EASY RIDER: It's full speed ahead as ADAM STORKE revs up for his first soap opera role!
True, Adam Storke was born in a hospital - not a trunk - on Manhattan's posh East Side, but he's definitely got a touch of greasepaint in his blood. His mom, British actress Angela Thornton, appeared on "The Secret Storm" in the mid 1960s and played Roy Scheider's girlfriend on "The Doctors" shortly after that. His dad, TV moviemaker Bill Storke, has produced Richard Chamberlain's "Man in the Iron Mask" and George C. Scott's "A Christmas Carol." At 22, Adam is fresh out of Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.) and enjoying his first break as "Search for Tomorrow's" Rider.
Q: With both your parents in show business, were you expected to follow in the family footsteps?
ADAM: Far from it. I was always very sports-oriented. But in the tenth grade my English teacher said, "We need people to play waiters in Can-Can," so I went down and auditioned. She gave me a part - I had five lines. I was scared to death, but once I was onstage, you couldn't get me off. Something just clicked. It was like, "Hey, this is pretty terrific!"
Q: What was Union College like?
ADAM: I went to a school where there were 2,500 students. I was into having a good time. The whole social scene was built around fraternities. There were 16 of them. I joined one and it was just wild. The guys were all crazy and we had a great time.
Q: "Search for Tomorrow" seems like a pretty social gang...
ADAM: It sure is. I hang out with Jane Krakowski (T.R.). She's a bubble. You get a smile on her face every time she walks in.
Q: Do you ever date actresses?
ADAM: Not very much. Of course, I like all women, but I'm scared about getting too close to home. If you start dating people where you work, well, I just don't think it's a good idea. I have a few girls I see. In college, I ran rampant - dating all the time - I was like a young man lost in a candy store.
Q: You probably don't have very much free time now...
ADAM: At this point, I'm up at six in the morning and I go to bed as early as possible. Mostly, I'm either studying my lines or working. If I get a day off, I'm running errands. Today, when I finish this interview, I've got to go to the bank, then the doctor and pay some bills.
Q: When is your birthday?
ADAM: August 18...I'm a Leo.
Q: Do you follow astrology at all?
ADAM: Not really, but when I was a kid, I thought I was a lion. I grew my hair very long and my room was covered with pictures of lions and tigers. These animals were so graceful, yet so fierce. They moved with such style. That fascinated me.
Q: What was it like when you auditioned for "Search?"
ADAM: I had three try-outs - two call backs and a screen test. They had about seven different actors all trying out for the role. There was a six-foot version of me and a lot of dark-haired guys ranging in height from medium to very tall.
Q: What is your family situation like?
ADAM: I have a sister who's 24 and a brother who's 11. My parents are divorced and my dad is remarried. But it's like one big family. There's no separation. My mother was remarried too, and now she's divorced again. They're all great. I always say, "I was brought up by the three strongest women I know - my mother, my stepmother and my sister." They took good care of me. I think my sister has told everyone she knows that I'm on "Search for Tomorrow."
Q: What are your goals for the future?
ADAM: I'd like to keep acting and writing, too. I write plays in my spare time. I'd like to get a bull dog and go sailing for a year, and have four plays published by the time I'm 35.
Copyright of Daytime TV (1985)