TV Interview!
Interview with Louise Sorel of “Days of Our Lives” on Peacock by Suzanne 7/19/25
It was so great to speak with Louise! She’s such a legend in the theater and in daytime soaps. She worked for many years in primetime TV and movies as well. She’s most known for playing Augusta Lockridge on the daytime soap “Santa Barbara” 1984-1991 and playing Vivian on “Days of Our Lives” since 1992 (off and on). She plays a great villain with a lot of humor and style.
She’s not only an outstanding actress, but she’s quiet beautiful. “Star Trek” had no shortage of beautiful guest stars, but she stood out in the third season episode “Requiem for Methuselah” as Rayna, the woman that Lazarus/Methuselah/Flint created to be his companion. She made the mistake of falling in love with Captain Kirk (like so many women did) and couldn’t choose between them, which destroyed her.
Louise has a book coming out August 6th that is part memoir and part poetry. It sounds like a lot of fun. Pre-order it now!
You can hear the audio of our interview here, and the transcript is below. She was very entertaining as we walked down memory lane.
Suzanne: Well, anyway, so you’ve got a book coming out in August. What made you decide to write it?
Louise: Well, actually what it is, is I’ve been journaling for years. I’ve had a rather odd and interesting life, and so I have all these journals and poems and observations and things, and friends of mine – once in a while I’d. say to a friend, “Oh, can I read you this?” And they say, “Oh, for God’s sakes, why aren’t you putting that somewhere?”
Suzanne: Right.
Louise: So, it just was in my head, and I thought, last September I went, all right, I have no excuses. So, I thought, maybe I could actually do that, because it feels productive, and I like to be productive. So, I found a brilliant editor who offered to – First of all, he was interested in the writing, which made me feel good. Some editors will say, “Are you kidding?” But he liked the work. So, that’s how it happened, and I’m so thrilled with myself, because I can’t even believe – Even now, I can look at the book in my head and say, “Who did that?” I’m so impressed with myself for doing it, because I think a lot of people I know would like to do it, and they often they say, “Well, I’m so impressed that you did that, because I’ve always wanted to, and I just haven’t done it.” So, I encourage people to do that, if they want.
Suzanne: So, the title is, If There Were No Dogs: Musings and Mutterings. What does that mean?
Louise: Well, first of all, I’m a dog advocate. I’ve had nine to ten dogs in my life, and I can’t be without. I don’t understand – I mean, I do understand; a lot of people don’t, but for me, I would be bereft without a dog.
So, the title came from a poem I wrote, which is in the book. And it started out to be, the cover was Musings and Mutterings, and I was showing it to a PR person out in LA, who’s on Days; she’s sort of their person, and she saw the other title that I had, which was If There Were No Dogs, and she said, “I like that title better. I like that.”
I thought about it. So, I reversed it so, that it’s, If There Were No Dogs is the title, and of course the picture. The cover is with a dog. And then the Musings and Mutterings were sort of like a reference to what goes on in the book.
Suzanne: Okay, and how many dogs do you have right now?
Louise: Oh, I only have one. I’m not in a position to – believe me, I would have a hundred if I could and every other animal on the planet.
Suzanne: There’s a lot of work and cost and everything.
Louise: Well, so are children, and so is life and everything else, so why not?
Suzanne: Right, right. I can’t handle more than one myself.
Louise: No, I only have one. At one point I did have two, briefly. I saved a Dobie and a little dog that I had, but I thought that Dobie deserved more than living in Westwood, Los Angeles. So, I found a farm for him that I thought he’d be happier. So, somebody took him, yeah, so he got freedom.
Suzanne: Right, but about two years ago I was walking my dog and another dog that was very skinny, it turned out to be a puppy, but it was a big puppy, came bouncing up next to us, very friendly, and followed us home. So, we kept that dog for about a week, tried to find a home for it, fattened it up because it was starving, took it to the vet and all that. It was a really sweet dog, really sweet dog. And we fortunately found a sanctuary place that not only took it in and trained it to be a service dog for a retired firefighter in Los Angeles.
