Lynda Hirsch on Soaps

Q: I heard that the actors who played Oliver and Kyle on "One Life to Live" were fired without notice. I was stunned. Is this legal? — Roberta, Memphis, Tenn.

A: As they say, it's a free country. Anyone can be hired and fired on the spot. Brent Claywell (Kyle) was at the studio getting his pre-nomination Daytime Emmy reel when he was told his character's story, and thus his job, was over.

Any actor will tell you the only control an actor has is no control. Years ago, Nick Benedict was playing Michael Scott on "Young and Restless." He was called into the producer's office. He was told there was good news and bad news. The good news: "You have been nominated for an Emmy. More good news: Those sacks of mail on the floor are for you. The bad news: We are letting you go." One of the reasons was that Benedict's character was the good guy in a triangle involving Victor Newman and his then-wife, Julia. Victor had locked Michael in a cage and literally fed him like a dog. Really, Victor would place a bowl of Alpo on the floor and have his prisoner slurp it up. Suddenly, the powers that be decided that they wanted Victor to stay around — which he has for more than 25 years. To make that possible, it was decided that Michael, the one-time romantic hero, had to go.

Tom Selleck played a book publisher on "Y&R" at the start of his acting career. He went to the studio on a day he was slated to appear. The studio guard looked at his actors-on-call list. Selleck's name was not on it. A producer came downstairs, looked at Selleck and said, "Oh, we forgot to call you.

We are no longer using the character." The reason? Selleck was deemed not sexy enough. This is in a class with the studio that fired Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds on the same day: Eastwood because his Adam's apple was too large, Reynolds because he couldn't act. Reynolds looked at Eastwood and essentially said "I can take acting lessons. What are you going to do about that Adam's apple?"

By the way, Selleck is heading back to CBS to star as a New York City police chief in a new show produced by the same team as "The Sopranos." It will co-star Donnie Wahlberg.

Jerry Seinfeld tells the story of being fired from the show "Benson" on which he played a speechwriter for the governor. It was the first day of his second season with the show. Everyone was seated at the run-through table. There were 12 people and 11 scripts. A producer looked at Seinfeld and asked if he had talked to his agent. Seinfeld, who was at William Morris — an agency once fabled to forget about their lesser-tier clients — at the time, hadn't heard from his reps that he was unneeded. Yes, Seinfeld was once a low-tier star.

Being let go without notice is cruel enough. How about not knowing you are getting axed and having actors being considered to replace you on the set? It happened on "Ryan's Hope." Producers insisted that Michael Hawkins' role as Frank Ryan was safe. All the while, they were testing his about-to-be replacement on the set. Ah, show business.

In the age of the Internet, "he is being fired" rumors are all over the place. In the age of Twitter, rumored-to-be-fired stars tweet to fans not to worry their job is safe. Of course, the actor really is the last to know if his job is safe.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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