Actors - Michael Zaslow

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	Actors - Michael Zaslow

Michael Joel Zaslow (November 1, 1944 – December 6, 1998) was an American actor.

He is most remembered for his role as villain Roger Thorpe on CBS's Guiding Light, a role he played from 1971 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1997. Where he was part of one of Guiding Light's most memorable couples, Roger and Holly. He also played David Renaldi on ABC's One Life to Live, from 1983 to 1986. Zaslow had also been featured on a number of other television shows and soap operas, including Law & Order, Star Trek (where he was the first starship Enterprise crewmember to be killed off in the series' September 8, 1966 premiere "The Man Trap," an episode which featured Dr. McCoy's legendary line, "He's dead, Jim."), Search for Tomorrow, and Love is a Many Splendored Thing.

In 1997, he began to experience difficulty in speaking. When it became noticeable on screen, he was placed on leave at Guiding Light. (There are conflicting stories as to whether Zaslow was then fired; there was for some time a legal action against Guiding Light and sponsor Procter & Gamble, which was eventually settled.) It was some time before Zaslow was finally diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Zaslow did not return to GL and his role was briefly recast before being written off. (In 2004, Zaslow's character on GL died off-screen.)

In a show of support, Zaslow was hired at One Life to Live to play David Renaldi again, and made several appearances there before he was too ill to continue working. His final appearance on "One Life" was televised December 1, 1998, days before his death.

His widow, psychologist Susan Hufford, and his daughters, Marika and Helena, founded ZazAngels, a foundation that wishes to raise funds in order to find a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease. Several of his Guiding Light and One Life to Live castmates, along with many Broadway-based theater luminaries, have participated in tributes to Zaslow that were fundraisers for ZazAngels.

In 2004, Zaslow and Hufford's daughter Helena died. Hufford released a book last year about Zaslow and his fight with ALS, titled "Not That Man Anymore". Zaslow had begun writing the book several years earlier.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Michael Zaslow ]

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