Louise: Oh, how fabulous.
Suzanne: Yeah, it turned out really well and she is thriving now. So, we get pictures of her once in a while.
Louise: Oh, that’s great. And your dog is wonderful.
Suzanne: Oh, thank you. She’s a sweetie. Everybody loves her.
Louise: What a great looking dog.
Suzanne: Thank you. Yeah, my husband calls her the star of the internet, but she’s not really, but…
Louise: Well, you know, I was going to – I have a thing. I’m thinking of doing. It’s a one-woman show, and it’s called My Life with Dogs and Other Men. [laughs] Which sort of made me laugh when I thought about it. And I visualized the opening of it, which just the opening alone I think would be worth it. I would have a stage, and it would be a cutout of every dog I’ve owned, every shape, size, color, done by an artist. And when people came into the theater, they’d all be barking. Then, I would come out on stage with a little wagon filled with all kinds of paraphernalia and memories and tell them all to be quiet, and one by one they would stop barking. I thought, I think that’s a great opening for a show, and then maybe that’ll be it, and then I’ll say, “Curtain!”
Suzanne: Where do the husbands come into it, though?
Louise: Oh, yeah, well, you know. Well, quite frankly, they’re dead. But it was just a thought. I think it could be a very funny entertainment. But at any rate.
Suzanne: So, yeah, I remember that you’ve done a lot of different movies and TV shows, but I remember you playing Rayna in the original Star Trek, and I was looking at your IMDb, and I see that you also co-starred with William Shatner, or [rather], guest-starred with William Shatner, in an episode of “Route 66,” and on his show “Barbary Coast” in the 70s, which I loved (that show). So, you worked with him quite frequently?
Louise: Yes, we got on well. You know, he was a horseman. So, I used to ride with him. He did horse shows out in the valley, Los Angeles, and I did some of that with him. We just, you know, he’s one of these people if you have a sense of humor, and you look right at him, and you just start laughing. I mean, maybe not with anybody anymore, but we always had this, I don’t know what it was, it would trigger something, and we would just start giggling, because he looks like he’s going to burst into laughter.
Suzanne: He’s a funny guy.
Louise: Yes, he is. And so, I mean, we got on very well, even on “Star Trek.” There’s a picture in my book that I – You know, you have to put some pictures in. So, there’s a picture of me dancing with Bill, because we did a waltz or something. And I just put a notation under that saying, “Excuse me, what did you say?” That’s sort of our relationship. He’s 90-something now. I haven’t seen him in a long time.
Suzanne: Right. Well, he’s still doing horse shows and is active on Twitter. Yeah, whatever they let him do, he does.
Louise: Yeah, that’s how you keep going.
Suzanne: Yeah, I think so. So, you’ve had a great long career in daytime, primetime, and movies. Do you have a favorite genre that you prefer?
Louise: Theater.
Suzanne: Theater, right? That’s where you got your start, right?
Louise: Yes, yes. To me, it’s the purest form. I mean, once in a while, you’ll find, oddly enough, when I was on a show called Santa Barbara, there were a lot of theater actors. So, I’d never done a soap or seen a soap, and I wasn’t sure I was going to want to do that. Then I saw we had Dame Judith Anderson talk about the theater, and then Nicolas Coster. Nicky was in England in theater and all over the place, and we both had worked together before. And there were a couple others, Lane Davies, who does Shakespeare all the time now in Prague. So, you know, it was quite amazing to walk onto a soap opera and have that kind of group to work with. And we did work like we were in theater. So, you know, that was nice. Although, yeah, it was as close to theater for me, doing that. It ended up not being so close, because it ends up you have to get the show in the box, and you have to get it done, and everybody’s looking at their watch, and that makes it a different experience. However, it was a very good experience, I must say.
Suzanne: Plus no live audience.
