Wally Kurth Reveals He Auditioned to Play Tad on AMC!
Working at GENERAL HOSPITAL isn’t the first time that Wally Kurth (Ned) and Michael E. Knight (Martin) have encountered each other in the world of daytime. And we’re not talking about hanging out at Super Soap fan events (remember those?). Back in 1982, Kurth was one of the actors auditioning for the role of Tad on ALL MY CHILDREN, which as everyone knows, ultimately went to Knight.
“Michael and I talked about that recently when we were up in the casting office at GH,” Kurth shared in a recent issue of Soap Opera Digest. “We told Lisa Snedeker Booth, who is one of the casting directors, that whole story and I had mentioned it to Michael when he first came on the show.
“We were talking about who we tested with and he thought that we tested with Kim Delaney (Jenny; ex-Jackie, GH),” he continued, “and I said, ‘No, no, no, it was Marcy [Walker, Liza].’ I said, ‘I know that because I would have freaked out if it was Kim Delaney because I had such a crush on her when I was watching the show!’ I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, if I have to test with her I don’t think I’m going to be able to speak!’”
During his nearly three decades in Pine Valley, Knight racked up eight Daytime Emmy Award nominations and two wins for his work at AMC. Meanwhile, Kurth soon found himself playing Justin Kiriakis on NBC sudser DAYS OF OUR LIVES and then Ned Ashton on GH, roles he continues to play today. (Kurth also has three Daytime Emmy nods for his own work, taking home a trophy in 2002 for Outstanding Original Song!)
“I wasn’t ready for daytime then,” Kurth admitted of his AMC audition. “They made a good choice with Michael, who was really great in that role, and it was definitely a good choice on their part to let me wait until I was ready! I definitely needed a few years of seasoning, marinating, growing up, growing into myself, and by the time I got Justin on DAYS, I was all fired up and ready to go.”
