almost all my money
in the stock market.
Okay.
Through someone that was a then a family member, they then divorced the person they were
married to.
And I went, oh my God, what am I going to do?
(45:45):
I have, you know, John to get through school.
My knowledge, my mom was then declining and I was walking down the street and I don't think
you can ask God to give you something.
You receive what you receive.
And I suddenly felt because when I was 17, I worked as an usher.
(46:11):
But I never joined the union.
Okay.
Then I got so her stuff, jobs and everything like that and I went, I wonder if Bob Zee
loved that she was the head of the union is still working.
And I went over to the theater where I thought she was and I asked her daughter who's passed.
(46:32):
I said, is your mom still?
She said she's upstairs.
I said, can I go up to see her and I went up to see her.
She was a beautiful woman.
And she said, Barbara, Barbara, how come you're not on TV anymore?
And I said, well, that's what happens.
The story went a certain way and I said, I need a job.
(46:54):
And now I feel very taken aback and gratitude because I didn't know what other kind of job
I could take, you know.
And I started ushering.
And I ushered for 15 years and I just want to tell you that it gave me something I would
(47:20):
have never gotten before.
I was never feeling it was beneath me or anything where somebody once said to me, oh, what if a
casting director sees you here and you're ushering.
And I said, what?
You know, so what?
And I remember when cast members came to see the show, they would take me and their arms
(47:43):
and hug me.
In other words, there was no judgment.
No judgment.
What theater was it?
The Richard Rogers.
Amazing.
I was there.
I just wanted to tell you, I was there until Hamilton was there.
Oh, wow.
Right.
And the 45th.
A 46th Street.
46?
(48:03):
Yeah.
And the house manager.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The house manager Tim went to school with John and it was small work.
The circle has a reason.
Do you know what I mean?
Everything has its purpose.
So that's what happened to me.
I'm glad you shared it because nobody.
(48:26):
Really?
Yes, because nobody should, you know, like you asked me backstage, you know, do I have a full
time gig?
I'm looking.
Yeah.
You know, if that came up for me, I would take it in a heartbeat.
Sure.
I have no problem.
You know, I started at 13 as a paint for boy and my Rogers and, you know, if I had to
(48:48):
work, you do what you have to do to.
You do what you have to do to help the family.
Right.
Right.
And because I never thought, and I don't mean to say, be judgmental myself, but actors think
of themselves, not all of them as being special.
Nobody special.
(49:08):
And God's eyes were all the same.
You know, it said, oh, run over where his children, you know, and even the meanest person
in appearance still has a soul, you know, and that, yeah.
So that's what I'm going to do.
Tony Award winner Michael R. Jackson, who did the show a strange loop was, was an usher
(49:33):
and that show was strange.
Oh, yes.
No, I, you know, he once I shared it and our, our theater.
I remember him distinctly because he was a little heavyweight guy.
Yeah.
Right.
And I went and I was always very kind because I wanted to be kind, you know.
(49:54):
So, but I wanted to make him feel welcome because he told me that he was doing these other
things, you know.
Yeah.
He, I just, you know, and he wrote a show that talk, a strange, who talks about him being
an usher.
So, you know, the wrong in the show, I forget the first, you know, I think it's one of the
(50:15):
first.
Candice Mac, who's watching, who's a friend of mine says, hello, everyone.
I always wanted to meet Ms. Rodel.
I have heard so many wonderful things about her.
Thank you.
Very sweet.
She says kindness always wins.
Mm-hmm.
I'm growing up in New York.
(50:36):
Do you remember your first Broadway show going to your first Broadway show?
Yeah.
I don't remember the title.
I was in school.
It was with Geraldine Page.
It was the story.
She was the, the, the moralist and James Dean was in it.
Wow.
It was a small part in it.
(50:57):
And I remember the whole class we were sitting in the balcony and I had never seen an actress
like that.
And I went, oh, you know, how does she, you know, she was just all there, you know.
Yeah.
Do you still go to theater?
No, I don't, you know, I don't like to see things that are sad or heavy weight.
(51:22):
I like to see musicals that uplift me.
I saw Tammy Favie the other day.
Oh, how was it?
It's good.
I don't think it's going to be well received.
There's something, but this, you know, Elton John, I mean, I know.
Well, Elton and Jake Sheer's.
Yes.
That's right.
You know, I said, I'm going.
(51:43):
I'm going and I got a ticket through the other development fund.
You know, we're in the ticket and I sat.
I had an ILC.
So it was, but technically, it's very interesting.
You know, the thing that I left with, there were no songs that stayed in my head that I could
(52:05):
like, you know, yeah, right.
You like to go out of the theater?
Yeah.
And it didn't, it didn't, yeah.
But I, I think it's well worth seeing.
I don't know whether it'll be well received.
I think it was well received in the West End.
That's why I came here.
Oh, great.
I think that's why I think, well, it also could have moved here because it is Elton John.
(52:30):
You know, that helps.
Definitely.
Those two words help a lot with tickets, I'm sure.
Well, that's good.
For me, when I saw his name, you know, Trey, who was watching, said she looks great.
I do.
Yeah.
I was worried about the lighting.
I have three light homes here.
(52:55):
This is a great question.
Candace just asked if you could write your own Broadway musical, what would the title
be?
Here and now.
Oh, very nice.
(53:15):
Someone was also asking which I know you did.
You attended.
That's where we bumped into each other.
The 60th annual, 60th anniversary of another world.
What was that like for you going there?
Beautiful.
Just beautiful.
And reading all the fans.
Yes.
They were, you know, there was a younger another world and then the elders like Jordan and
(53:40):
myself.
But it was to be included, it was beautiful.
Still waiting to get the tape of it, you know?
Yeah.
I know Karen's been working on that.
Yeah.
It's very hard.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Karen did this all by herself.
She did a phenomenal job.
Amazing.
(54:01):
It was beautiful.
Right.
Well, I hope that people will want to read the book, you know.
I've told a lot about some stories that are in the book.
Yeah.
It's my way of serving something deeper within myself, you know, to share with other people.
(54:23):
Do you, are you a regular, you know, you go to service or to spiritual?
I go to a little church across the street.
