Wednesday, March 24, 2010

50 Greatest Soap Actors: #46 Jerry verDorn

NAME: Jerry verDorn
RANK: 46
SOAP ROLES: Clint Buchanan, ONE LIFE TO LIVE (2005-present); Ross Marler, GUIDING LIGHT (1979-2005)

AWARDS:
1999 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
1999 Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Favorite Veteran
1996 Daytime Emmy win for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
1995 Daytime Emmy win for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
1994 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
1993 Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor
1992 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
1991 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
1990 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

COMMENTS FROM THE PANEL:
Nelson Aspen: "One of my very favorite soap storylines of all time was the Ross/Carrie murder mystery surrounding the death of Diane Ballard. It proved Jerry's talents better than any material GL gave him after that and Ross' death was one of the final nails in the coffin for that show. OLTL using him to recast Clint was a stroke of genius and it's great to see him shining in Llanview."

Roger Newcomb: verDorn became the heart and soul of GUIDING LIGHT over the years. Much is talked about the death of Maureen Bauer, but losing Ross was a devastating blow to the show. One of the saddest parts about the ending was not being able to see Liz Keifer and Jerry verDorn act together in one more scene. He's been a rock solid force for 31 straight years on daytime.

Lynn Liccardo: For me, it was the scenes between Jerry ver Dorn and Peter Simon on the eve of Ross’s wedding to Blake that forever sealed his place on this list – not to mention a Daytime Emmy. The beautifully written (by whom I don’t recall) conversation – and that’s really all it was – referenced not just Ross and Ed’s long history, but Ed’s history with Holly and Blake, as well. The two actors mined every drop of subtext and played every nuance. And all with Ross still in bed, if I’m remembering correctly, naked.

COMMENTS FROM CO-STARS/CO-WORKERS/INDUSTRY:
Elizabeth Keifer: (worked with verDorn on GUIDING LIGHT) He made me feel wonderful from the moment I stepped foot on set. It helped that I was a huge long term fan of GUIDING LIGHT since 1979, so I was very well of all of the characters, and all the relationships. Being between Jerry verDorn and Michael O'Leary was the best sandwich ever! Because you have energies that are so opposing and I was smack in the middle and I would just never stop laughing.

2 comments:

  1. Jerry is such an underrated actor, he can play your best friend or your worst enemy. He plays so many layers in a scene. I guess my favorite Jerry scenes will always be those unbelievable blackout scenes with Sherry Stringfield on GL.

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  2. Wow, what a great find to finally be able to get some background (via the article posted) on JvD. However, I disagree with the ranking; there's no way there are 45 better than this guy! Reading those ranked above him is mostly going to be very disappointing. I guess I should be glad he's included at all; it's not like I have a lot in common with people. I guess it's good to be underrated-as JvD clearly is-anyway.

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