Erika’s family
Erika and Brian
Davies Family through the years
Apple Blossom
May, 1999
The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival celebrates the advent of spring in the Shenandoah Valley as evidence by the blooming of the apple trees. The apple industry is one of the oldest and most important natural resources in the Winchester-Frederick County area.
The Festival is a civic celebration organized and operated by more than 2,500 people and a staff of five. All officers, directors, and event directors are volunteers. The Festival is funded by a membership drive, ticket sales to many events, advertising, souvenir sales, and the sale of the Souvenir Program. Additionally, sponsorships are provided by local, regional, and national businesses.
The Festival is held in Winchester/Frederick County Virginia, in the beautiful and historic Northern Shenandoah Valley, just 75 miles west of Washington, D.C. A small city with a rural atmosphere, Winchester is within easy driving time from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA, Baltimore, MD and Richmond, VA. Crowds in excess of 300,000 attend the Festival each year.
The Winchester Star, Saturday, May 1, 1999
One Actress, Many Lives to Live
Slezak’s Family Finding Amanda’s Time
as Festival Queen Feels Like a Fairy TaleNeither she nor any of her character’s split personalities have ever been to Winchester before but they’re all enjoying their stay.
“One Life to Live’s Victoria Lord Carpenter, who occasionally goes by her lesser-known real name, Erika Slezak, said she’s proud of her real-life daughter, Amanda’s coronation as Queen Shenandoah LXXII.
“We’ve all been so excited about it from the time she was asked,” Slezak said in a telephone interview Monday. “It’s been the major topic of conversation ever since. We’ve talked about it more than we’ve talked about college.”
“It’s thrilling,” actor Brian Davies, Slezak’s husband and Amanda’s father, said Friday. “It’s like catching a thunderbolt or jumping over the rainbow. It’s like a fairy tale.”
Slezak said she, Davies, and Amanda looked over the script for Friday’s coronation well in advance. They marveled over the pomp and circumstance, looked forward to the event for weeks, and loved every minute of it on stage.
In person, Slezak is every bit as warm and vibrant as the character she plays for ABC-TV. But that’s about as far as the comparison goes. Slezak’s and Victoria’s lives are quite different. Slezak has been married for more than 20 years and she doesn’t have any alternate personalities.
By comparison, Victoria’s full names, with previous marriages/divorces/remarriages, is Victoria Lord Riley Burke Riley Buchanan Buchanan Carpenter.
In the 28 years the character has been on the show, Viki has had a total of six different split personalities, suffered from amnesia and had a brain aneurysm, been in a coma, had a stroke, has seen her son kidnaped, been on trial for murder, spent time in jail, been elected mayor, donated a kidney to save her daughter’s life, visited heaven through an out-of-body experience while her aneurysm was being operated on, been trapped in the secret underground city of Eterna, and traveled back in time to the Old West.
And it’s the diversity and the fun of those plots that keep “One Life to Live’s roughly 3,465,000 viewers watching. It’s also what keeps Slezak interested in the character. “I get to play every day. It’s like a big grown-up sandbox.”
Slezak had some of her favorite sandbox moments with the Old West plot line, which aired in 1988.
As the “One Life to Live” website summarizes Viki’s life in 1988, “In Arizona, Clint (Buchanan) was thrown off his horse. After a long search, he was presumed dead and Viki and her children mourned his loss. However, he wasn’t dead-he had been transported back in time to the old west, circa 1888. Viki traveled back, too, interrupted Clint’s wedding to her look-alike ancestor, Ginny, then returned to the future with her husband. To Viki’s astonishment, she discovered that she had given birth to a baby girl 25 years earlier, and the memory had been erased by a hypnotist.”
Slezak loved the Old West plot line “In my whole life I’ve never had a big costume show. I wear wonderful costumes every day, but I always wanted to do a Scarlet O’Hara ball scene or ride in a stage coach. (Through the Old West Plot line) I got to ride in a stage coach and I just had a great time with it.”
Slezak said it’s difficult acting in a scene where she’s playing against another character she’s also portraying. “There’s another actress standing there wearing a wig and the costume and everything, but there are different methods of acting. So, they’re saying the words and acting the scene, but you have to play it as if you’re the one saying the lines just as you would say them yourself. Then you go back and shoot the other half of the scene as the other character.”
