The Locher Room

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Come celebrate The Locher Room's 200th episode with Emmy Award-winning producer and director Christopher Goutman.

Chris has spent most of his career working as a director, producer, and writer. He started his career as an actor appearing on The Doctors, Search for Tomorrow, The Edge of Night and Texas. Chris served as the Executive Producer for Another World and As the World Turns as well as directed episodes from nine different daytime dramas.

He created and produced two web series, In Turn and L.A. Diaries, which he also directed, as well as promotional campaigns for network television, commercial movie theater trailers, and an award-winning Presidential campaign ad. For his work in television, he has shot on locations all over the world. He also wrote, produced, and directed two short films, The Square Root of Three and Visions of Joanna, both of which received extensive exposure on the independent film circuit. In theatre, he has directed in New York, Philadelphia and Florida, including productions at EST, NYC Fringe, the Harold Clurman Theatre and the Theatre at Madison Square Garden. His plays have been performed at L.A. Stage and Film Company, the Barrow Group and EST. He has five Emmy Awards for his work as a producer and director and a Directors Guild of America Award.

Chris currently serves as the Artistic Director, Associate Professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Original Airdate: 9/24/2021

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Actress, author, and businesswoman joined me in The Locher Room to reminisce about her time playing Felicia Gallant on Another World, Rae Cummings on One Life to Live, Lena Kendall on Guiding Light, and her most recent role of Vivian Alamain on Days of Our Lives. Linda's One Life to Live character Rae also had a cross-over on Port Charles, All My Children and General Hospital. She has published books, hosted her own talk show Attitudes and supports many charitable organizations. Don't miss the chance to catch-up with Linda .

Original Airdate: 9/22/2021

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Executive Producer, writer, director, actor and singer, Peter Marc Jacobson was my guest to talk about his incredible career working in film, TV and on stage in The Locher Room.

Peter started his career in front of the camera, guest starring on memorable series such as Murphy Brown, Beverly Hills 90210, The Facts of Life, Dynasty, and Too Close for Comfort. Peter appeared on film in Spread, Movers and Shakers and GORP.

After 15 years of unsold pilots, SAG dues and psychotherapy bills, he and his Encino therapist decided it would be healthier for Peter to go behind the camera. So, he did! He and his then wife and high school sweetheart, Fran Drescher, created, wrote and executive produced the hit television series, The Nanny. The Nanny ran on CBS for six seasons making it one of the most sought-after series in television syndication. Together he and Fran are currently at work on a stage version of The Nanny.

Peter and Fran’s 18-year marriage ended after Peter told Fran that he was gay. Together Peter and Fran created a TV series based on their marriage. Happily Divorced aired on TV Land for two seasons.

Come meet this talented actor, director, writer and producer.

Original Airdate: 9/16/2021

Author and actress Louise Shaffer was my guest in The Locher Room last September.

Louise has been an actress since the age of 15 and is a graduate of the Yale Drama School. She has appeared on numerous daytime soaps including The Edge of Night, Search for Tomorrow and on Ryan’s Hope playing Rae Woodard, a role that earned her a Daytime Emmy Award.

Louise returned to her first love of writing and began a successful second career when she found herself as an unemployed actress in her mid-forties. She began writing scripts for daytime soaps, but soon followed her dream and wrote her first novel, The Three Miss Margarets published by Random House. It was followed by The Ladies of Garrison Gardens, Family Acts, Serendipity and Looking For A Love Story.

Original Airdate: 9/15/2021

Actor Adrian Zmed sat down in The Locher Room. He is one of the most recognizable faces in the entertainment industry from film to television to Broadway. Audiences remember him for his starring roles as Officer Romano in the popular ABC series T.J. Hooker with William Shatner, as the host of the popular Dance Fever, for his role in the cult classic movies Grease 2 with Michelle Pfeiffer and Bachelor Party with Tom Hanks. Adrian has also starred in many Broadway shows and national tours including the original and revival of Grease, Chicago, Falsettos, Blood Brothers and the premiere of Children of Eden.

His numerous guest-starring roles include appearances on Murder She Wrote, The Love Boat, Hotel and guest starred on NBC's Passions. He also starred in many made-for-television movies like Love on the Run, Glitter, Victims for Victims and Storm Chasers. Adrian also received an Emmy Award for his work on a children’s television special.