But it is necessary.
Yeah.
Mostly I do my work by myself.
I call it quiet time, you know?
(54:44):
We all need some quiet time today.
Oh my God.
Right.
You know, the noise, the book is available on Amazon.com.
The link for the book is down below right here on YouTube.
So you can click that link as well.
But yeah, we, you know, we all need some quiet time.
No matter what side of that political aisle you were mentioning, you're on, we all need it.
(55:09):
You know, it's been a, it's been a bumpy ride, you know, and I'll share what one of the
gentlemen said after we talked about, and I said, hope, he said, let me find what he said
because I thought it was really good.
See if I can find that comment.
(55:33):
One second, he said, he said, trust is a power word.
We should say trust.
That's right.
Like, I, before are we close to the end of this?
We are.
Yes.
Okay.
I have one thing to say.
And then the more, then the floor is yours, Barbara.
(55:55):
In memory of my mother, who was Angelic.
And she was going through different things at the hospital.
And this particular, you know, being an actor, you see your life in scenes.
Well, this is a scene that took place.
I was there in the morning, and then I picked my son up at school and then we went to the
(56:20):
movies.
And I got a message that she wasn't doing well and they were taking her up to the operating
room again.
So John and I went back to the hospital and I guess I don't think he was at my side at that
time.
And I said, I looked down to my mother and I said, oh, mom, I'm so sorry that you have to go
(56:42):
back.
They said, you're bleeding or something.
And here is a woman that I never heard maybe once anything judgmental or mean about anything.
And I said, and she just looked at me with those beautiful green eyes and said, there's always
hope you have to have hope.
(57:04):
That was her religion.
No big deal.
You know, didn't have to go to temple.
Didn't have to go to church.
And just the love was part of her being.
And she's with me all the time, you know.
And she, she recovered from that incident.
But that innocence was Barbara, you almost always have hope.
(57:30):
I couldn't think of a better way to end this Barbara.
That's perfect and beautiful.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for being here.
The fans loved seeing you.
The book is available.
Again, heaven is now on Amazon.com.
Barbara, you stay well.
You take care of yourself and continue that hope.
Thank you.
Stay in touch, Alan.
(57:50):
Thank you so much.
You're so welcome.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Thanks, everybody, for joining us.
Thank you again to Barbara Radell for spending the hour
and sharing your memories with us.
Again, heaven is now is available.
And the link is down below.
Please join me next Wednesday November 13 at 3 p.m. Eastern
(58:12):
to catch up with guiding lights Nancy St. Alvin,
Michelle Bauer, Santos.
If you haven't yet subscribed to my YouTube channel,
you can do so down below.
Turn on the notifications for reminders of all upcoming
shows.
And remember, if you'd like audio versions,
you can search the locker room on your favorite podcast app
and download any of the episodes.
(58:34):
Have a wonderful weekend, everybody.
And I hope you all stay safe.
[PHONE RINGING]
[PHONE RINGING]
[BLANK_AUDIO]
Hi everybody, happy to have you here this evening with me in the locker room.
(00:09):
I'm Alan Locker.
But love, actress and author Barbara Adele is here tonight to look back at her unforgettable
roles in daytime television, including Lee Randolph on another world, Jill Claiborne
on the Secret Storm, Leslie Jackson-Bauer-Narris on Guiding Light, and Joyce Coleman on As of
the World Turns.
Barbara will also share the spiritual journey behind her new memoir, Heaven is Now, a spiritual
(00:33):
journey of self-realization through grace, inspired by angelic guidance from Brooke Reveals,
a profound exploration of faith, love and resilience.
With heartfelt reflections, Barbara offers readers a window into her soul, inviting us all
to discover understanding, forgiveness and a deeper connection to God.
Please help me welcome to the locker room, Barbara Adele.
(00:55):
Hey Barbara.
Hi, what a beautiful introduction.
Now all the nerves have left my body.
Thank you.
Well that is terrific.
I know the fans are really excited to see you, so thank you for doing this.
Absolutely.
So let's talk about your book.
(01:16):
You released your memoir, Heaven is Now Back in June.
What inspired you to write the book?
I knew you were going to ask me that question, and I have given it some plot, and I wish I
could give you a precise answer, but I can.
I know I was divinely guided to write it, because I wanted to share my life from the viewpoint
(01:41):
of being open to spirituality, however each person feels about that, because there are many
religions and many ideas about it.
But for me, everything in my life was connected to a purpose, a soul purpose, and there are
no mistakes.
(02:05):
When did spirituality, your faith take hold?
Was it from a young age, or a certain point in your life?
Yes.
I'm a little hesitant about giving the answer to that.
You don't have to.
No, no, but I will.
I was a young teenager, and my father took me to see the greatest story ever told.
(02:31):
Not the newest one, but the one way back.
I was just taken aback by the beauty of the film and the message of Jesus Christ, who's
a Jew.
I am Jewish.
And in no way do I ever make me--
That's too me too.
Okay.
I never negate that in my heart.
(02:54):
And when I came out, and I was probably in a certain state, which I don't remember, but
I do remember my beloved father are saying to me, "Are you okay?"
And I remember my answer, and it's in the book.
And I said, "Oh, daddy, that's the Messiah.
That's him."
(03:15):
And that's where it began.
You know?
That's the story.
Yeah.
I love that.
Was it easy writing the book?
Not really.
It wasn't hard either.
It took a couple of years.
And then when the pandemic happened, there were no more excuses.
(03:37):
But when you're writing, and you're writing from, let's say, your heart and your truth as
much as you can, you have to take deep breaths because it was an actress and enough saying
just because I'm an actress, you relive it.
And so like my mom and dad were no longer here.
My brothers are not here.
(03:58):
My sister-in-law is not here.
There's that heartache, you know?
Yeah, I'm sure.
It brings up a ton of memories.
That's right.
And I didn't mention earlier, but the book is available on Amazon.com.
And you do cover your career in the book as well, correct?
Of course.
Nothing, everything in my life is connected to my spirituality.
(04:22):
I wasn't aware of that when I was very young because when I left home at a very young age,
not quite 17 and a half because my father who adored me was very frightened that I was
entering a very dark world.
