In his own words: exclusive interview with Hollywood actor Peter Barton

It is an absolute honor to do a question-and-answer session with Hollywood actor Peter Barton. Peter was a famous television and movie star in the 1980s and 1990s.

One-time teen idol and even named one of the world's 10 sexiest guys in soaps by Playgirl magazine, Barton acted in many movies and TV shows, most notably as Dr. Scott Grainger in the daytime soap “The Young and the Restless” from 1987-93, as Bill Miller in the short-lived NBC TV series Shirley in 1979 with Shirley Jones, Rosanna Arquette, and Tracey Gold, the lead in another NBC series, The Powers of Matthew Star, for which he won the role over many actors, among them Tom Cruise, and as the good cop gone bad Eddie Connors in the late 1990s US daytime soap Sunset Beach, with Lesley Anne-Down, Kelly Hu, Eddie Cibrian among others. Barton also became involved in the burgeoning teen horror/thriller film genre, beginning with Hell Night (1981) and followed by Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984). 

We decided to do the interview via voice notes, text messages, and a video call while I was shopping in Waitrose in Ascot, UK [!]. It would have been easier if we did this in person but with Peter being in the US and me being in the UK, we kind of made it happen!

Peter Barton: Photo Copyright Peter Barton

​Nav Singh [NS]: Hi Peter, thanks so much for letting me interview you. If it’s okay, I’d like to start by chatting about your childhood…what was it like growing up in the 1970s?
 
Peter Barton [PB]: Nav, firstly, thanks for having me here and great to contribute to your awesome blog! I loved the 70s! I loved high school. I loved sports. I went to Valley Stream North High School, which has over the years produced quite a few sporting alumni, including NFL players. I got my first experience with sports when I was playing little league in fourth grade, and I became an all-star from then onwards. When I went to high school I wrestled, pole vaulted and tracked, and I played soccer and football. That's where I got my self-esteem from. Loved it!
 
NS: You are a massive fan of keeping good habits and a very healthy lifestyle. Where does this motivation and will power to keep going come from?

PB: I was a kind of chubby lad and started to get flab on me in the fourth and fifth grade – this made me a bit subconscious about that. I didn't like that at all, and even my dad would make fun of me and call me a bit of a “butter ball”! Therefore, as soon as I hit seventh and eighth grade, I started doing weights, and I was weight training using the Charles Atlas inspired method on how to build muscle and was aware that 80% of it is what you eat; so, I started eating well too, and then on I got pretty good at athletics. Since then, staying in shape has been a big contributing factor to me, and it just continued and became a lifestyle. I have always loved running, marathons [5Ks], working out at the gym, weights and so on.
 
NS: Interesting. But why wrestling?
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PB: Good question! I had a thing for it. I just thought it was just such a gladiator thing to do and a tough sport, and maybe that's why I like gladiator so much! I kind of wrestled all the way through high school and I was good at it. Then I fell in love and wanted to be with my girlfriend at that time, so I kind of moved away from wrestling because it was just so tough mentally and physically...but I don't regret it! The good choice was being around her family...big Italian family. There were like 7 or 8 kids in the family and grandmother lived upstairs and I got that whole family vibe, which I think was a good basis for my life – even though I had my own family and that was a whole different experience. 

Peter was big into sports from an early age while at school, and was specially into wrestling. Seen here circled in blue during the wrestling season in 72-73: Photo Copyright Peter Barton

​NS: Although accepted into St. John's University School of Medicine, you changed your mind about attending, and it just before signing up for classes, you decided to pursue a career in modelling and acting. What was the reason behind this?

PB: The reason I did not start St John's was because I basically did not have the money. I went to the Dean, and he suggested I defer to a year later and said I would be accepted the following year. My dad had a very successful business in the concrete industry with 25 trucks and basically, I did a little bit of high school but had some personal issues at home. Therefore, I was paying for my own college fees and not using my dad's money, and St John's was so much more expensive than a community college. That’s why I decided that I needed to make more money and I started getting into modelling and acting during the summer without any training whatsoever [!]. Otherwise, I would have just carried on and gone to St John's because the Dean said I can reapply and be accepted the following year. But after doing that for six months, I just thought I can just stay here and carry on with the modelling and acting gig.
 
NS: It is interesting that you actually ended up playing a doctor on the daytime drama The Young and the Restless. Did you have any kind of special training for this role or was a thought at the back of your mind that "I could have done this for real!"?
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PB: Yes, that is exactly right with the Young & Restless series, when I auditioned for that part, it just seemed to be fate I guess. I went to St John's to go and study pharmacy for five years and then my plan was to apply to a medical school and see if I can become a doctor. So, yes, I always thought that was kind of strange that I got casted as Dr Scott Grainger on the Young & Restless. In the long run, I am so much happier that I got to do it and I did not have to do it in real life because it seemed like it is a really tough gig, as well as acting, which is also a tough gig. However, the more you get into acting the more fun it becomes a pretty great lifestyle.

