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Jeff Trachta

Interviews

Where are they now?

In the October 26th issue of Soap Opera Digest there was this article on WHERE ARE THEY NOW? which looks at actors who have departed from their shows; and from the Bold & the Beautiful, JEFF TRACHTA (ex-Thorne) is highlighted. So what's Jeff been up to? Well, he still tours as a singer in Europe, both solo and with former co-star BOBBIE EAKES (Macy, with whom he did a 17 city tour through Holland at the end of 1997/1998). He also played the part of Conrad Birdie and toured in the musical BYE, BYE BIRDIE last summer. Just recently he did a guest star role as a psychic to the stars in the Pamela Anderson Lee series V.I.P. Jeff notes that people still remember him for being on the B&B; even the V.I.P. director knew who he was, as the director's wife is a long-time B&B fan. Besides for Bobbie, he keeps in touch with former co-stars RONN MOSS (Ridge) and DARLENE CONLEY (Sally). When asked if he watches the B&B much these days, he says no; however, he points out he didn't watch that often when he WAS on the show, either. And while he doesn't want to say never, when asked if he would come back to daytime shows, he says that he's not anxious to do a contract role.

© Source Soap opera Digest October 26th 1999


DIGEST: In 1989, you replaced Clayton Norcross as Thorne. Didn't you also test for YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS's Jack that year?

TRACHTA: Yes. I screen-tested with Jerry Douglas and Jess Walton [John and Jill]. I thought I'd get that part. Bill [Bell, B&B and Y&R's Senior Executive Producer] felt I was too young for Jack, but that I'd be very suited to play Thorne.

DIGEST: We heard Bobbie Eakes, who plays Macy, had a psychic vision when she first saw you.

TRACHTA: (laughs): Sort of. I was visiting B&B after one of my Y&R auditions. Bobbie saw me and said, "I'm going to marry that man." Little did she know she'd do it three times!

DIGEST: Had you seen B&B before or met the cast?

TRACHTA: I had seen a scene with Darlene Conley [Sally] and I remembered her hair. And Ronn Moss [Ridge] stood in front of me at the supermarket once. The next time I saw him was months later, in Bill's office. Bill wanted to see us together to make sure I was shorter than Ronn. I thought, "Trust me, I'll be shorter." I never slouched so much in my life.

DIGEST: Who filled you in on the storylines?

TRACHTA: [B&B Associate Producer] Rhonda Friedman brought me up to speed. She also gave me the first five B&B episodes on tape.

DIGEST: Was it difficult taking over from Clayton?

TRACHTA: People alwasy ask that, and I always say, "I had $11 in my bank account. Taking the role was the easiest thing I've ever done." It was probably harder for the other cast members, because they had to adjust to a new Thorne.


Trachta Trailin'

B&B's Jeff Trachta really comes alive when he tours Italy.

Last year when The Bold & The Beautiful's Jeff Trachta (Thorne Forrester) made his first trip to Italy to publicize the new season of B&B episodes on the RAI network, he sang on a variety show, got plenty of fan recognition, and shot about 10 rolls of film. He has yet to develop one frame of that film.

"I'm not a picture person", laughs the engaging blond actor, his lanky frame comfortably folded into an oversize armchair in his dressingroom at CBS Television City in Hollywood. "I never quite understood people who spend an entire trip taking pictures, because to me, you miss what's actually happening in that particular moment. For example, at weddings the whole experience becomes taking pictures of the bride and the groom, so you walk away from the ceremony remembering only the photographer snapping away as opposed to the vows that were exchanged. My mind is pretty vivid," he continues, "so I don't need snapshots to conjure up recollections of a visit to Italy. I like to remember it the way it was."

Trachta recalls walking up the steps at St. Peter's in Rome with Susan Flannery (Stephanie) and John McCook (Eric), the actors who play his parents on the soap. "There were all these people cheering and screaming at us. With my Catholic background, I always hoped that I'd get to see St. Peter's Square, but I never thought I'd see it under these auspices. It was quite an experience.

B&B, which airs in primetime in Italy, is wildly popular there, although the Italians are seeing episodes a couple of years behind those being seen by American audiences. Trachta's personal appearance coincided with his debut in the role of Thorne, having taking over the part from the actor who created it, Clayton Norcross. "Clayton is still very popular in Italy, so I didn't know what kind of reception I'd receive from the people - whether I'd be 'tomatoed' or what," confesses Trachta. "But the response from the Italians was incredible. They were so warm and gracious."

For Trachta, one of the highlights of last year's personal appearance was the opportunity to sing You Don't Have To Say You Love Me - Just Be Close At Hand on a variety show called Ciao Weekend. Trachta sang first in English, then in Italian, which he learned to sing phonetically thanks to coaching from B&B producer/director John Zak and photographer Pina DiCola. "It's a live show," he explains. "So when I got back to my hotel from the TV studio there were hundreds of people waiting outside. I went into the hotel, but they began singing You Don't Have To Say You Love Me... to me, to get me to come outside to say hello to them. They wanted to say thank you to me for singing the song in Italian. They considered it a gift. They saw it as my way of saying I appreciate their support."