A theater of acting, right?
(04:44):
And I said, well, daddy, I'm going anyway.
You know?
And so I followed that.
I don't know where that courage came from, but I think in our individual lives, courage
comes to us when we need it.
You know?
Absolutely.
Well, that leads to the perfect question that you left home for this calling that you
(05:09):
had.
Right.
Where did that love of the theater begin?
Was it?
I'm not going to have acting.
Where did that come from?
Yeah.
I really don't know, but I just knew I knew how to do it.
I knew I knew where to go within myself emotionally.
I mean, I'm a young girl.
(05:31):
I don't have a lot of life experiences, you know?
Yeah.
And I just follow that, you know?
And I think I mentioned in the book and I mean this at my older age now.
I was much more honest in my acting than I was in my real life.
I was kind of timid and shy.
But when I was playing a role, I could let all that come out from, I don't know, I guess
(05:56):
a divine place, you know?
Yeah, absolutely.
And I've heard many actors say that, you know, they are timid, they are shy, you know,
but they come to life when it's the role.
I mean, before we go on on the drama part, what was, you know, you're a true, true, born
(06:19):
and bred New Yorker?
What was it like growing up in New York City when you were a kid?
What did you do?
Well, I don't know, you know, I have a granddaughter, Samantha.
Wow.
We'll be 10 years old.
But when I think about myself at that age, New York City was very joyful.
(06:41):
I mean, we used to, my father came from a large family of brothers and one sister all gone,
but we would all play, you know, sit on the benches at Central Park, bring our little
food, you know, and you don't see that.
But I always try to look at the positive side of life.
(07:02):
And it's different now, but if you bring your intention of peace, then that's what you
receive.
That's what you give yourself.
And hopefully I try to impart that in my relationships.
Do I have it right that you started studying at the dramatic workshop?
(07:25):
Wow.
You really did good research.
I'm just there for a very short time.
I mean, there I was, a young girl.
Someone told me to go there.
And I can't even remember who it was, had me do a monologue and said, well, we did, we'll
accept you in the program.
And then I said, I have no money.
(07:45):
And they took me anyway.
But I wasn't there very long.
Did you study elsewhere?
I studied with Uda Hagen in her professional class.
Wow.
Yes.
And she was dynamic.
I read her book and I don't remember what that book is called.
No, I don't either.
I think I took some classes.
(08:06):
I was never an actor, but I did take some acting.
Well, the Herbert, Herbert Berkoff, a studio that was her husband, you know, and she, her
career was mostly on stage.
But she was hilarious as a teacher, you know?
And yeah, I studied with her for a little while.
And then my acting, study part of my acting, I was trying to get an agent.
(08:33):
And I was having a, in those days, if you wanted to get representation, you would go to the
different addresses equity, had a whole list.
And you could walk in and knock on the door and just be joyful and dynamic as you could.
Because a presentation is very important, you know?
(08:55):
And an agent sent me to a professional class, which was, the teacher was Joe Cardi.
And he produced "Love of Life" or one life, I can't remember the other one.
Joe, Joe Cardi produced the show.
They produced it, yeah.
(09:15):
Yeah, but didn't he produce the first show you did a flame in the wind?
That's right.
And that's one day after class.
I mean, this is how your materialistic life and your spiritual life come together.
You never know what's happening behind the scenes.
There I was, a young girl.
And by the way, in that class, we're two men who were instrumental in my professional
(09:39):
life.
Keith Charles and Connie folks.
They were both in that class.
Little did I know that they would both play my husbands on different soaps, you know?
That's it.
Yeah.
One day after class, Joe called me up and he said, "Do you have an agent?"
And I said, "Well, I'm freelancing with someone so."
(10:00):
And he said, "Well, I'd like you to audition for something."
And I was just very naive.
When did the audition?
Didn't go back to class that night of that day.
And Joe called me and I lived in a three-floor walk-up.
And I didn't go because I thought I had done a terrible job, you know?
(10:21):
And Joe was on the phone and he said, "Why didn't you come to class tonight?"
And I said, "Well, I don't think I did very well."
He said, "Really?"
And I got the part.
Yeah.
That was your first part.
Were you familiar with soaps at that time?
I mean...
Yeah, I would watch them a little bit.
And I did watch another world, you know?
(10:42):
So that when fortune came my way, and again, I replaced another actress.
And I was familiar with...
Even though they didn't have her name on the sides, which is what we read from when me auditioned.
When I read the material, I thought, "I think that's the daughter of the main family."
(11:06):
And it was.
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
And Agnes Nixon was that day.
She created that role.
I mean, she started on NBC.
Agnes Nixon, creatively.
Yes.
Wow.
I didn't realize that.
Yes.
Talk about a genius.
That's right.
Talk about a genius.
(11:26):
What do you remember about your time on another world?
Well, it was a very intense role because they dealt with the character and the Randolph.
One of the other characters, a wicked kind of character, put LSD in her coffee.
(11:47):
And so they dealt with a whole aspect which I didn't think was ever shown on TV before.
And so it opened.
I had to go deep.
And I didn't know how to, in those days, to control the emotions so that when I finished
my day, I couldn't let go of it, you know?
(12:07):
You could get home.
That's right.
I couldn't let go of it.
But as I grew up and grew older and hopefully wiser, I understood.
I understood my acting in a very different way.
And the first show that you did with Joe Hardy, you were on there a short time, correct?
Right.
(12:28):
Yeah.
And it was only on there a year.
The show went off the year.
You know?
You know, the coming from stage is so different doing us so.
Yeah.
I had done some of stock and everything like that.
But yes, it was.
I don't know.
And those, I don't know what makes a person fearless, but I was never afraid.
(12:49):
And you say, you say, I think sometimes it does that too.
Were any of the shows live when you were still doing them?
I think another world for a little bit.
Wow.
And I may be flame in the wind, but I don't remember.
Yeah.
It's, it's a couple years ago.
Yes, right.
(13:10):
It's definitely, what do you remember about Beverly Penberthe, Jordan Charney and Ann Wedge
World?
Beverly was played my mother.
Yeah.
I didn't have a lot of scenes with her.
Michael Ryan.
I had a lot of scenes with my father.
