ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606250007
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HARRIET WINSLOW THE WASHINGTON POST
In a dimly lit cubbyhole of a Washington, D.C., hotel, Robert Urich and his wife, actress Heather Menzies, each took out reading glasses to peruse the menu.
She complained that he grew up eating lots of Czechoslovakian food, much of which is not good for him, and at 49 was still learning to navigate a healthy diet.
``You can say my wife just ordered for me,'' he joked. ``Seared tuna over a bed of lettuce.''
In a tan suit and black T-shirt, Urich looked relaxed for a jet-setting actor and father of two. Menzies, with blond hair and a perky voice, sipped hot tea as Urich launched into a discussion of his latest project, yet another television series, as well as their children.
Where Urich's swoop of dark hair and lined, round face mark him unmistakably as the actor best known for playing ``Spenser: For Hire'' in 1985-88, he has had many other TV roles, including 13 series, from ``S.W.A.T.'' (1975-76) to ``Vega$'' ('78-81), from the ``Lonesome Dove'' miniseries in 1989 to ``It Had to Be You'' in 1993.
But he is tired of telling the whole story, he said, and is remarkably optimistic about his new job - ``The Lazarus Man'' - which has been guaranteed a second, 22-episode season.
This latest Urich incarnation is a Reconstruction-era drama about an amnesiac searching for his identity and for the men who buried him alive.
``I was just thinking of how interesting it is to be here after filming all year,'' he said. ``The whole premise of `The Lazarus Man' is about this cabal, the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln, and all the bad guys in Washington.''
``Lazarus'' is a syndicated series that runs at various times on broadcast stations (Sundays at 10 a.m. on WSLS-Channel 10) and on TNT cable (Saturdays at noon). It is co-produced by the Ogiens/Kane Company with Castle Rock Entertainment and Turner Program Services, Inc., which also distributes it. ``Lazarus Man'' is one of the first series to run fresh episodes on both broadcast and cable.
In the western story, Urich is called Lazarus, after the man Jesus raised from the dead, by a boy who found him pawing up from the grave in which he was buried, seriously wounded. The year is 1865.
Trying to piece together what happened before then, Lazarus remembers he was once a guard to President Lincoln but failed to stop the fatal shooting at Ford's Theater. Lazarus wanders the country, seeking a place to belong and a dark-haired woman who may be waiting for him.
You might figure the TV-series game is old hat for Urich, but he is enthusiastic.
``We have several things going for it: It's gritty and dusty and dirty. And yet it has this historical bent with Lincoln and the assassination. Then it has this Forrest Gump element as I run into historical characters, like Ulysses S. Grant.''
One day, Urich said, he will write a book about his career. But quit television? Nope.
``There were times when I thought I'd had enough, but I'm having so much fun right now, doing this western. I believe the stars have lined up for me. And I'm also set to direct the first episode of the new season. I've always wanted to direct,'' he said.
``There's an old Zen saying that goes, the only true joy in life is to begin. And I really believe that too.''
His philosophical outlook encourages him to laugh at himself, as when he recently checked out the movie ads in a newspaper.
``What's it tell you about yourself when you look at all the big, full-page ads, for the ones that are going to break next week, when the one you want to be in is `Flipper'? What's wrong with this guy?''
Actually, ``Flipper'' fits. Urich seems less of an action hero than a family man, especially when he talks about his son, Ryan, and daughter, Emily, both in New England boarding schools.
Although the family is based in Park City, Utah, the kids insisted on going away to school, Urich said, because they remembered New England from their father's ``Spenser'' years.
They had lived next door to Phillips Andover Academy, where Ryan, 17, is now. Emily, 15, goes to school in New Hampshire, because she thought Andover was ``too big,'' said Urich, who was embarrassed to call the headmistress with the news that she had spurned the school.
Ryan is interested in acting, Urich said, and helped make an episode of ``National Geographic Explorer,'' which Urich hosted for three years, but college comes first.
Urich went to Florida State University, then got a master's degree in broadcast management and research at Michigan State.
Where the family really comes together is at their modest cottage in Canada on an offshoot of Lake Ontario. They bought it years ago, and the kids have friends they have grown up with there, he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Robert Urich stars in "The Lazarus Man" Sundays at 10by CNBa.m. on WSLS-Channel 10 and Saturdays at noon on TNT. color. KEYWORDS: 2DA