CHARLES KEATING: An Actor For All Seasons
By Marnie Winston Macauley
Pine Valley residents, be warned! A consummate villain has returned to daytime.
When last seen on the soap front, Charles Keating, a.k.a. Carl Hutchins, exited Another World via a much-deserved heave-ho into an icy Arizona River. Last August, Keating re-surfaced as the evil psychiatrist, Damon Lazarre on All My Children. "I had to start rehearsals with a bloody cast on!" he says, pointing to his left ankle. "It broke during a bloody game of volleyball," he explains with amusement in his clipped British accent. "That was something," explains his wife Mary, as she passes thru the living room of their gracious home in Connecticut. "He used his confinement to give up cigarettes and caffeine, both at once, cold turkey."
But that's Charles Keating. The Chameleon-like actor is as intense about a guest shot on The Equalizer as he is about doing King Lear with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is as passionate about working with his fellow soap actors as he is costarring with Olivier and Gielgud. "I need to be engaged as an actor," Keating explains. "You can choose to be engaged in daytime and find it's a marvelous exercise. Obviously, I can't compare it with
'Brideshead' (referring to the acclaimed British television production, Brideshead Revisited where he played Rex Mottram), but soaps can be fulfilling for what they do." Believing there is art in any role, he has no truck with the lazy actor. "Some just walk through it. Do it by rote. I can't stand working with this sort." He is impressed with what he calls "the high calibre of acting" on All My Children and notes how much he enjoys Susan Lucci's work. While on Another World, Linda Dano (Felicia), Anna Stuart (ex-Donna), David Oliver (ex-Perry), and Douglass Watson (Mac) were among his closest chums on the set. He recalls with great fondness driving to the studio with Watson, discussing their mutual affection for their craft. "I would love the opportunity to direct Doug in a play," he comments, noting with some sadness how his former colleague's talents are often underused. "A hazard of the long-running character," he believes.
It's unlikely that Keating himself will ever face that prospect. He is versatile enough to handle a wide variety of roles. Professionalism is one of the most important lessons he learned from 12 years of work in Britain. "In England, you can be starring in a play at night, while shooting a bit part with a cast of 18 for television during the day, without thinking twice about it. Being an 'actor' rather than a 'star' is the goal. It is a job-a job to be done whenever, wherever, and well," he adds.
Perhaps it is this attitude that keeps Keating constantly busy. Since disappearing from Bay City into that Arizona River, he has emerged as a Tony nominee for his portrayal of the middle-aged, wimpy, victimized widower in Loot, Joe Orton's macabre lay. He received raves from the New York Times for his "Common Man" in the roundabout Theater's production of A Man For All Seasons, and recently co-starred with Anne Jackson and Eli
Wallach in Opera Comique at the Kennedy Center in Washington. In between and around these heavy-duty roles, he managed to complete the movie, Master of the Mansion, and squeeze in guest shots on Miami Vice,
The Equalizer and Fresno.
Even while getting ready to invade soap's Pine Valley, he juggled schedules, (to say nothing of his ankle) to accommodate a short stint at the Westport Playhouse in Connecticut in the highly physical British comedy, Wife Begins at 40 with veteran actress and soap star, Louise Sorel.
While the passion was always there, acting wasn't the focus right away. After moving to Canada from England as a young lad with his rather traditional family, he exercised his strong allegiance to creativity by rebellion. He was expelled from school at 15. "Most schools stifle creativity," he feels-an attitude he still holds and lives by in raising his two sons, Sean and Jamie, who are pursuing writing and music careers. "Creative people live happier and more fulfilled lives," he believes, "and it's a parents job to make and preserve these opportunities." For this reason he has never pushed formal education on the boys, not has he ever taken an acting lesson.
At 15, however, after a minor attempt at boxing ("where I learned theatricality"), he began to search in earnest for a more creative way to "make a million." His answer? Be a hairdresser. This did accomplish four things: It started him acting (on the advice of a customer); it nurtured his lifelong love and understanding of women; it gave his family a lifetime of free haircuts; it drove his parents crazy. All seemed reasonable goals at the time.
Once introduced, acting became a permanent home for his talent. He was trained first in the classics at the Cleveland Playhouse, where he discovered his wife, also an actress. At the invitation of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, the young couple moved to England for the "longest on-year season in history." That one year turned into a 12-year growth period, during which he worked with Lord Olivier and Sir John Gielgud. He characterizes those experiences as "magic."