She's very beautiful, you know?
(13:31):
I remember my first show on another world.
And I had the majority of the show that day.
It was a turning point in the story line.
And I was standing there.
And the announcer said, the role of Lee Randolph will now be played by Barbara Rodel.
I remember, I think I took a deep breath.
(13:51):
I said, is this really happening?
You know?
I forgot.
Because they, they didn't live to tape or that might have been lying.
And that day, in that day, a rest is so Michael Ryan who played my, my father, went up on
his lines.
And I, for that, for some reason, I never moved from where my position was.
(14:17):
And I had lived.
And I said, Daddy, I don't think you understood what I just said.
And I got him back on, and then the show was over.
And Len Valenta, who directed me for years and years on different soaps.
I was sort of like an adopted daughter to him.
And he said, "Protect our en gamble, love you."
(14:41):
And Michael came and apologized.
But I had so much to do.
I couldn't be nervous.
You know?
I mean, it's, it's, it's amazing.
Who, who are some of your mentors along the way?
When you say mentors, you mean as actors?
No.
People who helped guide your path, you know, helped you.
(15:02):
Sounds like Joe Hardy was very helpful.
Yeah.
I'm trying to really know how my mentors, I don't think it was anybody, any actors, but I think
it was my mother and father, who I know always had my back and loved me dearly, did not
(15:22):
understand me.
And, and this thing I wanted to do, you know, where did this come from?
My father was puzzled.
And one day he said to me, when he came to see me in a show in Summer Stock, ask me, how
do you do that?
That wasn't my daughter up there.
And I said, I really don't know.
I just know, as I said before, I know how to do it, you know?
(15:47):
And I had spiritual teachers that helped me a lot, who guided me.
And we're very strict.
I, there was a man named Larry Morris, who was my teacher in the group that I went to,
a spiritual group.
And again, it was a father-daughter relationship.
And one day I came to his home and I was, oh, I don't know.
(16:10):
I'll never be able to get a agent.
I'll never get a job.
I'll never, and he said, stop it.
And he said, you have to give that all up.
And I said, give that what up?
He said, self-pity.
Just do what you have to do.
Wow.
And it took me.
Mom and dad quite happy when they saw you on the television.
Oh, my goodness.
(16:31):
Oh, my goodness.
Yes, of course.
They were very, well, you were proud.
Yes.
Yeah, I'm sure.
Yeah.
Did you enjoy summer stock?
Well, it was hard work.
I started as an apprentice and then someone took me over there under their wing, Max Fisher,
who was a teacher at the American Theatre Wing.
(16:53):
And again, one day came up to me as I'm painting things and said, there's a role coming up.
I think you can do it.
And I did it.
And I became a member of Actors Equity.
Wow.
Yes.
So that was life-changing.
Because then I had a really substantial credit.
(17:13):
So that agents would see me.
When you first start out, you're a blank page.
You know?
I mean, it's got to be a nice feeling when somebody, you know, like Joe, thinking you would
be great for that part.
We're right.
Max, thinking you'd be great for this part.
(17:34):
Well, we all want to be seen, right, Alan?
We want to be recognized.
Well, you don't have to be an actor.
You can be anything we want to be seen and appreciated.
Absolutely.
Correct.
And after another world you went over to play Jill in the Secret Storm.
Right.
And that happened.
And I want to give him his credit.
(17:55):
The president of CBS at that time was Fred Silverman.
Oh, wow.
OK.
And little did I-- this is what I'm trying to share with my audience.
You don't know what's happening behind the scene for your good, for your good.
And he just admired my work.
And he would be calling CBS and saying, what is her role coming to an end on Lee Reddolph?
(18:20):
And it did.
And then I never had to audition.
They offered me the role of Jill Stevens on a guiding light.
Uh, Jill played one on Secret Storm.
I'd seen the storm.
I'm right.
Wow.
Wow.
So again, that's got to feel pretty good.
Yeah.
And I remember sitting in the conference room in my agent at that time said, do you know
(18:42):
who that man is in the back?
And I said, no, he said, he's a president of CBS.
I said, oh, OK.
So that's how that went.
Yeah.
Wow.
But that role really had nowhere to go.
And that's why the character came to an end at a very early time.
(19:02):
But were you enjoying daytime at the time?
Were you enjoying that work?
Yeah.
I mean, I was married.
And by that time, I had my son, John Epstein.
Now, it was never-- how shall I say, consuming totally, because being a mother was very important
(19:25):
to me.
Yes.
And I remember when I got the part on guiding my through Betty Ray was also a big fan of mine.
I knew I had gotten it.
When I left the studio, tears were rolling down my eyes because my son was not quite a
(19:45):
year old.
And I thought, oh, my-- I knew I had to take it.
And I knew I would take it.
But I had to--
Were you given birth before guiding light?
Yeah.
And when you met with Betty Ray, you knew you'd be going to work.
Yes, exactly.
Exactly.
Did you remember anything about Betty?
(20:08):
She was very lively.
And I liked her very much.
But very business like also, you never knew what the outcome of your audition was going to
be.
So she was not revealing.
But I always felt she was pulling for me.
That's what I've heard a lot of actors say that they're always pulling with them.
(20:31):
Yes.
Yeah.
And I mean, a great thing because I can't imagine the nerves going through an actor when they're
opposite someone like Betty Ray.
Yes.
Yeah.
But I never felt that.
I was always at ease with her.
And was guiding light-- do you remember was it 26th Street at that time?
No, we started at 57th Street.
(20:53):
At CBS.
Right.
And then we went to that tiny little studio on 26th Street, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
Talk about some of your co-stores, Don Stewart, Mark Hullswitt.
Well, Mark was a darling.
And is a darling.
You know, just the character he portrayed is really who he was.
(21:19):
That kindness, concern.
They were-- that show-- I felt I was really part of a family because they were very caring
about my having to get home as a mom.
And my dad was going through a health crisis.
It was just a lot of caring.
(21:40):
And I would say Leslie Bauer was closest to my own nature.
Yeah.
So very easy to connect with her.
I love that.
You also worked with Michael Zaslow, Roger?
Yes.
