Interview with Renee O'Conner (Gabrielle)- from a Xena Newsletter sent in by Rosie
"We just had Charles Keating on our show--he plays Zeus--and we had the most amazing conversations. He's quite articulate about the theatre and he was explaining how there are usually three or four perfomances of one role that an actor can do in his lifetime and they will all be different depending on what he brings to the character at that time. We were talking about
Shakespeare and all these amazing roles that are so difficult and every time he would try to present it, it would be almost like a different actor doing the same role.
He's wonderful, truely generous in his knowledge and sharing it with people who are eager to listen. I found him charming." Renee said warmly.
Soap Opera Digest July 1, 1997:
If Rachel's tumor proves deadly will Carl be able to handle Parenthood alone?
Charles Keating: I would imagine, yes. He would suddenly take it on with a vengeance.
Soaps in Depth: July 22,1997
Charles Keating on Victoria Wyndham's 25 years as Rachel Cory Hutchins: How on earth do I begin? She's an absolute ogre to work with, difficult and opinionated and stubborn as hell. But so am I. No on else would put up with me. We've been very fortunate.
Soap Opera Digest 1997
Charles Keating discussing costars:
Victoria Wyndham (Rachel): A sharp intellect. There's a pile of erudition sitting there.
Douglass Watson (late Mac Cory): I was very, very fond of him. A dear man.
Anne Heche (Ex- Marley / Vicky): She is an enormous talent. All this recent stuff about [her being Ellen DeGeneres's girlfriend] is irrelevant. I don't know why people make such a fuss about sex. I think she should be famous for her talent
Linda Dano (Felicia Gallant): You won't find anyone more generous than her. When I first came on the show, she actually took me in hand to guide me.
Morgan Freeman (Ex-Roy): He and I talked about Shakespeare a lot. The writer's didn't give Morgan enough story. When you've got talent like Morgan on your show, bloody well write for him.
Anna Stuart (Donna Hudson): A gifted light comedienne, with such an ability to laugh at herself.
Robyn Griggs (Ex-Maggie Cory): Letting her go was a huge mistake. Regardless of what was going on [between Griggs and porn actor John Wayne Bobbitt], she was such a talented girl. She had danger and humor and sex in her, and a spoonful of Marilyn Monroe as well.
Soap Opera Digest 1997
Charles on his epitaph: He was an Irish, wire-haired terrier who thought himself a red setter.
Soap Opera Digest 1997
Charles on where he keeps his Emmy: It's tucked away in a cupboard somewhere.
"I would ban popcorn in movie houses. What the hell, you want to eat? Go to a restaurant or stay home and eat!" - on why he sometimes gets annoyed in movie theaters
"I have fond memories of going toe-to-toe with Douglass Watson(Mac). I loved him dearly and had great respect for him as an actor."
"It's like the whole rest of the world melts away." - his wife Mary says when Charles is with his grandaughter
It's always surprising to realize how many people are watching (AW). There's no going into the sex movie houses on 42nd Street to remind yourself of the underbelly beast." - on Jan. 18, 1994
"You can't hide with the camera on your face. The audience would see the truth, and I don't believe I'm capable enough as an actor to disguise any bad feelings." - referring to the chemistry between Victoria Wyndham and himself
Keating says he and Victoria, "lock horns over things, and we are as stubborn as two people can be. She has such a brilliant mind, and she's a very astute woman on an awful lot of levels. I have great respect for her. We trust each other and we bring out
the best in each other."
"Charles has taught me more about daytime than any other actor." - Tom Eplin(Jake)
"I've never been a prize-winner. I've lost three Emmys, a Tony once.....My agent said to me, Following the steps of Susan Lucci couldn't do you any harm."
In 1977, Charles Keating(Carl) appeared in Peer Gynt at a theatre in England in which he played "a wonderful character called The Pen. I had an asylum scene where I kept saying, 'I'm a pen, write with me," One day after slitting his throat, The Pen was granted his request. "The other patients turned him
upside down and wrote with him. To make the ink flow, I got a condom and put a fair amount of fluid in it. Then I took a very fine flexible metal which I stuck to my skin and I stuck the condom to that. When the time came, I pierced my neck and the blood spurted out. The audience would get sick. I loved it. It was great!!!"
Soap Opera Digest 1996: David Canary(AMC)4 time Emmy winner, and his wife Maureen led the standing ovation when Charles Keating won the Outstanding Actor Emmy "We love Charles, and he richly deserved to win, we worked together, you know.[Keating played Dr.Lazzare in 1987-88] He's a wonderful actor and we're thrilled for him!..."
