When pursuing roles, future (and sometimes former) soap stars still have to make ends meet. But even when their career soars, it’s not uncommon for them to be suddenly seized by the entrepreneurial spirit.
Which Soap Star Was It?
All of these actors are either an alum of a long-ago classic – like All My Children – or they are currently portraying a character on one of the four remaining soaps – The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and The Young and the Restless. But only one of them owned a business that built, staffed, and operated bars.
But who can that actor be? Was it Billy Miller (ex-Richie, All My Children), Martha Madison (Belle Black, DAYS), Wally Kurth (Ned Aston, GH), or Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott, YR)?
Martha Madison
Alongside her husband, A.J. Gilbert, Madison has owned two upscale eateries – Luna Park, San Francisco and Luna Park, Hollywood (which morphed into Pata Salada), and a gastro sports pub called Henry’s Hat (named in honor of the couple’s Weimaraner). They are also working on opening The Mayor’s House in Dallas and hosting a podcast “While We Were Waiting” in the meantime. However, they did not operate a company that built and ran bars from the ground up.
Wally Kurth
Though GH’s Ned Quartermaine doesn’t seem the type to get his hands dirty with manual labor, Kurth’s DAYS character, legal eagle Justin Kiriakis, once worked on a construction site. As for Kurth himself, the actor spent many years taking any job he could find – including meatpacker and telemarketer – while waiting for his big break. But he didn’t start up a company that crafted fine drinking establishments.
Peter Bergman
Bergman initially had no desire to become an actor. He wasn’t bitten by the acting bug until he was in college and in order to pay for his tuition to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, Bergman worked in construction. However, he didn’t eventually return to the building business and begin erecting present-day saloons.
Billy Miller
One of Miller’s many pre-daytime gigs was bartending. A craft he clearly excelled at since he was 17, considering he eventually launched 4M – a company that built and ran bars in South Bay, California.
So, if you guessed that the soap star in question was Billy Miller, then you were absolutely correct.