Join Adrian and I as we take a look back at his incredible career.

Original Airdate: 9/3/2022

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Listen to this Another World reunion featuring cast members Les Brandt (Rafael Santierro), Lisa Brenner (Maggie Cory) and Kevin McClatchy (Nick Hudson). This talented trio joined me to share memories of their time working together in Bay City.

Original Airdate: 9/2/2021

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Please join me in The Locher Room to meet three talented authors with three distinct stories to share.

Melissa Braverman's new book Notes From A Single Gal In The City – Reflections On Dating & Mating is inspired by her popular blog, SingleGalNYC. The book offers insights about today's dating culture as well as advice geared towards singles 30+ for navigating it. Hailed by fans of her SingleGalNYC blog as New York’s real-life Carrie Bradshaw, Melissa has been through it all. From online dating disasters and the trials of texting to cheeky old flames, her stories will strike a chord with anyone juggling modern mores and a desire to meet someone special. With an optimistic tone, Notes From A Single Gal In The City illustrates how the journey to finding love is as important as the destination.

Dr. Ziva Bakman-Flamhaft's memoir War Widow: How the Six Day War Changed my Life is a story about a young girl born in Tel Aviv, Israel. Her childhood years were marked by my mother’s severe recurrent depression. Like other children she blamed herself for her mother’s illness. Nothing original about that. Like many more children around the world, she grew up in times of war. Like other women, she fell madly in love with a man too popular among the opposite sex and got married young in spite of doubting her decision. Again, nothing unusual. Like other women she suffered two miscarriages: a girl, who was too small to survive after twenty-two weeks of pregnancy, and a boy who lived for thirty-six hours after twenty-six weeks of pregnancy. Years later technology would have him survive. Ziva went through a corrective procedure, and was "as good as new," planning another pregnancy.

Becoming a young war widow is not extraordinary either. But, seeing your husband burnt beyond recognition and hearing his deafening last breaths, your body succumbing because of the shock, suffering a near death experience, being medically abused in the hospital where you stay while trying desperately to save your pregnancy, losing your unborn child after your husband's death and blaming yourself for depriving your in-laws of the grandchild they wanted so badly, is not an ordinary tale.

Dr. Ziva Bakman-Flamhaft is a lecturer in Political Science at Queens College/CUNY, a Fulbright scholar, and a writer and a memoirist. Dr. Bakman-Flamhaft has appeared in numerous academic conferences in the US and abroad and has been a guest lecturer and a speaker in other forums, including radio and TV.

Ben Levin is an autistic young adult with a passion for writing. His first young adult novel, “In The Hole,” is out now.

In “In The Hole,” nine-year-old David Kimball finds his safe and secure world unexpectedly unraveling after discovering his father has lost the family restaurant business, and subsequently their home. Forced to live in a borrowed car until it too is lost, David, together with his parents and sister, Julia, desperately seek shelter. After finding temporary housing in a decrepit inn, together with other individuals facing homelessness, David struggles to maintain a sense of normalcy even as his family faces the challenges and trauma of being homeless. Over time, through hard work and the support of their family and community, David searches for the inner strength and outward skills needed to help his family triumph over their dire circumstances. Will David and his family make it out of the hole?

Ben is a true inspiration to all around him. He says that “Autism is not a curse – it is a gift.

Original Airdate: 9/1/2021

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Tune-in to The Locher Room for an Author's Afternoon to meet Leslie Anne Frye-Thomas. Leslie Ann is an Emmy-Award-winning writer, wife, and foster mother turned adoptive mom—with an unapologetic passion for black queer stories. Her debut novel, "Pum Pum Rock — There's No Place Like Homo" tells the story of a young Jamaican woman who, years after surviving a brutal conversion therapy attempt, returns home not just to face her demons—but to bury them.

Original Airdate: 8/26/2021

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The Emmy Award-winning real-life husband and wife duo Carolyn and Richard Culliton joined me in The Locher Room to look back at their incredible careers in daytime.