And Michael, who was a really-- I mean, the biggest daytime sign store ever.
(22:05):
Your audience know that.
And very overpowering.
And he frightened me a little bit.
And we did a lot of scenes together.
And so I was very standoffish with him.
And yet, at one time, I produced an event for the Catholic Guardian Society and involved
(22:26):
the adoptive children and had to adopt children.
And I knew that he had adopted two girls.
He, yep.
He had a birth.
And I went to him very shyly.
But this wasn't as an actress.
This just was as a human being, so to speak.
And I asked him if he would come to the event, which was a lot of other daytime stars.
(22:49):
And that changed my relationship with him because we became very good friends.
Yeah.
I love that.
I love that.
And yeah, he did his beautiful daughters.
Your father was played by Stefan Schnabel, right?
Not my father.
Yes, that's right, he was, right.
(23:11):
Yeah.
My doctor, Stephen Jackson.
That's right.
Right.
You know more than I do.
But I didn't have a lot of scenes with him.
And God Stewart, who played Mike Baton.
Yeah, well, he was a flirt, but sweet, you know, very handsome.
Don Stewart?
Yes.
(23:32):
I don't mean that in a negative way.
Yeah, I don't know.
I know.
And very understandably, you know, he, he, he liked me.
And I was definitely let him know that that would not be possible.
(23:52):
A personal relationship would not be possible.
Yeah, professional.
That's right.
Professional only.
Tommy said, Barbara, you were great on guiding light in As the World terms.
You were a great daytime actress.
Oh, thank you.
Well, great's a big word.
I did my best.
(24:14):
Kevin was asking, do you remember if you were at Secret Storm?
And Christina Crawford was on?
I was.
She, her mother was.
Joe Crawford.
Yes, it was.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think Joan might have even been on there.
(24:35):
And your, your pregnancies were never written into the shows on any show?
No.
As a matter of fact, after I had my son, they
did write in a pregnancy for Leslie, right?
Yeah.
And I went up to the producers and I said, okay.
(24:56):
So, you know, yeah, I carried it through.
Right.
That's so funny.
No, Alan, I think you know, I was pregnant on guiding light.
That's right.
And then I became pregnant after my son was born in real life.
Yes.
Yeah.
So you were hiding it and then you--
(25:18):
That's exactly exactly.
I had, you know, behind your ears holding a purse, pillow, whatever.
Yeah.
That happened all the time.
Yeah.
People would literally be pregnant and then the character gets pregnant.
Right.
Right.
I hope you're still there.
(25:51):
I don't know exactly what happened.
Everything is sort of stopped.
Hi, Alan.
Are we still filming?
Can you hear me?
(26:11):
Now I can.
There you are.
Yeah, I don't know what happened.
Right.
Just the internet.
Just the internet.
Okay.
Okay.
How did the role of Joyce come about?
Well, the writers had seen me on guiding light.
And Fred Bathalon-Mew, who was a very famous English actor when he was a child.
(26:37):
I think he had been watching.
And this role came up, which was so opposed to any other role that I'd ever played.
You know, very complicated.
I don't want to describe her in any negative way.
Troubled.
You know?
And again, it was not a role I had to audition for, which is very rare in this case.
(27:00):
They offered it to me.
Yeah.
In this business, it's very rare.
Correct.
Correct.
And that's what happened.
Yeah.
Is this?
Oh, that's my son and myself.
Yes.
That's great.
What does your son do today?
(27:21):
Well, he was an actor and a really brilliant actor.
But in this acting career, if they don't open, they don't open.
And I mean, I'm so proud of him in every way.
He's in real estate.
(27:42):
He's also an artist.
And he did the cover of the book.
Oh, great.
I didn't tell him what to do or anything.
And it was absolutely perfect.
It's gorgeous.
I love that.
Isn't it?
Yeah.
And if you want to look at his work, you can go into Jay Epstein at Instagram.
Oh, great.
I love Jay Epstein.
(28:04):
Yeah.
At Instagram.
Great.
And that's his passion.
But he's very successful at his real estate career, too.
And he's got a 10-year-old daughter?
Yes.
He's a beautiful, beautiful wife, you know?
And very kind.
He once said to me, you know, Mom, you had to act.
(28:25):
You know, it was something that was so inbred in you.
And he just accepted, I learned so much from him because he's able to make changes in
his life without any regrets, you know?
Becoming a father and a husband, men getting a change in career.
100%.
(28:45):
Yeah.
You got to do it.
You have to do what you have to do.
You did all right.
Talk about how's the world turns?
Helen Wagner, Donna Glocklin.
Okay.
Well, at first Helen and I did not get along.
No.
Because she didn't like my character.
And she couldn't see that.
(29:06):
I worked with Helen.
Oh, she couldn't separate the character from Barbara Rodel.
And but I would like to say here again, if we really want a situation to change, I was at
rehearsal and John was six years old, waiting for me to finish the morning rehearsal and
(29:27):
take him to school.
And Helen said something very, very negative.
I don't even want to repeat it.
Very hurtful.
And I was taken aback and I got John to school.
And I came back and I thought this calls for bravery on my part.
(29:49):
And you know, acting brave and actually being brave in your own life is very different.
And I said, this can't continue because I see this animosity.
She's not able to separate it.
And I went up to the producers and I said, I need to speak to Helen Wagner.
(30:13):
Because she doesn't treat me very well.
And Fred Balthalmue, who said, well, we can do it.
And I said, no, I have to do it.
And I just want to intersect something very important to me.
The person I shared, my dressing room with, with my closest friend, Kelly Wood Adams, who
(30:34):
played Mary Stewart.
I went over to Kelly and I said, I'm going up there and I'm going to tell them that
she can't talk to me that way.
And I have to speak to her.
I went down to her dressing room.
I knocked on the door.
I was shaking like a leaf.
And I said, Helen, I don't think you realize what you're very hurtful.
(30:56):
And you said this morning that you hope they kill the other character.
I said, I'm a mother and a wife.
And I have a family to support.
And I'm not that character.
I'm only portraying that character.
And she got very quiet.
Never, never once again ever said anything to me like that.
(31:19):
And really brought little presence for John.
So it healed.
You know that.
Right.
