Episodes
January/February 1992
Lunchtime Favorite: OLTL's Erika Slezak
By: JOANNE L. BERG
I have always said that One Life to Live'sindomitable Victoria Lord
Buchanan is one of my favorite characters. And, the woman who portrays Viki,
Erika Slezak, has always been one of my favorite people. So, it was without
question that Episodes chose her to grace our cover-which features the story
"101 Fabulous Facts About OLTL" and I asked Erika to join me
for lunch between her rehearsal and taping.
I always relish spending time with Erika. She is very intelligent and has a
wonderful, hearty sense of humor. When we're together, talk always revolves
Erika Slezak around the foibles, follies, and heartwarming wonder of raising
kids. According to Erika, her first and foremost job is being a mom to her two
children, Michael, 12,and Amanda, 10, and wife to her husband, actor Brian
Davies. (Many of you know Brian as Pine Valley's District Attorney Dick
Hamilton.)
I laughed so hard when Erika told me, about how she accompanied Amanda and
Michael on their trick-or-treating rounds this past Halloween. She dressed up in
a costume so that she could keep an eye on her kids without being recognized as
their mom!
Erika talked about how delighted she is that Amanda is trying to be just like
her mommy. Amanda likes to set a beautiful dinner table, help her mother prepare
a salad, and help serve the dinner in lovely serving bowls.
We talked a lot about the juggling act that goes into being a working mom.
Erika feels so lucky that her children's father is such a big part of their
lives. Brian has chosen to no longer accept roles that take him away from the
family's home on the east coast. Before Amanda and Michael were born, Brian used
to do a lot of work in prime-time television, which required him to be on the
west coast. Erika laughed when she recounted that almost every weekend during
the first year of Michael 's life, she and her son would fly back and forth to
the west coast to see Brian who was working out there.
Erika said that her two decades on OLTL have gone by so quickly. She
talked about the wonderful working, relationship she has forged with Clint
Ritchie who plays her on-screen husband, Clint Buchanan. After all the years of
working together, they know just how to make the work look effortless, despite
the fact that they are rehearsing from 7:30 in the morning and sometimes taping
well into the night.
We chatted about all the changes that the show has gone through since she
started on OLTL. Happily for us, through it all, the one thing that we
can all be sure of is that both Viki and Erika will endure.