Louise: No live audience, no. But, you know, I did a show with Don Rickles, and we did have a live audience. So, it was sort of like theater.
Suzanne: When was the last time you did theater?
Louise: Last, let’s see… Oh my God, I hate to say this. It was about, really seriously, about ten years ago here in New York with a transport group. We did “I Remember Mama,” and it was an absolute huge hit. And every actress in it was a theater – I call them theater rats, because they’re devoted to the theater. Wonderful actors all the way down the line. Everyone was a theater actor, and we got rave reviews here. It was supposed to move to Broadway but financially they couldn’t do it which was really a shame, because it was so unusual. I don’t know if you know the movie…
Suzanne: I’ve seen it, but a long time ago.
Louise: Yeah, well, it’s a lot of different characters. We were ten women doing the men, the children, and the adults. So, we were all playing – I played a younger sister. I played this very older woman who was a writer, a very arrogant sort of woman. Heather McRae played a man. I didn’t play any men, but several actresses played men as well as women, and Barbara Berry was wonderful. She played the lead character, so it was a great group of women with very unusual experience
Suzanne: Wow, that sounds great. Yes, you last appeared on “Days of Our Lives” in April. Do you know if you’ll be back again soon?
Louise: Yeah, I’ll be on in September.
Suzanne: Oh, good.
Louise: Now it’s sporadic, because I live in New York, and they have to fly me out and put me up, which is nice. And then they’ve got new writers, so I don’t know what they’re doing. I don’t know what direction it’s going in, but they might not want to just continue putting me in there unless they were to do a really interesting storyline, because Vivian’s up to cause havoc, and I don’t know if there’s anybody left for her to care about in terms of her storyline, so I have no idea, but I know I will be back. I’ve done them – I can’t remember what date, March I think, and they’ll be on in next September
Suzanne: Oh, good. I know you have a lot of fans out there who always enjoy Vivian coming on and causing trouble.
Louise: It’s kind of fun to do that. You never want to be – who is it? BIlly Wilder or something [said], “Don’t be a victim.” You don’t want to play those roles.
Suzanne: Well, I think Vivian plays the victim in her mind, but nobody else agrees.
Louise: Yes, exactly.
Suzanne: Exactly. I’ve watched Days off and on since the 90’s. I’ve seen a lot of your work. I think my favorite was when Vivian buried Carly alive. Do you have a favorite Days storyline?
Louise: Well, that was fun, because we committed to that. I’ve been very lucky, because the writers… I don’t know what possessed them, but they wrote me some pretty funny stuff. I mean, I was Elvis Presley. I was a French woman. I had something put in my teeth so that I was being operated [on] by – I mean there were just so many
Suzanne: Controlled by Stefano…
Louise: That’s right. I mean it was always surprising. I remember walking in one day to the wardrobe department there was a wonderful man doing the wardrobe there, Richard Bluer just fabulous, and he said, “Do you want to know what you’re wearing tomorrow?” And he said “Maybe not. I don’t think I’m going to tell you that.” So, I walk in, and there is a large box of french fries. I mean, large – you know 6 feet high or not quite 5 something. I said, “Richard please tell me.” He said, “Yep, that’s you.” I was a box of french fries, and Ivan, my butler, was a hamburger. So, you know, as much as I thought they were out of their minds, when I reflect on it, I thought, “Thank you.” I had such a fun time to be quite insane, so it makes it much more fun than doing a mournful dreary victim storyline where you’re crying all the time and wondering who did what to you. I’d much rather do it to somebody.
Suzanne: I always loved Vivian and Ivan’s relationship
Louise: Oh, so did I. I’m sad they didn’t bring that back, because we talk once in a while. He used to come into work and say “Madam” – he called me madam – “do we have any lines today?” Ivan, we’ve got 20 pages. I mean it would drive me nuts. I mean, he knew the work, but we had that kind of relationship, and I thought it was a very good one that worked well in the show
Suzanne: What is he doing now?
