Catching up with Shell Danielson
By Suzy Byrne, Soap Opera Weekly, 2002	Home   Cette page en Français

What is your most memorable storyline from Santa Barbara ?

When Laken's dad, Lionel Lockridge, came back from the dead. Her father was played by Nicolas Coster. I love him. Between Nic and Louise (Sorel, ex-Augusta) as parents, that was great.

And why did you leave the show ?

They were trying to take the show in a different direction. They brought Laken's brother back and that was Jack Wagner (ex-Warren). My last day was his first day. Then Santa Barbara went in a new direction and Warren became involved with Sydney Penny's character, B.J.. Gosh, it seems like so long ago !

What do you remember the most about your time there ?

I remember everyone being so wonderful. Jed Allan, who played C.C. Capwell, was great. A Martinez (Cruz), of course, was wonderful.

Who do you keep in touch with ?

The only person that I keep in touch with from my soap days is Kin Shriner (Scott, General Hospital). I saw him last week. I had lunch with Jackie (Zeman, Bobbie) and Kin once and I said "please send A my love." He's so wonderful. But I haven't spoken with him. I've often wondered where Rawley Valverde (ex-Amado) is. I ran into Carrington Garland (ex-Kelly) a few years back at an audition and it was great to see her. That's it though. People dispersed.

Did you go to General Hospital right after you left Santa Barbara ?

The summer between Santa Barbara and General Hospital, I did a series with Lee Horsley and George Clooney called Bodies of Evidence. I worked with George Clooney before he was George Clooney. (laughs) He was a very nice man, very professional. So I had some fun and I got a little more experience and I took some classes. So at General Hospital, I got better. Kin Shriner taught me so much.

The Dominique / Scott storyline on General Hospital was so popular. Why did you decide to leave the show ?

I left for personal reasons. I didn't want to leave but I had been engaged to someone - not my husband Harry - who requested that I leave so I could work on our life together. Then things didn't work out. But that's okay. You make decisions and you follow your heart. It wasn't necessarily the best decision, but who's to say ?

So when you decide to leave, they came up with the brain tumor story.

I told Wendy (Richie), who was the executive producer then, "I don't know if you want to recast the role or what you want to do." So they came up with the story about the brain tumor, which was so poignant. I would go home thinking I had a headache. (laughs)

Did you catch General Hospital's 10 000^th episode ?

While I was running around doing my household things, I turned it on, but I had forgotten about it. When I remembered that it was on, I went to watch it. Within two minutes, there was a flashback of me! (Laughs). I said, "Oh, my goodness. There I am".

You had a short-term part playing Bunny on The Young and the Restless.

I did. I appeared as Bunny in four episodes. Working with Peter Bergman (Jack) was a delight; Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) was hysterical. They always say that it could work into more episodes, but you never know. In that case, it didn't happen. But it would have been great.

You got married.

Yes, I married my husband Harry (Lewis) in 1999. We have a 2-year-old daughter, Andalyn.

What's it like being a mom ?

It's very different in that you no longer have a personal life. (laughs) Andalyn had really bad colic and screamed a lot – for, like 24 hours a day. It was hard. But you survive it. You love them dearly and you grow with them. Now, Andalyn is at the age where she's so much fun. We do things together. We have conversations and she doesn't scream so much now. You make choices for a reason and had I not gone the road I had I might not have my husband and daughter.

When you have a few hours to yourself, what type of things do you like to do ?

I've started writing a couple books. I have a 100 pages on one and about 30 or 40 on another, one is fiction and one is loosely based on things that I went through in my life. Who knows if I'll ever do anything with it ? Maybe I'll give to Andalyn. "This is about your crazy mom and all her travels through Europe when she was modeling." And I started painting again. I've created a little niche in the garage. I told my husband that if he messed up the garage one more time he's in trouble. (laughs). But I pull the car out, go in the garage and paint. I make sure I do all my chores first – get the house picked up. Then I can go do it. It's nice to lose yourself in it.