Right.
That bravery helps.
That word healing.
Even though it appears to be very negative and scary to face it, there is a possible, there's
a healing for everything.
You know?
I love that you do that.
At least that's the way I look at it.
(31:40):
But you had to do it.
You had to do it.
I'm going to say something.
I'm taking a real chance at it on saying this.
The election is over.
People half of the country voted for him and the others for her.
And something came to me in my prayer time this morning.
This is an opportunity to see him good.
(32:04):
And every personal feelings we have to send good feelings toward the healing of our country
and the all will go well.
You know?
I sure hope so.
Yes.
I have doubts.
But I did say yesterday I have to have hope that it's going to be better than I believe.
(32:27):
Okay.
So.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I mean, I don't, you know, none of us want bad things to happen.
That's right.
None of us do.
And hope is the best thing we can all have.
And let's hope.
And all of you know, whoever like myself has doubts, let's hope he rises above those doubts.
(32:55):
Exactly.
Right.
Right.
That's all we can ask for.
Do you remember Don McLaughlin who played Chris Hughes?
Oh, I mean, just the sweetest, the sweetest.
And Papa Bauer, he lived right around the corner for me.
(33:16):
Was that, um, that's, Oh, grandpa, yeah, yeah, yeah, Papa, yeah, yeah, I was thinking.
Yeah.
And so, you know, we had this personal relationship.
And he was instrumental, unfortunately, on the day that my father passed away who had gone
through major heart surgery.
(33:36):
And I had called every single day.
And I remember that morning, I said, you know, I'm driving that crazy calling him every
day.
And I said, I'm not going to call today, you know, because he was getting better.
Little did I know that my husband had gotten a call that he had passed away.
My husband had said, don't tell her that her finished the show and send her home and take
(34:03):
it.
And then they went and told the cast that I wasn't coming to that rehearsal that night.
And Tayo was waiting for me to give me a lift.
And of course, he knew what had happened.
But he wasn't, he wasn't going to be the one to tell me that my dad had died.
And gave me a lift back to our area.
(34:26):
He only lived three blocks away from me.
Not knowing that this tragedy was waiting for me.
I said, oh, Tayo, can we stop the car?
There's a little bear I wanted to buy for my son.
And James said, no, no, no, no, no.
And I said, but then he realized, so let me go.
And I bought the little bear for John.
And when I got home, you know, I found that my father had passed.
(34:51):
I'm sorry.
Your rival on As the World Turns was Ms. Eileen Fulton.
What do you remember about working with Eileen?
I love Eileen.
And you know, in her autobiography, she says a little sentence.
She said, I can't, I'm paraphrasing it.
(35:12):
I don't remember too well.
But she said, oh, Barbara, they're so pretty.
And of course, everybody wants to, girls want to know that people see them as being pretty,
you know.
But she was that character from her head to the toes.
Oh, 100%.
100%.
(35:33):
Well, although I have to say, sometimes I didn't know what was coming out of her mouth because
she would add, live a little bit, you know?
I know she's still doing well.
And she is.
Yes.
And she just, thankfully survived the horrible hurricanes in North Carolina because that's
(35:54):
where she is.
Right.
Right.
That was hit where she is, but she was, she was well.
But that, that, I want to go back a little bit, Alan.
That day when Helen was not nice to me and I, I actually couldn't catch my breath and
we finished a scene.
I mean, took me out in the corridor and she said, you're the new kid on the block.
(36:17):
That's it.
She'll, you know, it won't last forever.
She won't, she won't be that way.
So I remember who she hugged me and said, welcome in all that.
So I have a sweet place in my heart for her.
Oh, well, talk about your, your men, Conard Fowkes and James Douglas.
(36:38):
Now James was a Javoud Christian and so I would share with him privately my affection for Jesus
Christ.
And when my character got to be doing really bad, bad things, I knocked on his door and I
(36:59):
said, James, I can't do it.
You know, I'm going to shoot my husband.
I can't do it.
This is the only way I can.
And James said, oh, yes, you can.
You have to do it.
This is, you have to provide for your family and you're very capable.
And no matter what she does, the audience loves you because you bring out her vulnerability.
(37:21):
And I think that's true.
No matter what she did, I tried to bring out her soft side.
So funny.
Yeah.
Do you have a favorite Joyce moment?
I know it's a long time ago, so it could be, you know.
I'm trying to think.
(37:43):
Yes, I do.
It actually, it was a scene with Helen Wagner where I come back into town unexpectedly and
I go to, and Don McLaughlin is there, you know, and I knock on the door.
She opens the door and like, whoa, whoa.
(38:03):
And I try to get her to understand that I'm different, that I've changed, that I've
repented, you know, and that the audience gave me in the next scenes and the next, I think
month or month and a half, they were showing really that was my intention.
(38:24):
But it bothered, not bothered me, but I wish they had let that side of her continue.
The fans are saying Joyce was so real, I always felt her pain.
Right.
Good.
Do you remember this scene that you're describing?
(38:44):
And so does Kai H says, I love that kitchen scene.
Right.
And oh, I would like to say one of the things again, talking has spirituality enters my life.
The scene where I do shoot my husband, Connie Forks, the actor.
Don Hughes.
Don Hughes, right.
(39:07):
It was choreographed, like a dance.
In other words, the gun had to be picked up at a certain time.
There was a momentum to it, right?
And a spiritual teacher that was very influential in my life, just a wonderful, wonderful man.
He was making his transition.
And I remember asking for help from the creator, I'm going to do these scenes even though they
(39:37):
are horrible to me as a person to the letter.
In my reverence to him to be as conscious as possible of this, of this, and I did.
And you know, that was the show that was nominated for an Emmy.
Oh, wow.
And I remember when Alan Fristo, who was the director of that, came out because we taped it
(40:03):
at night.
And over two period, over two days, everybody was exhausted.
And finally the end came and Alan came down from the control room and he said, I'm exhausted.
He said, I want to thank you.
You did everything just perfect.
(40:24):
How did you do it?
And I didn't go into an explanation.
And I just said, I'm glad it worked out.
But there it was.
I got the courage to not identify with the circumstances of the character.
It wasn't me, but my job was to do it as best I could.