Louise: He lives in Santa Fe on a really lovely piece of property. He also does go to work. He’s from Prague, and I think he goes and works there once in a while. I haven’t spoken to him in a while, but I’d like to say “hello.” I was very fond of him. I mean to have that kind of person to work with was just – I actually got a T-shirt that said “madam feels like shit today” [laughs] because that would be sort of our relationship. Yeah, we had a great time.
Suzanne: Yeah, they definitely should bring him back, too.
Louise: Oh, yes.
Suzanne: So, you’ve appeared in so many plays, tv shows and movies…Which character, that you’ve played, do you have a favorite?
Louise: You know, I can’t say that I do. I wonder when people say they have a favorite that you don’t spend that much time with these characters. There’re so many of them. I had more of an enjoyment of being able to play a Greek girl, because I do dialects, or a gypsy. I was thrown into a lot of those roles – a French girl on “Rat Patrol” – and that was so enjoyable for me, but it wasn’t any one specific, because they don’t last that long.
Suzanne: Sure, especially back then…
Louise: Right, and Broadway shows – I mean, I did several, but I can’t really say that any one particular thing was more a favorite than another. I just enjoyed doing it whatever it was.
Suzanne: Well, you probably played Vivian longer on the screen than anyone else.
Louise: That’s true. I do love the character. You know, at first I was very intrigued, and then there was a point where I was doing really silly things, but now I realize that that was part of the charm of the character. I would balk at certain things they ,wanted for instance the burying alive of Carly. When it said, “Vivian does a jig,” and I said “What are they talking about?” So, I marched up the stairs and said, “Excuse me; I don’t jig.” I had a tendency to make statements or ask questions. I’m very loving of my character, and I always want to protect them. So, he said – mortified – he said “What is it you want to do?” because of course he couldn’t come up with anything, one of the producers. I said, “I have no idea, but I’m going to a lunch hour, and I’m going to work on it,” which I did. So, I came up with – don’t ask, I don’t know where it came from, maybe Shakespeare – she loves me; she loves me not. I did this strange wandering around the grave and the crew was in shock, because they just pulled the camera back, and they said, “We don’t know what she’s going to do. Okay, shoot it,” and then it was dead silence when I finished, and a couple of people said it gave them chills, but whatever. You know, it’s sort of fun to create those things.
Suzanne: Well, it was definitely memorable for sure, even though they kind of repeated it a little bit later on with other characters.
Louise: Yeah. I didn’t get anything to cover to make sure they couldn’t steal it, but anyway…
Suzanne: Was there anything that you wish that you could have done on Days or any of the other soaps that you didn’t get to do?
Louise: Well, I don’t know, because each of them was so different. The characters were so different. You sort of go along with what they write for you, and the things that I would do that may not have been appropriate for the character, I did have an idea about something which I went and told one of the producers, and I won’t say who, but another character ended up doing what I had suggested, and that was as annoying as hell, but, you know, nothing you can do about that. I did have an idea of playing a character that was my twin sister who is a Brit coming over and being my conscience, and the other character saying, “Vivian, what the hell do you think you’re doing? Stop it!” You know, a conscience sort of character. It didn’t happen, but you think about those things.
Suzanne: You were on “One Life to Live” as a judge, And “Port Charles”…
Louise: No, I think on One Life I was a lawyer. I was a lawyer on that, and judge on “All My Children.”
Suzanne: And you were a fashion designer on Port Charles briefly.
Louise: Very briefly [laughs] very very briefly, yes.
Suzanne: So, would you do any of the other soaps that are on now if they asked you to? “General Hospital,” or “Young and the Restless,” “The Bold and The Beautiful?”
Louise: Well, you always want to work. I think what’s happened, and I don’t know if I could work that way anymore, and it’s nobody’s fault… but the rapidity now of getting things done, which I experienced on Days last time, is the rush to finish, and the lack of time to really delve in and make them the best. You know, they try their best, but everybody is under the clock, and that’s a very difficult thing for everyone to work with. I mean, if it was some wonderful character for a brief thing, I think that would be fun, but there are only four shows left, and I think they’ve got enough people. I don’t think they’re looking for anything.
