People's Choice, Mr. Willey co-hosted Live! with Regis and Kelly alongside his former All My Children co-star Kelly Ripa, and the 20th Anniversary Daytime Emmy Awards with Susan Lucci.
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Walt Willey @ Dayton Funny Bone Comedy Club
Best known for his role on All My Children as ‘Jackson Montgomery,’ a role he played for almost 25 years, Walt Willey is now charming audiences on the “Wild & Willey” Comedy Tour. He’ll be at the Dayton Funny Bone on Tuesday, January 21 for one show only.
Willey began on All My Children in 1987 and after just a few short years his character, ‘Jackson’ had become pretty popular. With a built-in audience from the show, Willey decided to use that following to his advantage and explore his desire to be a comedian. On Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee he announced that he was doing stand-up, and without any previous experience Willey was being booked as a headliner.
While his first show bombed, Willey rewrote the act and appeared on stage for a “Catch a Rising Star” benefit event, where Christopher Walken was seated right in front. “I’ve been a Walken fan forever, so seeing him feet away from me was incredibly nerve wracking. But I looked down and he was laughing his head off! I mean, if I can make Christopher Walken laugh…” said Willey.
Whether taking to the stage for stand-up or for his one-man show Wild Bill! An Evening with James Butler Hicock his approach is the same. He creates a theme, narrative, and characters. No matter the genre, Willey says his ultimate goal is to give the best possible performance, “Whether its dramatic or comedic acting, with an ensemble or alone, in front of a camera or live, I see it all as entertainment and myself as an entertainer and try to bring my very best game every time.”
As ‘Jackson,’ Willey was involved in many storylines which he was proud to be a part of, such as; adoption across the “color barrier,” autism, drug addiction and gay rights. “He was a ‘white knight’ and embodied values-that is seems to me- are becoming more and more rare these days. I am proud to have played him,” said Willey.
For most of his time on All My Children, Willey was paired with the legendary Susan Lucci as ‘Erica.’ Their passion lit up the screen, but even the most intimate of moments was actually all business, according to Willey, “Often love scenes are very technical, shot in a cold studio with many, many folks watching. Does that sound ideal to you? Susan and I had - I’ve been told over and over - incredible chemistry. I loved working with her; we laughed, we got the job done, we went home. Not bad work if you can get it.”
Willey can still be found acting in Thurston, a Western web series. For his role as ’Edmund Snead,’ he was nominated for Best Male Performance in a Drama by the International Academy of Web Television. He’s also part of another web series, Tainted Dreams, which features several former soap opera actors including; Kelley Hensley, Nathan Purdee and Grant Alexsander.
Though Willey includes some stories from All My Children in his act, he prides himself on not relying on notoriety alone to entertain the audience. “I always wanted the stand-up to be able to -well- stand up by itself. There are themes running through, themes that I think are universal: topics like kids, pets, love, getting older, the difference between men and women-life,” said Willey.
Proceeds from merchandise will go to the Willey World Endowment Fund, which benefits Autism and Asperger’s organizations. Willey has been active in those organizations since his son, Chance, was diagnosed with Asperger’s in 1999.
Walt Willey will be at the Dayton Funny Bone on Tuesday, January 21 at 7:30 p.m.
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Dayton Funny Bone Comedy Club
