California by Cynthia Stowell Swen years ago as PSU theater a m students. they rehearsed lines together for summer stock at Cannon Beach. Thts fall. as profess~onals. they had dlnner together In Los Angeles and toasted each other's debuts into the eluslve world of show buslness. Pamela Roylance (MA '76) now wears prairle garb for her first season on "Ltnle House: A New Beginning." and Terence Knox ifoimerly Terry Dav~s),who studied acttng for three years at PSU. sports a whlte mat and stelhosmpe for the new series "St. Elsewhere.' Behind the scenes. Douglas Soesbe (MA '76) is sollcltlng and revlewlng scripts as head of story edfllng at Un~versal Studlos. The road between PSU and Southern Calrfomia n a r d m wasn't smooth for any of the former theater arts students. Roylanced ~ d secretarial work at a chocolate factory, ate a few loo many confections. and was almost skipped over by producer Mtchael Landon. who cons~deredher a blt overwelghl A grueling week of exercise and crash dletlng won her the part While Knox walled for the scouts to notlce h~mh, e got a close look at the "fermented side" of Hollywoodas the manager of an adult book store and nlght clerk In a hotel whtch, he recalls. rented m m s by the hour. Soesbe 'hung around a lot at the personnel office' at Un~versal Studlos and got hls foot In the door working wllh the woman who lhrows publ~c~ptyarties for the stars It wasn I that they were ill.prepared The young actor. actress and playwnghl have noming but glow~ngremarks to make about melr assoclattonwlth PSU theater arts professorJack Featherlngllland other faculty. and they particularly value lhetr expenence at Cannon Beach In the summer of '75 ' It was a h~ghl~gIhnt my I~fe."sald Roylance In a telephone tntewlew It was a good group lhat went through at that ttme and we learned a lot from each other ' Recalls Knox. "Feathenng~ll took me under hls wlng He took a 101of ttme and chances wlth me. so when I came down here I was ready." PSU's glh to Soesbe, whose MA is in playwriting.was a 'remendous sense of the professional aspects of the theater buslness " Nor had Ponland been unkind to them aner thetr schooling. Soesbe had had m e of hls plays performed and he d started a coffeehouse theater with a fnend. Roylance had Dreaming becomes a Three separate dreams merged for a time at PSU. Then Hollywood finally beckoned and the dreams are coming true. (Clockwise from top lee) Pamela Roylance.Terence Knox, and Douglas Soesbe. done commercials and tnduslrial films locally and performedwth the Mark Allen Playersat the Benson Hotel dlnner theater. But sooner or later they had lo lay It all on the llne and glve in to the inesistlble pull of Hollywocd,where the dreams of many asplrlng actors end In the chocolate lactortesand fleabag hotels where lhey slaned. But the threesome beat the odds. and wrthln two years lhey had all gonen thelr 'breaks " "I felt really lucky." said Roylance, who len a lob teachlng remed~al math and readlng at Rex Putnarn High School to pursue her dream. "A lot of people are here five lo ten years before they ffnd anyihlng " Roylanceplays the pan of Sarah Caner on Llnle House." which is Startlng 11sflrst season without its popuiar or~g~ncaalst. "Sarah." whose roie IS small In the flrst several episodes but IS featured later on, is a newspapewoman En Walnut Grove. marrled to the blacksmith and mother of two bays According to Roylance. Sarah ts a blend of the traditional and modem woman. a character with whom the acress ldentifles ''You look so wholesome." Roylancewas told somewhat critlcatly at an audltion That Oregon wholesomeness 1s now paying off for her. Knox. hm. bringssome of htmself to h ~ sdramanzatlonof the character reality move .. of Dr. Peter White, a resident In a Boston hospital ntcknamed"St. Elsewhere." As Knox described his role. "l'm the guy on the show who has all the problems. who s always broke. doesn't get along wtth hts wtfe, gives the wrong diagnoses. I empath~ze with hlm. Hes overextended-and I can'l remember when Iwasn't " Knox Is pleased that what started as a small role has been expanded by the wnters Into a malor character. panly, Knox teeis. because of what he's done wtth the pan. Soesbe is carving out a different career for himself in the motlon picture Industry "I came here with the IntentIan to k t e , and I can'l imagtne a bener place to learn about wnllng. I m geltlng a wonderful sense of what's good and bad Whlle he waited for hts break, Soesbe finished wrttlng a novel lhat is now wlth an agent In New York. He hopes soon to be wrltlng hts own scrlpts 101 Ilving, rather than sinlng throug others' work. Both Roylanceand Knox hoy their series wltl survlve a few seasons 'Then I would i~keto Into feature films." satd Roylance. who dld one non-unlon horror film when she arrived In LA. The young actress admlres the work of Meryl Streep. Mary Tyler Moore and Dane Keaton. because they re mature, not flash-ln-lhepan lls thelr good theatrtcal backgroundthat glves them longev~ly ' Royfance adm~ned that she st~lhl as to get used to belng In front of a camera. Comparing teievls~onwith the stage. Royfance noted. 'I have lo learn that less is more." She continues to take classes in fllm acting, as does Knox, who "love(s) working In front of the camera." Knox's agent is keep~ng him busy. he reported, and he has a part on a "Private Benjam~nep~sode waltrng for htm when 'St. Elsewhere" ftlmlng is completed. They all had childhood dreams the Portlandglrl who tmaglned herself an actress whlle anending Frankl~nHigh School. the asplrlng Portland-bredwrlter who chose PSU as an undergraduateand stayed on for hts masters, and the TrwC,t~esk ~ d who 'never had the nerve unlll he walked In off the street" and Into Summer stock. They all wound up at Poniand State at the same Itme. colf rmea each other s dreams and no* nave !re sal s$ac!<on0' snawq tn eacl0th~~ s new'o.vo sdcce\s
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