News Round-up: Shot During AMC, OLTL Casting, Hennesy

Tulsa woman injured by bullet fired into house
All Laretha Smith wanted Tuesday afternoon was to watch ALL MY CHILDREN. She ended up with a bullet hole in her front window and a trip to the hospital.

Police said Smith, 68, was the unintended victim of a stray bullet fired from outside her house in the 2100 block of North Boston Place.

Smith was sitting in her recliner watching soap operas when a single shot rang out about 12:30 p.m. She felt a sharp pain in her head and cried out to her husband for help, she said.

INTERVIEW: AMC's Jamie Luner (Liza)
"[Liza] is a really strong woman who goes after what she wants and the men she wants. Honey, it’s something I have been playing for awhile. [Laughs] It’s so great to play these power women. You just love to see them go after what they want. I am certainly comfortable in my sexuality and that’s obvious, it gets me into doing those scenes right from the get-go."

GH's Hennesy turns scribe between scenes
GENERAL HOSPITAL actress Carolyn Hennesy took some time away from the bullet-riddled, drama-plagued Port Charles last week to introduce Atlantans to her latest creation, Pandora Atheneus Andromaeche.

“Pandy” is the spunky Greek mythology-based, 13-year-old heroine of Hennesy’s new “Pandora” series of young adult novels. The third in the series, “Pandora Gets Lazy” (Bloomsbury, $14.99), hit stores last week.

“There’s spark, sass and smarts,” Hennesy explained, laughing. “Diane possesses some of my personality. But Pandora is me. Just ask my husband. He’ll tell you that at any given moment, I’m a 13-year-old! But Pandora isn’t yet aware of her own fabulousness yet.”

And while the hilarious Diane Miller is entangled in most of the soap’s story lines, astonishingly, Hennesy says the role evolved from what was originally a two-day gig.

“Honestly, it helped that I didn’t watch the show,” Hennesy said. “If I had known how popular the [mob boss] Sonny Corinthos character was or how wildly popular [“G.H.” actor] Maurice Benard is, I would have been too tongue-tied. Maurice and I just had chemistry immediately. The writers saw that spark and started writing for it.”

Victoria Rowell in Des Moines
"I really think I can do more outside of the tube than I can inside the tube," Rowell told the audience of about 2,200 women at the Smart Talk Connected Conversations event in Des Moines on Tuesday night

NBC moves KINGS to summer
After originally scheduling the midseason drama on Thursday, launching it on Sunday and moving it to repeat-laden Saturday night after four low-rated episodes, the contemporary King David drama has been pulled off the schedule. KINGS will return to its Saturday 8 p.m. slot June 13 and will finish its run through July 25.

Where Fan Mail Goes to Get Answered
Named for its founder, Mackie Mann, a child actor who grew up to be a producer of TV commercials, Mail Mann was launched 25 years ago. "A friend who was a talent agent asked me if I knew anyone who did fan mail," recalled Ms. Mann. "She had a client, Peter Reckell, who's on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. At the time he was very big, a teen heartthrob, and I said I'd look into it. I started looking and I couldn't find anyone -- and I thought, hmmm."

She began Mail Mann in her garage, handling Mr. Reckell's correspondence, and soon signed up David Hasselhoff, then the star of the series KNIGHT RIDER. Ms. Mann's husband, a dolly grip, was very helpful with client recruitment. "When he went on location, he would talk to stars about my business," she said. "I got a lot of people that way."

Rebecca Lewis and Powell Lord return to OLTL
Rebecca will now be played by Jessica Kaye. Sean Moynihan will resume his role as Powell, who has been in a mental institution all of these years.

INTERVIEW: Former NEIGHBOURS and OLTL actor Andrew Lawton
"I'm writing a feature that's set in New York. It's a story about an actor who's trying to balance auditions in Manhattan with a bizarre (and slightly dangerous) acting gig he secretly accepts up in neighboring Westchester County. I'm also working around the clock to build a production company called Kinetic Media so that we have the home base every creative team needs. It's a massive challenge in this kind of economy but we're finding ways to build anyway. It's been really rewarding to watch it evolve and grow during this first year. The next few years are going to be exciting."