Those are the kinds of scenes that require a lot of natural talent, which Slezak has, and a lot of solid training, which Slezak also has.
She was admitted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London when she was only 17, making her one of the youngest student ever to attend the school.
By 1973, Slezak was starring in an off-Broadway production of Somerset Maugham’s “The Circle” where she met Davies. They married in 1978 and now have two children, Amanda and Michael. Michael 19, attends Georgetown University, and Amanda, 17 will attend Skidmore College in Upstate New York this fall.
Much of Brian Davies’ screen and stage acclaim comes from his roles in musicals.
He starred opposite Julie Wilson in the revival of “Babes in Arms” in 1959. Later that year, he starred as Rolf Gruber in the “Sound of Music.” Davies also starred in London in a musical based on “Gone with the Wind.”
His film work includes “American Gigolo,” “The Age of Innocence,” “Masquerade,” “Convoy,” and “Mickey Blue Eyes,” and his television credits include “The Deerslayer,” “All My Children,” “The American Dream,” “Beacon Hill,” and “One Life to Live.”
Slezak said she hasn’t gotten bored playing the same character throughout most of her career. “It is different, though. It’s not a normal job to play the same role for 28 years. But it’s not like being in the same Broadway show for 28 years. It’s different every day. There are new scenes, new relationships and new plots.”
Slezak said, for her, a typical day of shooting starts at 7:30 A.M. and wraps up around 3-4 P.M. Others work longer hours, but Slezak’s said she’s paid her dues, put in her time, and earned the right to get off early.
Besides being adored by millions of fans, she’s got a few other records to her credit. Slezak set a record for being the only actress to win Five Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress (1984, 1986, 1992, 1995, and 1996).
For the Hollywood-born Slezak, acting runs in the family. Her Father was award-winning actor Walter Slezak, and her Grandfather Leo Slezak, was an opera singer. Slezak’s favorite moment on “One Life to Live” remains the day her father appeared on the show with her.
While Slezak is in Winchester, Viki probably won’t have to disappear from the show to free up Slezak’s time. “Hopefully she’ll just be upstairs in the bedroom with Ben,” Slezak quipped of her character and her current love interest. “Three days in real time is nothing in Landview time. I’ll be gone about three days, but Viki will just be busy for three hours.”
Slezak, Davies and Amanda arrived in Winchester on Wednesday. Michael arrived on Thursday and will return to Georgetown today. Slezak, Davies and Amanda will head back to their Long Island home on Sunday. “I’ve got to get back to work on the show and Amanda has to get to school. She’s written a first draft of a term paper on Mozart, but she has to have some time to finish it up.”
Slezak and Davies will ride with their daughter in the Grand Feature Parade today at 1:30 P.M. Shortly after arriving in Winchester, the family took a private tour of Glen Burnie. They hope to have the opportunity to get out and see more of Winchester before they leave.
Wherever they go, if they’re in public, they’re sure to be recognized.
Slezak admits when she’s seen by an admiring fan she’s usually greeted as “Viki” as opposed to being greeted as “Erika” or “Miss Slezak,” She said while she’s here in Winchester, or anywhere else for that matter, she more than willing to meet fans.
“I’m always happy for anyone to come up to me who wants to talk or who wants to ask for an autograph. When that happens, it means I’m working well and that people are interested.”
On Friday, after the coronation, one lucky fan got her wish. “Oh my God, it’s her! It’s Viki!” squealed Sandy D’Elosua, a University of Florida sophomore. “Take my picture with her! Take my picture with her!” she told a friend. “I don’t even know what her real name is...”
D’Elosua’s sister Jennifer De’Elosua, is going to Shenandoah University. She choreographed parts of the coronation and the entertainment afterward, including Daniel Morgan Middle School’s “Soul Man,” which Co-Grand Marshall Dan Akroyd joined in on.
“I love what they’re doing with your character on the show!” Sandy excitedly told Slezak. “It’s great to see you- I mean - your character-with a new love interest.”
Sandy pressed a few people for information about what’s coming up on the show (they tape three weeks in advance) but to no avail.
Davies couldn’t resist turning the screws a little bit. “Oh, I can tell you what’s going to happen,” he whispered to D’Elosua.
“Really? What? She asked, leaning close.
“Oh, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen on the show,” Davies said with a sly smile.
Sandy will just have to wait and see. But she did get her picture taken with Viki.
