Nelson Aspen Remembers Larkin Malloy

Nelson Aspen and Larkin Malloy in March 2010.

Like a lot of other kids of my generation, after school TV viewing included Dark Shadows and The Edge of Night. Guiding Light was another longtime favorite, so of course I knew dashing Larkin as Sky Whitney and Kyle Sampson. He was arguably the quintessential leading soap opera leading man...what Fabio did for Romance Novels, Larkin did for '80s daytime drama: creating smart, sexy, swashbucklers that women would love and men would emulate. In later years, he transitioned to being a strong patriarch on All My Children and a hilarious, creepy villain on As the World Turns (Did you know that for many of its final years, he was also the off-screen announcer for ATWT?). With all that going for him, no wonder he was a sought after acting teacher.

But he was also a loyal friend, although I mostly knew him peripherally. We first met on the last episode of Search for Tomorrow, where you can spot a cameo of us together pushing forward in a crowded airport line. For the last day of the 35 year old soap, assorted cast and crew from over the years comprised the "background players" for those scenes. Larkin had worked in the same facility where SFT was shot in his EON days, so he was much loved by everyone from the Producers to the Boom Operators.

Then, through our mutual friends Marcia McCabe and Chris Goutman, I got to know him off-set. Sharing countless meals, especially Thanksgiving dinners, together over the years. He was devoted "Uncle Larkin" to their kids and always one of the most clever, charming and interesting people at the table.

Daytime has lost another great, much loved guy. And so have his friends and family. RIP, Larkin.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Below is the initial part of a "Where Are They Now?" interview Nelson Aspen conducted with Larkin Malloy in March 2010. We will post the interview in its entirety soon.



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