In response to his restless nature, the Keatings' returned to the United States in 1983, where he quickly landed the Another World role and soon became known to millions as the dapper lady-killer, Carl Hutchins. Despite his vast
Television credits, he rarely sees himself, as he detests watching his own work. "Mary would tape my Another World pieces and we would turn the odd one on." His wife, who is also his "best critic," is now faithfully following Damon's dirty deeds in Pine Valley.
"I always seem to play fools in the theater and villains in daytime. I can't wait to see what I'll be in the movies," Keating quips, noting his penchant for "bad guy" roles on soaps. For this actor, villains are more interesting than
"boy next door" parts. "Villains are more wounded, don't you think?" he asks. "Look at Shakespeare's villains, for example.
Perhaps Keating makes such a convincing villain because, while he cares about being liked as an actor, he doesn't care about his character being liked. "When you play a villain, there is a built-in demise," he explains. Fortunately, Keating's versatile career enables him to accept the inevitable exit of the non-reformable evil-doer. He is not tempted, for example, to compromise his portrayal in hopes of creating a likable, "forever-running" character. His "devils" are acted fully and with relish.
And how do the fans react? "I have gotten some very weird letters," he reveals. "Most fans are marvelous and can see the division between my character and me and compliment the work. There are always a couple of the 'You will be punished' letters." "And don't forget the sexy ones," reminds Mary. He receives a few propositions, some illustrated, some with photos. "Quite extraordinary are one or two, quite extraordinary," he says, but diplomatically decides against further description. "After all, I have done love scenes with some fabulous women," he sighs
What is it like to do these scenes with the likes of Anna Stuart, Victoria Wyndham and Linda Dano? According to Keating, every woman is sexual in a different way. "To play an effective love scene, you have to find your partner's special sensuality. Fat, thin, tall, or short, sex comes from within and is seen with the eyes." How does Mary Keating cope with this salty, somewhat impulsive man who loves women and loves to be loved by them? "I would drive myself crazy if I were married to me," he admits. She understands he complex husband and accepts him. "Acting must be selfish so you can deliver what you have to every day," she says. "You are your own career." Despite differences between them (he is center stage, aggressive, while she is retiring and gentle), they are alike in critical ways which strengthen their relationship. The "nest" meaning the family, is his anchor. His wife is clearly in charge of smooth sailing. She is, in many ways, captain of the home front, creating a loving, supportive, very busy home (it's like the Keating Hilton) for their many friends and frequently visiting family members.
She is the money manager, and most important, the nurturer. Mary Keating puts as much devotion into her tasks as her husband does into his. The fruits have been a successful 23-year marriage and a strong, committed family.
Keating readily credits her for much of this as he proudly shows visitors the pottery made by his sons in the family workshop. All this is even more evident in the Keating's special shared project, The Dream Show. "It's the
Keating family's alternative to the Osmonds," quips their patriarch. The dramatic musical, produced and performed in concert by the family, explores the world of dreams, "the dreams of life," in poetry, funny and thoughtful pieces, all culled from a variety of writers with "powerful things to say," were chosen, he says, because they delivered messages that "stuck" over time throughout the family's travels with words and music. All the Keatings' sing and play instruments in the show, which in some ways symbolizes their very connectedness to each other.
"And did you know we were a hit in Poland?" Mrs. Keating announces, eyes twinkling. Much to the family's shock, a rock musical they collaborated on back in 1982 in England turned up recently in Gdansk. The production is a smash hit, according to their British collaborator, who has yet to give them the rest of the details. This rather bizarre turn of events is typical of the often unpredictable Keating household. Does this unpredictability --the uncertain life on an actor--disturb them? While Mary Keating feels she wouldn't mind a bit more stability in her life, she long ago conceded the "tradeoff was worthwhile."
What about Charles Keating? While admitting it would be nice, he gave up the adolescent fantasy of being a "star" in the millionaire, celebrity sense. He does, however, trust himself and his track record. He knows he is actor who will always survive. "I've never been afraid of not being hired. It's just not working--not being functional--that scares me." His credo is, "You don't give the future energy--only the present."
So don't be surprised if one day, long after his AMC role has run its course, you may recognize that funny, hapless chauffeur in a sitcom or note that the wife-killer on your local movie screen looks familiar, and it will be one more portrayal added to Keating's growing gallery of rogues, rascals and Romeo's.
Soap Opera Update
1987