Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410150010
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
The actress says it isn't.
``We were almost at the end of filming in Vancouver when the whole [Simpson] thing happened,'' she recalls. ``The producer came in and started talking about, `He's on the freeway now, he's in his car on the 405.' I had been so busy working that I knew nothing about the case. They started telling me the story. It was surreal to me.''
``Beyond Betrayal,'' scheduled for broadcast Tuesday (at 9 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7), tells of a small-town woman who flees to Seattle to escape beatings by her policeman husband (Richard Dean Anderson). He tracks her down and a murder occurs. Her newfound lover (Dennis Boutsikaris) is accused. Does she defend him and thus reveal herself to her husband?
``The difference between our movie and the Simpson case is that Nicole Simpson is dead,'' Dey cited. ``The similarity is that I assume she experienced a lot of isolation with the issue of domestic abuse because of the prominence of her husband.
``That was the same with the character I was portraying. Coming from a small town where cops are heroes, nobody believed her. Because here she was married to this outstanding citizen. He was a good cop, and he was hiding behind the shield of that badge.''
Dey's research for the role included a talk with a woman who had fled with her son from an abusive husband who was a policeman.
``She said something to me that I will never forget,'' the actress remarked. ``She told me about her existence and said that every time she feels comfortable, that's time to move on.''
Dey has appeared in many TV movies, including ``Whose Child Is This?'' as an adoptive mother fighting for her child; ``Lies and Lullabies,'' about pregnant women who are substance abusers; and ``Bed of Lies,'' a real-life story about a Texas woman who kills her prominent, abusive husband.
``Beyond Betrayal'' presented the biggest challenge. ``It was tough living in this victimized body. Because it isn't who I am. I'd be the first one to start hitting back.''
Susan Dey is a child of television, her four series dating back to the teen-age beginnings of her career. Raised in Mount Kisco, N.Y., she began modeling and studying drama in New York at 15. At 16 she became a member of ``The Partridge Family,'' the well-remembered TV series that lasted four years in the early '70s.
She has appeared in features such as ``Echo Park'' and ``Skyjacked.'' But most of her work has been for television. Her second series was the one-season ``Emerald Point, N.A.S.'' which starred Dennis Weaver in 1984. Then came ``L.A. Law.''
Dey lasted six years as Grace Van Owen, then left in the cast exodus that included Harry Hamlin and Jimmy Smits.
``I can't really say it was burnout,'' she recalled, ``because I think [the producers] became burned out before we did. And why not? The alterations in the characters I didn't always agree with.''
``When they made Grace a judge, I was kicking and screaming: `Don't do this to me!' I finally told them, `I want out. Grace Van Owen as a judge is reactionary; all I do is react. I'm unhappy, and I want out.' ''
The parting was amicable. Not so on her next series, ``Love & War.'' Even though she lasted only one season, she said grimly, ``I got out too late.'' Her differences with the show's creator, Diane English, were considerable.
``One of the things about this job, which I love so much,'' she said, ``is that it is a collaboration. Diane doesn't collaborate. One of the pleasures about starting a movie or a series is finding the character. That's not the way she worked with me.''
by CNB