A caring kind of guy !
By Lillian Smith, 1985	Home   Cette page en Français

For months after Christmas David Haskell keeps brushing pine needles out of his clothes, his house, his car... and he loves it !

That's because this star of Santa Barbara (Nick Hartley) spent a lot of December working on his brainchild, selling Christmas trees for his church, raising money for charities and for the wonderful community spirit that flows through the whole congregation as they work toward that goal.

It's strange to think that all the time David was making love to Kelly (Robin Wright) and being part of an exciting triangle with Kelly, his brother Dylan (Page Moseley) and himself, he was putting up banners at the First Christian Church of North Hollywood, picking up some 800 trees and delivering them and helping with the sale of them along with the rest of the members of the church.

Actually, prior to this David says that most of his religious background had been Eastern philosophy, and still is to some extent. "But right now, as a family man and someone who is in the community this church offers a very important outlet to me - to give of my services."

"Did you start out with acting was everything... then married and had a child ?"

"I met Jeannie, (Jeannie Lang who once played Carol Lamont in Another World) in the cast of Godspell she was the first replacement. We were one of about three marriages that happened in those first six months and I think all of them are still going strong after fourteen years. That was pretty much it, out of college into theatre and because of that profile Godspell provided, I worked consistently as an actor, then went into TV, commercials and movies. We came west about eight years ago."

"You've had such wonderful background in all the mediums, how do you like working on a soap ?"

"I love it. I love it. I've never been in a situation that provided more support, continuity. There are aspects of the soap that are similar to theatre... 4, 3, 2, 1 and you do it. You don't stop to do a close up, you don't stop to do a long shot, it's all being done by the cameras. There's a sense of development in a scene, you can shape a scene, you can feel how it goes. Some are good, in some you are bad and you move on because you're doing tomorrow's work, another 30 pages. Everyone on the show is superb."

"When is your birthday ?"

"June 4, Gemini, the twins."

"It's mine too so that's the one sign I know a little about. I'm not into it," I told him.

"Neither am I. I was backstage talking with Robin and Page the other day and we were talking about it and mood swings, so I said, "Page, do you think I'm loony ?" He said, "I don't know, when were you born ?" When I told him he said, "You're not looney, you're just two different people." I think that kind of said it, I can be two different people," David said smiling that fabulous smile of his.

When David talks about his wife Jeanne and little six year old Alexandria, his voice is warm and tender and his eyes glow and sort of perpetual smile hovers around his mouth. He's a loving, caring and sensitive man, the best kind, and it is evident in everything he says and does.

From the day he and Jeannie got together they have pooled their resources, traveling across country, buying the house, furnishing it. Their having a baby was a very loving, joint venture. He laughs when you mention it. "I did all those thing that pops do in the 80's. I was there in the Lamaze classes, cut the umbilical cord, went home that afternoon, drove Mom and Alexandria home in a driving rainstorm. There the three of us were... "What do we do now ?" It was scary but it's been magnificent."

Both he and Jeannie have spent a lot of time with Alexandria growing up. He laughingly says that actors when they're unemployed get to spend a lot of time at home and in this case it was plenty of loving time.

"We just look at her with amazement. We have created thus human being who is so complete, so self assured. She's just a wonderful child and a great little person. We can see all this time that we have shared with her coming to fruition already."

"He sets the style for me in terms of decorum and it's nothing A does for effect, it just comes right from the heart," David said seriously. "He's been supportive and if he sees a scene he loves, he'll tell me. If anybody on the show is new, even a day player, he'll go up and say, "Hi, I'm A Martinez, welcome to the show. Any questions ?" I now follow his example and it's that kind of pervasive attitude which makes the show so nice. People are great."

"I just finished some shoots with Kathy Shower, she's a Playboy centerfold. Underneath that Playboy image is a sparkling, wonderful, talented actress who has never done any acting before, but she I superb," he told me.

"So the soap is great. I'm having a good time there. I'm still kind of the new kid on the block but I don't think I'll change. One of the treats is committing to a piece of work for two years. It's wonderful. Most job last six to eight weeks. To have that continuity in terms of going in and working with friends, having a pay check on a regular basis... now this is treat."