For the Love of the Game (SID 6/27/2000)
Whether playing golf or Edmund Grey, John Callahan approaches it all with passion

"'It's all about those last few inches before contact... and the uncurling of the hip...' No, John Callahan isn't detailing the secrets behind Edmund's AMC love scenes. Rather, he's in the midst of a minitutorial on golf, one of the few things- including wife Eva La Rue Callahan (ex-Maria), of course- possibly to elict the passion he feels for performing. And if you've ever ably swung a 5-iron, you know firsthand the addictive quality of the sport that often beckons the actor. 'Once you hit that first shot on the sweet spont,' the celebrity duffer warns, 'you'll be hooked.'

The Spy Who Loved Me
Callahan's Pine Valley persona is in a sweet spot himself: Not only is Edmund entrenched in the kind of mystery which bedevils an investigative reporter, he is also ankle-deep in a love affair with Alex, the beauty at the puzzle's vortex- and not-so-late half brother Dimitri's widow. 'Your typical story is the couple falls in love, walks down the aisle, then so-and-so comes back,' he notes. But since Dimitri's emergence will come in the early stages of Alex and Edmund's romance, 'this... represents a challenge which I bet is unique for all three actors.'

Yet the key, Callahan impresses, is that the story honors the newness of Edmund's relationship. 'If they write as if Edmund and Alex have been together for a year, that's a problem. But if they write as if we've been together for a month... you've got an interesting story that can be based on reality.'

Tales from the Crypt
That's not to say that Callahan doesn't appreciate the occassional flight of fantasy, at least when it comes to the action-adventure material which recently found his character infilitrating Bryn Wydd, only to be blown away later by the ominious facility's explosion. 'It's a blast!' he appropriately notes, likening it to a grown-up playground fare. 'When you're a kid playing "Capture the flag," what do you do when you get shot? You do your big dying scene, like Cagney on the steps [in Public Enemy].'

Further upping the ante, raves Callahan, is the introduction of Oscar nominee Samantha Eggar as Charlotte. 'This story is like The Manchurian Candidate,' he points out, 'in which Angela Lansbury was chillingly good. I think Samantha is mining that same vein.'

Right Where He Belongs
Although co-star Michael Nader (Dimitri) has said that he is less embracing of the current cloak-and-dagger material, Callahan won't let himself be fazed. 'I still look at acting as fun,' he says. 'The day I don't is the day I hang it up.'

Yes, as stated before, acting is a game which Callahan relishes on a par with, well, golf, although it's hard to imagine that he's as adept on the fairway as he is with the engrossing performances which have won him mobs of AMC fans. And though his better half has settled into primetime on NBC's Third Watch, the Falcon Crest alum is most content with his current digs.

'I enjoy Eva's successes for her,' the proud husband states. 'But at a time when a "happy" actor is almost a contradiction in terms, I must say that I am happy doing what I'm doing. The fans and the show are two things that I am blessed with.'

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
AMC has worked hard to find a follow-up to Edmund's dearly-departed lady doctor. Can Alex fit the bill?

On August 11, 1997, Edmund's wife, Maria, teetered over a cliff trapped in the wreckage of TGA Flight 149, and for a while thereafter, it seemed like any future romantic prospects for the widower had perished in that tragedy as well. AMC's first attempt to succeed Maria came with the 1998 arrival of con artist Kit Fisher. Alas, Kit didn't make Edmund fans purr. 'She falsely accused two men, Tad and Ryan, of rape, and she also was Jackson's [presumed-dead] sister, so... there were a lot of things to make fans says, "No, no matter what," recalls John Callahan. 'I don't know if they've ever had a story where the woman did not have a lot of baggage that might have hindered the fans' acceptance of them.' Once Kit packed up her troubles and left, AMC tapped a proven powerhouse to warm up Edmund's ardor, casting Emmy-winning soap favorite Finola Hughes in the role of Alexandra Devane Marick. 'This [love interest], ironically, is my brother's wife,' Callahan notes with amusement, 'but I think that some fans are now ready to let Edmund move on, and their numbers are increasing with time.'

FYI
Born: December 23 in Brooklyn, NY

The couple that plays together... Along with wife Eva La Rue Callahan, John has hosted several of Lifetime's Weddings of a Lifetime specials, as well as the 1998 Miss America Pageant.

You Again? Callahan and Kelly Ripa (Hayley) appear as "Lance" and "Coral" in the soap watched by characters in the Meryl Streep drama Marvin's Room.

What would he improve about his golf game? 'I could probably use better erasers on my scoring pencils,' quips the modest duffer, who often tees up for charity. 'I have so many improvements that are needed.'"