These two widely celebrated actors never starred in anything together but they’ve maintained a close friendship spanning decades after connecting through shared industry circles.
They both fit the mold of the classic leading man during their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s and onwards.
One actor has been on The Bold and the Beautiful for 39 years from the TV soap’s premiere in March 1987 to present, playing the wealthy patriarch and fashion designer who’s known as much for his creative genius as he is for his stormy romances.
His friend, who is eight years his senior, famously starred on the television masterpiece Dark Shadows and played five distinct roles over more than 100 episodes from 1967 to 1971.
Though they’re now older and grayer at the temples, they still retain some of that strong, attractive quality that drew audiences in as they were spotted taking a leisurely stroll in sunny Los Angeles together earlier this week.
Can you guess who they are?
These two widely celebrated actors never starred in anything together but they’ve maintained a close friendship spanning decades after connecting through shared industry circles
They fit the mold of the classic leading man during their heyday with one starring on The Bold and the Beautiful and the other on the original Dark Shadows – can you guess who they are?
If you said John McCook and Jerry Lacy, you guessed right!
McCook, 82, and Lacy, 90, often spend time together socially and, on this occasion, appeared to be enjoying a leisurely walk in the City of Angels.
At one point, McCook appeared to be trying to prove a point while waving an arm as Lacy listened.
McCook is best known for starring on The Bold and the Beautiful as Eric Forrester, who became famous for creating the Los Angeles-based fashion house Forrester Creations.
Forrester’s romances and love triangles have taken center stage since the series began almost four decades ago. His turbulent relationship with Stephanie (Susan Flannery) served as the show’s foundation until Stephanie’s death. (After her character’s death in 2012, Flannery retired from acting, started directing, and later moved to Australia.)
The character’s messy overlapping romances with Beth Logan (Judith Baldwin, Nancy Burnett, Marla Adams, and Robin Riker) and her daughter Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) got even messier as it caused problems with his own son, Ridge (Ronn Moss, Thorsten Kaye), who was also involved with Brooke.
Viewers were intrigued by the way Forrester put up with the villainous and slightly mad Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown), who targeted family members with her poisonous schemes.
When McCook won his first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2022, after three previous nominations and letdowns, fans and co-stars were thrilled and felt it was long overdue.
Not surprisingly, McCook has no intention of leaving The Bold and the Beautiful – ever.
If you guessed John McCook, left, who has portrayed family patriarch Eric Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful for 39 years, and Jerry Lacy, right, who starred in FIVE distinct roles in cult TV serial Dark Shadows, you guessed right
The romances and love triangles involving McCook’s character on the beloved soap have taken center stage since the series began almost four decades ago (also pictured are, L to R, Alley Mills, Annika Noelle and Jennifer Gareis)
McCook won his first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2022, after three previous nominations and let downs
The versatile character actor – seen middle row, second left – also played Lance Prentiss on The Young and the Restless from 1975 to 1980
‘I just love being there,’ he told TV Insider last year while squashing rumors of a possible departure. ‘I am not going to leave. I have no reason to leave.
‘When you get to be my age, and you’re an actor, and you’re still working, why would I walk away, right? I mean, really?
‘I figured that I’m never going to retire or quit,’ he maintained, and that seems to suit his wife of 46 years, former actress Laurette Spang, just fine. ‘I will just sit here one day, and they’re going to call Laurette, and say, “He’s dead, come get him.”‘
After getting his start in a production of West Side Story, McCook played the character of Lance Prentiss on The Young and the Restless from October 1975 to February 1980, leaving when the show switched to an hourly format.
He’s also performed in musical theater and had guest roles in several primetime series including Acapulco H.E.A.T.
Lacy, meanwhile, is well recognized among cult TV fans and soap opera enthusiasts.
Of all the time-crossing roles he played on the gothic serial Dark Shadows, the fan favorite appears to be the fanatical witch-hunter Reverend Trask, who had a reputation for persecuting innocent young women and sending them to the gallows.
Other roles on Dark Shadows included Tony Peterson, Reverend Gregory Trask, Mr Trask and Lamar Trask, all of whom had some blood connection to Salem charlatan Reverend Trask.
Lacy played Humphrey Bogart in Woody Allen’s 1972 comedy-romance Play It Again, Sam opposite Diane Keaton. He also played the Bogart character in the Broadway production from February 1969 to March 1970.
Lacy also starred on The Young and the Restless from 1979 to 1982 as Jonas – and missing McCook by several years
Lacy played Humphrey Bogart in Woody Allen’s 1972 comedy-romance Play It Again, Sam opposite Diane Keaton
Though they’re now older and grayer at the temples, they still retain some of that strong, attractive quality that drew audiences in as they were spotted taking a leisurely stroll in sunny Los Angeles together earlier this week
McCook squeezed in a bit of shopping during the friendly outing
In the 1970s, he also appeared in films The House of Dark Shadows, The Money and Blood Bath.
He went on to appear in several soaps including As the World Turns, Love of Life, The Secret Storm and The Young and the Restless.
Since 1984, Lacy has been married to Julia Duffy after meeting on the set of Love of Life. They went on to have two children together, daughter Kerry, 40, and son Daniel, who took his own life at age 29 in April 2019.
Lacy appeared alongside his wife on Designing Women as the fiancé of Duffy’s character Allison Sugarbaker, and he even wrote one of the episodes on Duffy’s other comedy hit, Newhart.
He guest-starred in some of the biggest primetime TV shows of the day including McCloud, Eight is Enough, The White Shadow, Knots Landing, Saved By the Bell and Hardball.
His favorite role, however, dovetailed with his fans’ preference – that of the 1790s-era Reverend Trask on Dark Shadows.
In a 2020 interview with a Dark Shadows podcaster, Lacy called Reverend Trask ‘the purest’ and most idealistic character he played on the show, which was ‘pure drama’ and ‘mustache twirling at its best.’
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