This talented duo met when they were both students at Northwestern University. Carolyn grew up watching soaps and Richard had never seen one. Fate intervened in 1978 when a family friend offered to make some introductions to an executive Procter & Gamble Productions. The rest is history.

Carolyn’s first job in the daytime industry was working as Paul Rauch’s assistant at Another World and Richard’s first job was as a script writer on Texas. From that moment forward this duo worked non-stop as breakdown writers, script writers and as head writers on almost every soap opera on the air. Together this duo created the General Hospital spin-off Port Charles while serving as head writers for the first few months of the show’s run.

They are the recipient of numerous Daytime Emmy Awards and Writer’s Guild Awards for their work. They are the proud parents of two daughters, Emily who is an adjunct professor of creative writing at St. Joseph's College in Brooklyn, and Kathleen a journalist. Emily published her first novel In 2017, "The Misfortune of Marion Palm" was published by Knopf.

Looks like the writing gene is a strong one in the Culliton family.

Original Airdate: 8/19/2021

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Emmy Award-winning actress, author and animal advocate Carolyn Hennesy joined me in The Locher Room to reminisce about her incredible career dazzling audiences with her various daytime, primetime and film roles.

On television, she played the deliciously vicious “Penelope Ellis” on ABC’s critically acclaimed series Revenge. She also joined the cast for the fifth season of the sleek vampires-meet-world saga, True Blood, and fast became a fan favorite as Rosalyn, the ageless vamp with a Texas twang. Prior to Revenge and True Blood, Hennesy was best known for her memorable work as “Barb” on ABC’s Cougar Town and for her (twice) Emmy nominated work as “Diane Miller” on ABC’s General Hospital. She has also guest starred on a long list of prime time favorites including Champions, NCIS, The Cool Kids, The Mindy Project, MOM, and Liza on Demand. Kids across America know her as the hilariously haughty Mrs. Chesterfield on Disney Channel’s Jessie. On the big screen, Hennesy’s credits include Click, Legally Blonde 2, Terminator 3 as well as starring in the horror film, St. Agatha (directed by SAW’s Darren Bousman,) the recently released comedy Swing of Things and the soon to be released Relentless for Lifetime…but the biggest recent large screen news is her role in J.J. Abrams Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker as fighter pilot Demine Lithe. Online, she's starred in the independent series’ Take it from the Top and These People, Business Doing Pleasure for TBS, Two Sentence Horror Stories for Time/Warner, and The Bay for Amazon Prime in the role of Karen Blackwell...for which she received her Emmy Award and the 2016 Indie Series Award. Most recently, she starred as Gloria in Sean Kanen’s series, Studio City for which she received Emmy nominations two consecutive years.

Hennesy received her training at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Her razor sharp comedic timing was honed as a member of The Groundling’s Sunday Company and in ACME Theatre’s main company. Hennesy has appeared in over a hundred stage productions worldwide, most recently and to great acclaim as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally’s Master Class at the Garry Marshall Theatre for which she received the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for “Best Actress In A Play” for the entirety of Los Angeles, 2017-18. Among other accolades, the LA Drama Critics Circle has distinguished her with the Natalie Schafer Award and the LA Stage Alliance honored her with her first Ovation for THE FAN MAROO. For the last three years, Hennesy hosted the red carpet reception for the Daytime Emmy Awards for NATAS, FB, and nearly all social media platforms. Hennesy’s creative endeavors also include a successful career as a writer; she created the wildly popular “Pandora” (Bloomsbury USA) children’s book series and penned the New York Times Bestseller “The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli” (Hyperion).

When not on set, Hennesy is privileged to lend her time to a number of causes but she focuses on veteran affairs and particularly animal rescue, preservation, conservation and advocacy as an ambassador for American Humane and her own Los Angeles Zoo. She hosts her advocacy podcast “Animal Magnetism” back episodes of which may be found on YouTube. On January 2nd. 2017, Hennesy crossed something off of her bucket list: she rode on a float (Lucy Pet
Foundation) in the Tournament of Roses Parade. Now she simply has to go into space (difficult) and fly over Disneyland as Tinkerbell to set off the fireworks (impossible). She lives in her native Los Angeles with four dogs and one cat, rescues all, and…in what spare time is left…she flies trapeze. Seriously!

Original Airdate: 8/18/2021