Suzanne: Well, actually, there’re five now.
Louise: Five… oh, right, [Beyond] The Gates.
Suzanne: “Beyond The Gates”, yeah… a couple of actors from the other soaps have gone over there for [more] work. I’m just glad people have work…I think everybody that works on soaps is happy that there’s a new one, just because it means it’s [not] all ending.
Louise: Yes, I mean they dwindled from twelve to four.
Suzanne: Yeah.
Louise: That’s really a lot
Suzanne: Tell me about it. When I started my site there was like nineteen, I think. (I was wrong about this, oops!)
Louise: Oh, when did you start?
Suzanne: Well, in the late 90’s
Louise: There were nineteen soaps?
Suzanne: I think there were. I’d have to go back and look. There were a lot, I know that.
Louise: I didn’t know there were that many.
Suzanne: I’ll have to go count and let you know, but yeah, just to see them go down, but you know all of TV is having that problem, not just daytime, unfortunately. And worldwide, even the British shows are having [problems] because of streaming and everything. I mean, there are more parts for actors because of streaming, but it’s hard to get people to watch so many shows. So, it’s difficult, and then all the financial problems, so, yeah… don’t mean to be doom and gloom, though…
Louise: No, but it’s true. Financially, it’s a lot of pressure, just huge, and sometimes I feel bad that sometimes I have to stop shooting a scene, and I want to correct something or make it better, and I feel sort of guilty, because I’m stopping them ,and they’re looking at their watches, but you can’t help it. If you care about something, you just want to make it the best you can.
Suzanne: Yeah, definitely. Are you still close to or in touch with any of your favorite cast mates besides Ivan?
Louise: Ivan… Well I’ve maintained a friendship, because I’m living so far away. I don’t really see them. There’s a wonderful girl on Days of Our Lives, Judi Evans, and she is an angel from heaven, that’s all I have to say. I have never met anyone like her and [with] the loss that she’s had, you would never know anything other than full love respect for everyone. She’s like a bundle of joy. I was just so overwhelmed by her generosity of spirit. We’re not close friends, but we sort of became friends when I went back on Days a couple of times. You know, you lose lots of time, because I live in New York, so I really feel like you go to do your work, and if something happens it comes out of it, like Judith McConnell.
Transcribed by Jamie
MORE INFO:
A flashy, aggressive, cold and calculating villainess and eternally hopeless meddler on a number of daytime soap operas, Louise Sorel has given her opulent, show-stopping characters major doses of humor and grit that have allowed her to become one of daytime’s more popular figures for over six decades.
Of Jewish heritage, Louise, whose roots are in theatre, was born on August 6, 1940 in Los Angeles to entertainment professionals. Studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, she made her Broadway debut playing a teenager in the 1961 comedy “Take Her, She’s Mine” starring Art Carney and also had subsequent roles in “Lorenzo” (1963) and “Man and Boy” (1963). Her initial interest obviously was sparked by her actress/concert pianist mother Jeanne Sorel, and father Albert J. Cohen, who produced films in the 1940s and 1950s. Louise went on to co-star on Broadway with Rita Moreno in “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” in 1964 and appeared with George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst as Princess Alais in the 1967 Bucks County Playhouse production of “The Lion in Winter.”