That's what you were being paid to do.
(40:45):
That's right.
And you were supporting your family.
Absolutely.
Yeah, absolutely.
Did you get to work with Don Hastings, Bob Hughes?
Not a lot.
But I do have, I always thought that he liked me as a person.
(41:06):
And when I did have a couple of emotional scenes with her actually on my audition tapes,
where I break down and he was there every moment of the way, you know.
And had he not been?
I don't think I would have been able to do it as well.
And you were just saying that you were texting with Colleen Zank.
(41:27):
Did you get to work with Colleen?
No, that was the end of my run.
Yeah.
She had the end of your run, right?
Yes, right.
So you missed each other.
Right.
But we like, I mean, I can tell whenever I post something or she posts back, there's a
relationship.
And it's part of the world turns family for sure.
(41:51):
Yeah, exactly.
For sure.
Any other world turns memories, stand out in your?
Well, I won mention Anne Wedgeworth who played La Homa on another world.
Yeah, yeah.
Right.
We shared the same dressing room.
She was the sweetest, most unpretentious actor I have ever known.
(42:13):
Not me to the ninths.
I know her daughters.
It was never about her acting.
She was all heart.
Just if I can describe her angel-like.
That's all I love about her.
I think that I knew her.
Yeah.
(42:33):
I mean, that's a great way to describe another human being.
Well, thank you, Alan, for understanding that.
Yeah, it's a great way.
I had a lot of people like that in my life.
One of the fans was asking, do you have any memories of Patricia Bruder who played Alan's
Stewart?
Not really.
No.
I mean, again, our paths crossed.
(42:54):
I saw her in a reading several months ago and it was just lovely to see her.
Wow, that's amazing.
I love that she's still working.
Yes.
David says, I loved Anne on Three's Company, which you mentioned to me backstage that she
was on.
Yes.
Yeah.
By the way, thank you for extending this invitation to me.
(43:20):
I'm so glad we could finally make it happen.
I know fans have been asking.
Did you audition after As the World Turns?
Did you want to continue asking?
Yes, I have.
This was a mistake.
Not a mistake.
Not a right choice.
I got a call from the ABC.
(43:47):
What's Alan's example?
No, Slazak.
What was her first thing?
Ericka Slazak.
Yeah.
She was leaving to have another baby.
And I was called to come down and they actually offered me the role until she came back to have
her baby.
And I turned it down.
It was a big mistake on my part because I never worked for ABC but that there's where the
ego, you know, I don't want to replace another person, another actor but it would have been
(44:15):
life changing because then I would have been in.
Right.
They would have seen it.
It could have made another work, yeah.
It could have lead.
It's a, you know, it's a gamble in this business.
I mean, so many actors have had incredible roles like Joyce Coleman and the show wants you
(44:39):
to stay and then you say, no, I want to go try and do this.
And you might not ever hear from that actor again, unfortunately.
Right.
There was a point when I was on I saw turns.
I got a call from the William Morris agency and I was with them for a year.
They wanted me to leave the show and go to LA.
(45:01):
And again, my heart said, I can't take the chance of not having a job, you know.
But I have no regrets, Alan.
I have no regrets about anything.
It was a, I feel the same way.
I have like two but they're very small and just minor.
Yeah, they're not like major things.
(45:23):
I just want to say this in respect, there was a point where I lost almost all my money
in the stock market.
Okay.
Through someone that was a then a family member, they then divorced the person they were
married to.
And I went, oh my God, what am I going to do?
(45:45):
I have, you know, John to get through school.
My knowledge, my mom was then declining and I was walking down the street and I don't think
you can ask God to give you something.
You receive what you receive.
And I suddenly felt because when I was 17, I worked as an usher.
(46:11):
But I never joined the union.
Okay.
Then I got so her stuff, jobs and everything like that and I went, I wonder if Bob Zee
loved that she was the head of the union is still working.
And I went over to the theater where I thought she was and I asked her daughter who's passed.
(46:32):
I said, is your mom still?
She said she's upstairs.
I said, can I go up to see her and I went up to see her.
She was a beautiful woman.
And she said, Barbara, Barbara, how come you're not on TV anymore?
And I said, well, that's what happens.
The story went a certain way and I said, I need a job.
(46:54):
And now I feel very taken aback and gratitude because I didn't know what other kind of job
I could take, you know.
And I started ushering.
And I ushered for 15 years and I just want to tell you that it gave me something I would
(47:20):
have never gotten before.
I was never feeling it was beneath me or anything where somebody once said to me, oh, what if a
casting director sees you here and you're ushering.
And I said, what?
You know, so what?
And I remember when cast members came to see the show, they would take me and their arms
(47:43):
and hug me.
In other words, there was no judgment.
No judgment.
What theater was it?
The Richard Rogers.
Amazing.
I was there.
I just wanted to tell you, I was there until Hamilton was there.
Oh, wow.
Right.
And the 45th.
A 46th Street.
46?
(48:03):
Yeah.
And the house manager.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The house manager Tim went to school with John and it was small work.
The circle has a reason.
Do you know what I mean?
Everything has its purpose.
So that's what happened to me.
I'm glad you shared it because nobody.
(48:26):
Really?
Yes, because nobody should, you know, like you asked me backstage, you know, do I have a full
time gig?
I'm looking.
Yeah.
You know, if that came up for me, I would take it in a heartbeat.
Sure.
I have no problem.
You know, I started at 13 as a paint for boy and my Rogers and, you know, if I had to
(48:48):
work, you do what you have to do to.
You do what you have to do to help the family.
Right.
Right.
And because I never thought, and I don't mean to say, be judgmental myself, but actors think
of themselves, not all of them as being special.
Nobody special.
(49:08):
And God's eyes were all the same.
You know, it said, oh, run over where his children, you know, and even the meanest person
in appearance still has a soul, you know, and that, yeah.
So that's what I'm going to do.
Tony Award winner Michael R. Jackson, who did the show a strange loop was, was an usher
(49:33):
and that show was strange.
Oh, yes.
No, I, you know, he once I shared it and our, our theater.
I remember him distinctly because he was a little heavyweight guy.
Yeah.
Right.
