From Dominic To Bag Lady To Italian Countess, Santa Barbara's Sophia Is One of Daytime's Classiest Character Actresses
(Sophia Capwell)


Bright, intelligent, vivacious, with a shock of blonde hair and a throaty laugh, Judith McConnell is definitely in her element playing the multi-dimensional role of Sophia Capwell. Although attractive enough to
survive as a leading lady/heroine, McConnell has always preferred -and sometimes insisted - on taking chances as an actress. When she first hit the Santa Barbara scene, McConnell played a mysterious man called Dominic-wearing a heavy beard and moustache for months. Then, before anyone got the chance to see just how beautiful a woman she really is, McConnell's character disguised herself as a bag lady, an Italian contessa and a stuffy  journalist- all in an effort to  reacquaint herself with the children she hadn't seen in years. Though the disguises are gone, Sophia isn't any less interesting. Viewers hove witnessed Sophia's pain when her children had problems accepting her back into their lives, her torment over discovering she had breast cancer,and now, they are seeing an adult romance with CC Capwell, played by soap veteran, Jed Allan. Says Allan of his co-star: "I've been in soap operas for fifteen years and in all that time, she's got to be one of the finest actresses I've ever worked with. When they hired me for C.C. Capwell, they wanted a loudmouth who could also have a sensitive underside as well. It's a tribute to Judith  that she matches me on both fronts."Here, in her own words, are McConnell's impressions about acting, politics and what she wants out of life.
 

JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM, JUST THE FACTS

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. Graduated from Bethel High School. Attended Carnegie Institute of Technology (now called Carnegie-Mellon) which, at that time, was considered the best and most exclusive drama school in the country.
 

THE BIG BREAK

I did a pilot and it sold. The only problem was, they sold it and then got rid of my character.

 DID YOU PLAY A PARTICULAR TYPE OF CHARACTER?

Oh sure. airline stewardesses. Nice girls. "Daughter of' types. Although, actually, one time on Dragnet, Jack Webb had me play a nice college girl who was selling magazines door to door, illicitly. So, at the end of the show, I had my face on a mug shot. She wasn't what you'd call a heavy-duty criminal, but the important things was that Jack trusted me enough as an actress to let me do something more than the " Can I help you?" routine.

                                                      WHAT SHE FINDS SO ATTRACTIVE ABOUT DAYTIME

The fact that a soap opera is basically a modern-dday repertory company, the friendships and relationships that are formed are,literally, unbreakable. Nothing else goes as long or intensively as a daytime show.Some of my still-best-friends-after-all-these-years are Marie Masters(ex-Susan Stewart,As The World Turn), Barbara Rucker (ex-Sandy McGuire, Atwt and ex-Ginny Marshall, Texas),Rick Porter (ex-Larry Ewing, Another World),Debby Hobart (ex-Amy Halloway, AW) and my new best friend, Louise Sorel (ex-Augusta Lockridge,
Santa Barbara, who is now on One Life To Live).
 

 WHICH BRINGS US TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT BROUGHT YOU TO SANTA BARBARA

I came to the show with about forty-eight hours notice. Another actress had been playing Sophia. I haven't a clue (as to why she was let go). It's not like I didn' ask-but I did. But for whatever reason, in this case, mum was definitely the word.
                                                           

                 WHY CANT A WOMAN BE MORE LIKE A MAN?

The first character of Sophia's, however, was Dominic. I've played o lot of things in my life, but Dominic was a stretch. I was a very short, funny-looking guy and I'm not sure that I was all that convincing- but it wasn't from lack of trying. I knew I'd have to wear a beard and I had asumed that, since the days of high school plays, they had invented something far more sophisticated than spirit gum. Wrong. Awful for my skin. A very strong adhesive to put on and an even stronger solvent to take it off. Let's face it, we're basically talking nail polish remover on the face here, and I have light down on my skin, so the adhesive was like a vise.

HER PROUDEST MOMENT

Not moment ,really, but story line. Sophia discovered that she was suffering from breast cancer. I really did my research on this because breast cancer is the biggest killer of women in this country; it strikes 1 out of 11 women. So, with the writers, I took Sophia through discovering the lump, discussing it with friends and finally getting the courage to go to a doctor and have the necessary surgery. Sophia was lucky. The operation was a minor one.And with early detection and action, many cases of breast cancer can be similarly treated. I got an enourmous amount of mail, which was very important to me. With something like this, you think, if just one person is saved, you've done your job. I did my job.

 THE TRUTH ABOUT C.C. CAPWELL

There have been five C.C. Capwell.I have played with two of them -Charlie Bateman, who is the nicest sweetest man, and Jed Allan. Jed and I get along great. We yell at each other and we laugh.The other day we were running lines in my dressing room and I was brushing my teeth while we were doing the scene. Suddenly, Jed stopped, put down the script and said, " I feel like we're married!" C.C. has warmed up considerably and that's important. Poor Sophia has made enough mistakes in her life. Sophia is the first character thay I have played on daytime who is a genuinrly nice woman. I mean, she's had affairs and she did kill her son, but aside from that,she's a very nice lady. Most of my character have caused trouble, whereas Sophia is troubled.

                                                             PLAYING AUGUSTA ON GENERAL HOSPITAL

Augusta was a nasty little nurse. Very short, tight nurse's uniform. She spent every waking moment trying to break up the marriage of the show's hero and heroine. Augusta had a high-drama ending. See, she h reformed but she was pregnant with the hero's baby and this other guy was going to tell all, so Augusta killed him and went to prison. Also, I worked with James Sikking(ex-James Hobart) on that show and I learned a lot from him. An excellent actor.

                                              MIRANDA BISHOP ON ANOTHER WORLD

A rich bitch with a great wardrobe. Lots of furs and feathers and jewels-loved it! Of course, I couldn't keep any of it.She's another one that came into town to cause trouble. She was vain and selfish but she was also very funny because they wrote her with a great deal of flamboyant humor and that made her a pleasure to play.

 I CAN'T REMEMBER THE CHARACTER'S NAME ON ONE LIFE TO LIVE

I wasn't on the show long. I played a South American revolutionary with blonde hair and blue eyes. Which is probably why I wasn't on the show long (Editor's note- The character's name was Eva Vasquez!)

                                       THE INSIDE SCOOP ON HER MANY DEEP, DARK RELATIONSHIPS

There are so many deep, dark relationships and love affairs in my life that one can hardly begin to talk about them. So I won't.

                                                                                  OH, COME ON!

All right. Just one. The best. (A LONG PAUSE) The best relationship I ever had waas with a man that I made love with sixty feet under the ocean. (NO PAUSE) I can't believe I said that.

WHY SHE'LL BE VISITING FLORIDA SOON

My parents just moved there.

WHY IT'LL BE A SHORT TRIP

My cat is tired of moving around. Her name is Daisy. Esoteric, isn't it?

WHAT SHE WANTS OUT OF LIFE

A husband and children. But not just because my biological clock is ticking. And if that worry, or concern is what makes your decision, then it's a bad decision. The norm in this country now is divorce. I'm not interested in divorce. I'm interested in making it work. And I can afford to wait. I have as much energy now as I did when I was in my twenties.

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