Given a bit part (billed as Jacqueline Sorel) in the exploitation teen film Eighteen and Anxious (1957), Louise, in 1964, married comic actor Herb Edelman, best known for his recurring role of Bea Arthur‘s ex husband Stan in The Golden Girls (1985). Around this time, she began setting her sights on TV drama, appearing on various dramatic shows including “Dr. Kildare,” “The Defenders,” “The Trials of O’Brien,” “Route 66,” “The Rat Patrol,” “The Virginian,” “Run for Your Life,” “Star Trek,” “The Big Valley,” “The Fugitive,” “Night Gallery,” “The Bold Ones,” “Banacek,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Owen Marshall,” “Kojak,” “Hart to Hart,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Ironside” and several episodes of “Medical Center,” as well as a recurring part on the short-lived nighttime soap opera The Survivors (1969) starring Lana Turner and George Hamilton. In a change of pace, Louise turned to comedy as Don Rickles‘ wife on his poorly-received series The Don Rickles Show (1972).
Though she divorced Edelman in 1972, Louise nevertheless co-starred with him again in the failed sitcom Ladies’ Man (1980). She met second husband actor Ken Howard in 1972 while appearing with him in a Philadelphia stage production of “Volpone.” They married a year later but divorced a couple of years later in 1975.
Appearing in support in the films Plaza Suite (1971), Every Little Crook and Nanny (1972), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Where the Boys Are (1984), and Crimes of Passion (1984), Louise moved quite steadily ahead not only with a regular role in the short-lived comedy series Ladies’ Man (1980), but with co-star/featured roles in the TV movies The Girl Who Came Gift-Wrapped (1974), The Mark of Zorro (1974), When Every Day Was the Fourth of July (1978), Mazes and Monsters (1982), Sunset Limousine (1983) and A Masterpiece of Murder (1986).
Various daytime soap operas reinvigorated Louise’s career tenfold in the late 1980s. She began her road to sudsy infamy in 1984 as the eccentric archvillainess Augusta Lockridge for the entire run of Santa Barbara (1984). From there she was given recurring roles as Judith Sanders on One Life to Live (1968) and as Donatella Stewart Port Charles (1997). In 1992, Louise joined the cast of Days of Our Lives (1965) as the manipulative Vivian Alamain. By the time she left in 2000, she had won five Soap Opera Digest Awards.
More recently, Louise has had devilish fun in the quirky soap Passions (1999) and in a recurring role on the political drama Beacon Hill (2014). Bio from IMdB
Vivian Alamain is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera (that aired on the NBC network for multiple decades until its September 2022 switch to streaming via Peacock). Created by head writers Richard J. Allen and Beth Milstein, and introduced by executive producers Ken Corday and Al Rabin, the role is most recognized as portrayed by actress Louise Sorel. In addition to Sorel, the role has been portrayed by Marj Dusay, Robin Strasser and Linda Dano. (From Wikipedia)
Days of our Lives is the multi-award-winning daytime drama that has weathered and reflected political and societal shifts without pause since 1965. Featuring drama, romance, mystery, and suspense, “Days” follows the lives, loves, and conflicts of the Horton, Brady, DiMera, Kiriakis, and Hernandez families and their many friends and colleagues. As one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, it is enjoyed in many foreign territories including Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, Israel, South Africa, and Australia. Peacock is the exclusive home of Days of our Lives. Audiences can access the past season and new episodes every weekday. Days of our Lives is 
produced by Corday Productions Inc. in association with Sony Pictures Television. (From the NBC/Uni site)
Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera that aired on NBC from July 30, 1984, to January 15, 1993.[2] The show revolves around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California. Other prominent families featured on the soap were the rival Lockridge family, and the more modest Andrade and Perkins families.
The serial was produced by Dobson Productions and New World Television, which also served as distributor for the show in international markets. Santa Barbara was the first series for New World Television.
Santa Barbara aired in the United States at 3:00 p.m. Eastern (2:00 p.m. Central) on NBC in the same time slot as General Hospital on ABC and Guiding Light on CBS and right after Another World. Santa Barbara aired in over 40 countries around the world. It became the longest-running television series in Russia, airing there from 1992 to 2002. Santa Barbara won 24 Daytime Emmy Awards and was nominated 30 times for the same award. The show also won 18 Soap Opera Digest Awards and various other awards. (From Wikipedia)
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