And I went and I was always very kind because I wanted to be kind, you know.
(49:54):
So, but I wanted to make him feel welcome because he told me that he was doing these other
things, you know.
Yeah.
He, I just, you know, and he wrote a show that talk, a strange, who talks about him being
an usher.
So, you know, the wrong in the show, I forget the first, you know, I think it's one of the
(50:15):
first.
Candice Mac, who's watching, who's a friend of mine says, hello, everyone.
I always wanted to meet Ms. Rodel.
I have heard so many wonderful things about her.
Thank you.
Very sweet.
She says kindness always wins.
Mm-hmm.
I'm growing up in New York.
(50:36):
Do you remember your first Broadway show going to your first Broadway show?
Yeah.
I don't remember the title.
I was in school.
It was with Geraldine Page.
It was the story.
She was the, the, the moralist and James Dean was in it.
Wow.
It was a small part in it.
(50:57):
And I remember the whole class we were sitting in the balcony and I had never seen an actress
like that.
And I went, oh, you know, how does she, you know, she was just all there, you know.
Yeah.
Do you still go to theater?
No, I don't, you know, I don't like to see things that are sad or heavy weight.
(51:22):
I like to see musicals that uplift me.
I saw Tammy Favie the other day.
Oh, how was it?
It's good.
I don't think it's going to be well received.
There's something, but this, you know, Elton John, I mean, I know.
Well, Elton and Jake Sheer's.
Yes.
That's right.
You know, I said, I'm going.
(51:43):
I'm going and I got a ticket through the other development fund.
You know, we're in the ticket and I sat.
I had an ILC.
So it was, but technically, it's very interesting.
You know, the thing that I left with, there were no songs that stayed in my head that I could
(52:05):
like, you know, yeah, right.
You like to go out of the theater?
Yeah.
And it didn't, it didn't, yeah.
But I, I think it's well worth seeing.
I don't know whether it'll be well received.
I think it was well received in the West End.
That's why I came here.
Oh, great.
I think that's why I think, well, it also could have moved here because it is Elton John.
(52:30):
You know, that helps.
Definitely.
Those two words help a lot with tickets, I'm sure.
Well, that's good.
For me, when I saw his name, you know, Trey, who was watching, said she looks great.
I do.
Yeah.
I was worried about the lighting.
I have three light homes here.
(52:55):
This is a great question.
Candace just asked if you could write your own Broadway musical, what would the title
be?
Here and now.
Oh, very nice.
(53:15):
Someone was also asking which I know you did.
You attended.
That's where we bumped into each other.
The 60th annual, 60th anniversary of another world.
What was that like for you going there?
Beautiful.
Just beautiful.
And reading all the fans.
Yes.
They were, you know, there was a younger another world and then the elders like Jordan and
(53:40):
myself.
But it was to be included, it was beautiful.
Still waiting to get the tape of it, you know?
Yeah.
I know Karen's been working on that.
Yeah.
It's very hard.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Karen did this all by herself.
She did a phenomenal job.
Amazing.
(54:01):
It was beautiful.
Right.
Well, I hope that people will want to read the book, you know.
I've told a lot about some stories that are in the book.
Yeah.
It's my way of serving something deeper within myself, you know, to share with other people.
(54:23):
Do you, are you a regular, you know, you go to service or to spiritual?
I go to a little church across the street.
But it is necessary.
Yeah.
Mostly I do my work by myself.
I call it quiet time, you know?
(54:44):
We all need some quiet time today.
Oh my God.
Right.
You know, the noise, the book is available on Amazon.com.
The link for the book is down below right here on YouTube.
So you can click that link as well.
But yeah, we, you know, we all need some quiet time.
No matter what side of that political aisle you were mentioning, you're on, we all need it.
(55:09):
You know, it's been a, it's been a bumpy ride, you know, and I'll share what one of the
gentlemen said after we talked about, and I said, hope, he said, let me find what he said
because I thought it was really good.
See if I can find that comment.
(55:33):
One second, he said, he said, trust is a power word.
We should say trust.
That's right.
Like, I, before are we close to the end of this?
We are.
Yes.
Okay.
I have one thing to say.
And then the more, then the floor is yours, Barbara.
(55:55):
In memory of my mother, who was Angelic.
And she was going through different things at the hospital.
And this particular, you know, being an actor, you see your life in scenes.
Well, this is a scene that took place.
I was there in the morning, and then I picked my son up at school and then we went to the
(56:20):
movies.
And I got a message that she wasn't doing well and they were taking her up to the operating
room again.
So John and I went back to the hospital and I guess I don't think he was at my side at that
time.
And I said, I looked down to my mother and I said, oh, mom, I'm so sorry that you have to go
(56:42):
back.
They said, you're bleeding or something.
And here is a woman that I never heard maybe once anything judgmental or mean about anything.
And I said, and she just looked at me with those beautiful green eyes and said, there's always
hope you have to have hope.
(57:04):
That was her religion.
No big deal.
You know, didn't have to go to temple.
Didn't have to go to church.
And just the love was part of her being.
And she's with me all the time, you know.
And she, she recovered from that incident.
But that innocence was Barbara, you almost always have hope.
(57:30):
I couldn't think of a better way to end this Barbara.
That's perfect and beautiful.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for being here.
The fans loved seeing you.
The book is available.
Again, heaven is now on Amazon.com.
Barbara, you stay well.
You take care of yourself and continue that hope.
Thank you.
Stay in touch, Alan.
(57:50):
Thank you so much.
You're so welcome.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Thanks, everybody, for joining us.
Thank you again to Barbara Radell for spending the hour
and sharing your memories with us.
Again, heaven is now is available.
And the link is down below.
Please join me next Wednesday November 13 at 3 p.m. Eastern
(58:12):
to catch up with guiding lights Nancy St. Alvin,
Michelle Bauer, Santos.
If you haven't yet subscribed to my YouTube channel,
you can do so down below.
Turn on the notifications for reminders of all upcoming
shows.
And remember, if you'd like audio versions,
you can search the locker room on your favorite podcast app
and download any of the episodes.
(58:34):
Have a wonderful weekend, everybody.
And I hope you all stay safe.
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