Susan gets her man !
By Wendy Chapman, TV Week, 1991	Home   Cette page en Français

One of Santa Barbara's newest stars is Susan Marie Snyder. Her character, Laken Lockridge, was originally played by Julie Ronnie. The new Laken bounced back to Santa Barbara determined to win back her childhood sweetheart, Ted Capwell, despite his marriage to the shy Hayley.

"Laken was nasty at first," recalls Susan, "and I didn't think that was necessary so I asked the writers to tone it down a little."

The youngest from a family of 10 children, Susan was born in Idaho but grew up in Oregon. "I always wanted to be an actress but somehow I found myself engaged to my high school sweetheart and began to feel trapped. So one day I told him I was sorry but I had to leave, and packed my bags and moved to New York !"

Many waitressing jobs later, Susan found herself performing comedy sketches on the David Letterman show. "I love comedy and have worked in many New York clubs as a stand-up comedian," she says. Brief roles in the daytime soaps Ryan's Hope and Another World convinced Susan that she should try her luck in Los Angeles, and not long after her arrival she was cast as Laken.

In 1988 her Santa Barbara role ended and she returned to New York and joined another daytime soap, As the World Turns. This turned out to be a good move both personally and professionally because she married her co-star Peter Boynton in October 1989.