Growing up, Russell Curry had every intention of starring on daytime TV--on Sundays. "I played football and I was VERY serious about it," the actor recalls. "I went to a small college--Macalester, inn St. Paul, [Minnesota]--and there was a coach who had connections to certain NFL teams."

Alas, after a quick look by the Kansas City Chiefs, a career in football seemed unlikely--and Curry was "stuck with a theater degree." Looking back on the turn of events, the actor can't help but smile. "I was sitting with some friends a couple of months ago, and we were talking about why I became involved in [acting]. We came to the conclusion that maybe, at some point, I needed more attention." The actor remembers that growing up in a single-parent household in Minneapolis, he clowned around to stay in the spotlight. The more he made people laugh, the more attnetion he enjoyed.

As he got older, Curry learned just how much of a struggle it was for his mother to raise two boys on her own. "She was an exceptional person," he says. "Looking back over the years, it was a lot worse than she ever let us know." The family would later face even greater hardships. Ten years ago, Curry's brother died in a tragic accident.

"He drowned when he was 29," the actor explains, getting choked up at the memory. "I don't know how or why, but he suffered from mental illness from the age of 19. In the next 10 years, he was in and out of the hospital, and one spring day he went out into the lake and drowned."

Strangely, Curry gained a family member around the same time that he lost one: When he was 25, he met his father for the first time. "It wasn't weird at all," he says. "We met, immediately started talking, and we must have really shared the same genes, because we were so alike in so many ways."

Curry reports that fitting in at SUN was much easier than joining certain other shows. In 1995, he was cast as Guiding Light's new David, replacing Monti Sharp. "I didn't get along with a lot of the actors," Curry says candidly. "They had grown attached to Monti, so it was hard."

Just as he was on his way off GL, Curry learned that his wife, Emanuella, was pregnant. Fortunately, he wasn't out of work long; Aaron Spelling hired him to play Sam on the nighttime soap Savannah. "It was such a great show, but my experience was short and sweet," says Curry.

Initially nervous about fatherhood, Curry says that his son Oliver has changed his life. "When I got [the role on] GL, I thought New York was my place, but I don't know how it would have been raising Oliver there." That said, the mere mention of the city brings a smile to Curry's face.

"I came to New York in 1980 and landed my first job in the film The Check is in the Mail," Curry recalls. "Then I did my first soap, Another World, from 1984-86." He played high-school football star Carter Todd. "It was a great experience and I learned so much," Curry asserts. "I never regretted doing daytime for a second."

When the AW gig ended, so did his first marriage. "She was my college sweetheart. She was in the process of finding herself just as the things working for me were fading out," Curry explains. "It put a huge crimp in our situation, and not long after that we were done. We were together a good ten years." Soon afterward, he moved on to another soap--Santa Barbara, where he played Lieutenant Boswell from 1988-91--and another woman: his wife, Emanuella.

"She's from Italy. We were at a dinner party and we just hit it off," Curry grins. "We go to Italy a lot. I've been studying Italian for about three years and she speaks nothing but Italian to Oliver. It's really starting to sink in."

Nowadays, of course, he's learning another language: medical jargon, which often seems to be Tyus' native tongue. "I never saw myself playing a doctor because I didn't think that fit my personality, but now that I am, I think I see a side of me I didn't know existed," the actor marvels.

Curry offers a few final thoughts on his craft. "Actors are like young anthropologists. You explore what you're all about, only as an actor, you get paid for it. I've been doing this a long time, and it's a wonderful life."