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Bernhardt running on the fast trackBy Connie PassaiacquHYou’d think that playing the focal character in the hottest story line on the most popular daytime soap might be enough to overwhelmingly satisfy any young actor. But Kevin Bernhardt, 24, views his role as Dr. Kevin O’Connor on “General Hospital as “only the beginning.Bernhardt, it seems, has always been on the fast track. After araduating with an “A average from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1983 after only three years as a double major in business and drama, he moved to Los Angeles, where he took a job as a stockbroker. He quit his job to devote full time to making the rounds of casting agents“Although I love business there’s something in me that makes me want to act, he says. “And I’d figure it’s better and easier to do it now then ten years from now when I would be very successful in business and would have to put it all aside.Within a few months he had a call from Marvin Paige, the “GH casting director. “I attribute a lot of my success to luck, he says. “But while a lot of people sit around waiting for that phone to ring, I was always out meeting more and more important people.Bernhardt was first cast as fill-in for Jack Wagner, who had temporarily walked off his job as Frisco Jones in a salary dispute. Executive Producer Gloria Monty liked Bernhardt so much that she soon created the role of Kevin O’Connor just for him.“This show is very particular,’’ he says. “They don’t even bring back their extras more than once. I don’t think this kind of double casting has ever been done on soaps. Although he says “the exposure on this show is awesome, ’ Bernhardt says, “what I enjoy the most is the acting.Kevin Bernhardtdoing the scenes. Gloria Monty is so talented that she could make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich commercial dramatic.In his off hours he pursues his business interests (as well as dating Apollonia Ko-tero, a romance he refuses to discuss publicly). “I dabble in real estate and I play around in mutual funds, he says. “I watch the stock market, too, but it’s foolhardy to play with stocks if you’re not doing it fulltime.In the future Bernhardt would like to combine his interests in acting and business“What I really want to do is produce a movie and star in it. too. he says.
Newspaper Details
Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US
Sat, Jun 07, 1986
Page 81
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
MI, USA 22 Jan 2019
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