Loyalty, per Funk and Wagnall's, is "constant, faithful in relations implying trust, confidence." ANOTHER WORLD can define it as Douglass Watson. Having seen blinding success and lean times in the last fifteen years, ANOTHER WORLD has held Doug's loyalty as he's played Mac Cory, the patriarch of the Corys . . . the show's backbone family.
Originally a Shakespearean actor, Doug Watson has been in numerous stage productions, acted opposite Marlon Brando, has a multitude of credits many actors only imagine attaining. Yet now, going on the last two decades, he's held steady in daytime television, ultimately a legacy for which he will be most remembered.
There's no "greater than though" attitude here. Entering his dressing room, Doug over-apologizes for not straightening up. He then thanks the reporter for being there, for the show's benefit as well as his own.
Again, his loyalty is as evident as his graciousness. As he discusses Mac and their "relationship," honest affection shines through. "Mac's a person I'd like to be, I'm not as good. I think I love and admire him more than I love or admire myself," he laughs.
Does he like playing such a stellar person, a man whith few faults? "I came on as a fringe character, but it didn't work so they changed it, put me opposite Rachel and made her good."
"The writer had Mac doing things not easy for an audience to accept or me to want them to," he admits, lighting a cigarette. "As Mac is now, I like it. I don't have to do things I don't feel he'd do. Frankly," he smiles, ""I like it when they don't show faults or, if so, they're well-motivated, not something to turn an audience off. It's hard when your job is to hold viewer sympathy. Now it may be bland, but I like it. He's easily hood-winked, by women especially," Doug laughs and his sparkling blue eyes dance even more, "but that's a fault I have, so I'll go along."
Given Mac Cory's innate goodness and the nearly insurmountable problems he's seen, does Doug feel there's much variety left for the character? "No. I hope his appeal is enough to keep viewers wanting to see him. I've suggested plots, say he drank because he was driven to drink." He shrugs, lights another cigarette. "This question's been in my mind, perhaps it'd be better if there were more. But if you're not used much, it doesn't hurt that sameness of character."
One of Doug's fantasies is to be a successful businessman. Does he see Mac as a realistic recreation? "I don't know the business world, having been an actor all my life. Mac's like Malcolm Forbes -- far out, not a classic CEO. I hope it's believable that he's running a big business."
At 67, married nearly 40 years, Doug Watson is a model of how doing what he loves, being true to himself and those around him, makes for an animated life. He has the physique of a 45 year old, hair to drive a beautician wild, and the kind of blue eyes given out only in Paul Newman's -- and Doug Watson's -- day. He's into philosophical, spiritual writings, southern novelists such as William Faulkner, "Terms of Endearment" and "Gone With The Wind," as well as foreign films.
Doug's elan calls to mind the beautifully realistic chemistry between him and Victoria Wyndham (Rachel). Are there just good actors, or is all that blissful understanding real? "Entirely. It's something an actor cannot make happen. In reality, that bleeds into the story's fictional aspects." He warms to this notion, becoming adamant, determined. "It's very basic, subtle and can't be acted. It happens or it doesn't. If so, it's great. We respect and like each other. As a result there's something unspoken on-screen that the audience sees, feels, knows, believes in and they're right."
Having seen it through so many years, what does Doug foresee in ANOTHER WORLD's future? "Script direction is to return to interpersonal relations, instead of all sex or young people -- not that they aren't necessary, they are -- yet, what's between people, the essential core to make people tune in, is to see certain people and what they're doing. What's between them, love, anger, hate, whatever and how believable it is. That's what holds viewers."
Characterizations and emotions are points in favor of soap popularity. The whys of ANOTHER WORLD's longevity? "I'm not sure of the response now to Mac or Rachel. I hope it's still positive," he says modestly, then adds, "I kept expecting to be phased out."
Doug's loyalty to the show is resolute. "I wouldn't do another soap. An acting career is extremely difficult and only soaps work 52 weeks a year, not something lightly scorned. I like it, being here, the people. I meant to retire but," he shrugs and lights yet another cigarette. "I've always been a workaholic."
Whether it's a need to work or, as he pus it, for structure at his "time of life," Doug's loyalty is good fortune for ANOTHER WORLD's viewers.