By Ray Bennett
Emma Samms, who turns 65 today, was one of the hottest young actresses on American television in 1985 when she segued from playing Holly Sutton on the daytime soap opera ‘General Hospital’ to replacing Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon Carrington on the prime-time soap ‘Dynasty’.
I spent several days with her for a story in People Magazine. Self-confident with a bright personality, coming from a filmmaking family in England, she was unfazed by the attention and the fact that, with her good looks, directors couldn’t wait to get her undressed for onscreen love scenes.
On her first day on ‘Dynasty’, she told me, she had a passionate love scene with John James as Jeff Colby. James (pictured with the actress left) told me he found it strange as he had not met her before. Samms took it in stride.
‘I’ve done that in most projects,’ she said. ‘On “Ellis Island”, my first scene was a bed scene with Peter Riegert. On “General Hospital”, my first scene was a nude scene. I was swimming naked and then I was in a sleeping bag with Tony Geary. On “Hotel”, my first scene with Jon-Erik Hexum was at 7.30 in the morning: “How do you do? Let’s get on with it.” Big passionate kiss. It always seems to work out that way and it does break the ice very nicely.’
Samms was unaffected not least because she came from a famous showbusiness family in England. Her grandfather, G.B. Samuelson, established Southall Studios, one of the earliest film companies in the silent era in the U.K.; her uncle was director and cinematographer Sydney Samuelson, who became the first British Film Commissioner; and her father, Michael Samuelson ran a movie equipment rental firm.
I spent a few days with her at lunch, in her pretty apartment in Westwood and on the set of the ‘Dynasty’ spinoff series at 20th Century-Fox studios. There, I spoke briefly with legendary film star Barbara Stanwyck and arranged an interview with the show’s other top star, Charlton Heston. ‘The Colbys’ lasted for just two seasons and Samms went back to ‘Dynasty’ for two more seasons. She returned to ‘General Hospital’ more than once and appeared in a ‘Dynasty’ reunion show and ‘Doctors’ among other credits.