During this year's promotional tour, Trachta sang My Love Forgive Me on one of RAI's variety programs. "I always start in English and then go into the Italian version," he says. "I'm learning to sing in Italian - there's a big difference!" he adds with a laugh. "The Italians tell me that my pronounciation is right on the money. I know that's only due to my ear, because I'm good at impersonations. So I just impersonate an Italian voice when I sing - and I'm enjoying it."

Trachta says a plan for him to do an album of Italian songs is "still in the talking stages." Meanwhile, he practices conversational Italian via cassettes in the car while he commutes between Hollywood and his home in the San Fernando Valley.

For this season's Italian tour, Trachta was joined by his B&B leading lady, Bobbie Eakes (Macy), and former cast members Daniel McVicar (Clarke Garrison) and Lauren Koslow (Margo Spencer). "One of our stops was Florence, where we got to combine work with sightseeing. We saw the city as part of a photo shoot, and it's just beautiful. Then we drove down to Rome and saw more of 'The Eternal City.' What was the highlight of this trip? Oh, man, to ask what was the most exciting part...well, you can't answer that question. It's like asking a mother which one is her favorite child. You can't say!

"When I see these places, though, I think of my father," the Staten Island, N.Y-born actor says. "My father died when he was 50, and I think Pennsylvania was the farthest west he'd gotten from New York. So, to be experiencing all of this - I tell you, I have such gratitude for what I'm doing now: the job on the soap, the travel, the personal appearances. I'm just enjoying it to the hilt."

Trachta made his first appearance on B&B in August '89. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think when I came on this show that I would be given these kinds of opportunities. And even though I've been doing this for over three years now, it still overwhelms me when I think about the impact that this show has around the globe." When he celebrated his birthday Oct. 6, he says he received cards from Italy, Greece, South Africa - "all over the world! It's quite amazing!"

Previously, Trachta had played roles on One Life To Live (Boyce McDonald, a pothead-sex-maniac-scoundrel son of a senator) and Loving (Hunter Belden, a child pornographer-blackmailer-cocaine dealer-murderer). "Playing Thorne is the furthest you can get from those two parts," grins the actor. "I wouldn't say it's hard to play Thorne. It's certainly more challenging than playing a villain or a playboy. Thorne's right down the middle of the road. A nice guy. There's a tried-and-trueness about him that's appealing. He's got moral backbone, that's for sure. So the challenge is to make a 'nice guy' interesting, to give him shadings, some complexities. I'm an actor and that's my job."

Having performed in musical theater (Cabaret, Grease, Little Shop of Horrors), Trachta says it was his idea for Thorne to warble on B&B. "When I first came on the show, I expressed an interest in singing. But my character was having a mental breakdown. He was in therapy. He'd shot his brother, Ridge (Ronn Moss), and had blocked it out. He was taking pills to get through a divorce from Caroline (his late ex-wife, portrayed by Joanna Johnson, who now plays Caroline's twin sister, Karen). So obviously, Thorne had nothing to sing about!

"I waited a few months before bringing up the idea again. One day I went around [the B&B production office] knocking on the doors of the producers and the writers and announcing, 'Thorne will be singing at 2:30 this afternoon in our rehearsal room.' So they came in and listened to me sing. About a week later they wrote the [episode featuring] variety show - and Thorne's been singing ever since."

The actor shares his modest home in the San Fernando Vally, which he has restored himself, with two golden cocker spaniels, Ricky and Lucy, and Miss Kitty, a stray whom he says adopted him. One publication labeled him a "confirmed bachelor", but the actor denies this. "The possibilities are endless," he says with a grin. "I would never want to say I'm a 'confirmed bachelor.' I haven't met the right one yet. But you never know.

What Trachta does know, however, is that he loves his visits to Italy. He doesn't disguise himself à la Michael Jackson when he walks the streets. "I may wear a hat," he explains, "but you make contact with anybody and they know you. It only takes one person on the street, and they sound the alarm. They start screaming, 'Thorn-a! Thorn-a!' In America, people come up and ask you for an autograph; in Italy, they want a kiss. They just throw their arms around you. They don't wait for you to give them permission. I have to be honest with you, I enjoy it. I love meeting people. I shy away from it very rarely. And I know I can get on a plane and go back to my quiet little town in the Vally, where I can live my life quite peacefully and where occasionally a lady will come up to me in Vons (a supermarket chain) and ask me about a storyline." A big grin. "There is no comparison at all between a personal appearance in Italy and my life in the Vally!"

And did he take a camera to Italy this fall? "No," laughs Trachta, "I didn't take a single picture!"