Peter didn't end up being a doctor in real life but ended up playing Dr Scott Grainger on the Young & Restless: Photo Copyright Peter Barton

Peter on the set of Burke's Law: Photo Copyright CBS Action

NS: Who had a great influence on your career and life?
PB: My mum and dad were the greatest influence on me. My mum, because she was so kind and loving and because my dad had an attitude of "Go and get things for yourself!".
 
Also, I have not talked much about this until now, but I think my acting career would not have happened if I had not met a photographer and artist called Michael O'Brien in December 1978, before I got my first acting part in March 1979. He was a photographer who taught me how to be real and authentic in front of the camera because I was so uncomfortable in front of any camera, even a still one! He used to work me and coach me and say "Just look at me man, don't do anything. Just be authentic". And basically, over the two or three months, I wasn't taking an acting class, but I did a lot of test shoots with Michael, and he became a friend, and he got me way more real and just be truthful in front of the camera.
 
I remember doing one test shoot with Michael in the middle of December 1978. I mean with his skillset; this guy could easily have become a film director. He had that quality in him. He could put you in front of a still camera and get you to be authentic and be yourself. Also, I recall Michael Schoeffling was working with Michael O'Brien. He just had this talent and skillset to make you feel comfortable and be in front of the camera. I wonder if he also did that for Michael Schoeffling. I never spoke to him but would love to know.

Michael O'Brien, captured thinking in 1979, had a great influence on Peter in his early days of acting and modelling: Photo Copyright Peter Barton

​NS: Did you have any acting heroes when you were younger?

PB: Errol Flynn. When I saw Robin Hood, I thought he was the greatest thing in the world and he was just so cool in that movie. There were so many scenes in that movie that were great. Errol with his crazy, flamboyant swashbuckler stuff, and so many scenes in that movie that just are amazing examples of world class acting. Then I moved onto Jimmy Stewart with his 1946 blockbuster, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, because I just thought it was like unbelievably flooring. You know, just the common man, and Jimmy Stewart, an amazing actor, was so powerful in that movie by doing the right thing – that truly resonated with me about “doing the right thing”. Most recently, I have been watching The Gladiator with Russell Crowe so many times because it is another movie about doing the right thing. I believe that people thrive and excel if they just do the right thing. Life was so kind to me when I just did the right thing in front of me.
 
NS: Do you come from a family who are very dramatic/artistic?
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PB: My mum was always a lover of Shirley Temple, and she could have become the equivalent of Doris Day or some kind of an actress of the same caliber. Acting was never in the family and nobody even thought of becoming an actor. Nobody in the family even thought about becoming a model. My sister was gorgeous and she kind of never persuaded it either. It just didn't seem in the realm – like growing up in Long Island, you wouldn't even try it in those days. Fortunately, because I needed money for the medical school at St John's, I persuaded it. I actually got turned down by four out of the five agencies. One said yes, and within six months, I was on a TV series. So, never take no for an answer, right?

Peter Barton with Louis Gossett Jr. during his Powers of Matthew Star days: Photo Copyright Peter Barton

Peter Barton starred with Louis Gossett Jr. as an alien prince in the Powers of Matthew Star, an American sci-fi television series that aired from September 17, 1982 through April 8, 1983 on NBC

​NS: That’s true. Talking of never say never, any career regrets, perhaps?

PB: Yes, so I have a silly regret! Basically, I think I could have squeezed a lot more in my life, but I think I did pretty good. I did have a chance to be on the Johnny Carson show. When I was filming the Powers of Matthew Star series they wanted me to go and do an interview on the Johnny Carson show and I was too afraid. I mean I did take part in a Dinah Shore talk show, and I did take part in other talk shows back then, but I let go of the chance to take part in a classic talk show interview with Johnny Carson in 1982. I probably would have passed out, but I should have done it anyway!
 
NS: But things happen for a reason, as they say. So maybe it was just not meant to be. But what about any favourite TV shows and movies?
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PB: I watch a lot of Netflix. I am watching House of Cards right now and this show kind of upsets me a bit because it resonates with how our political system works in the US and how our government really is. Also, I admire Mark Walburg’s work and watch his stuff because he picks these great characters and parts to play – a bit like a Jimmy Stewart character. Now with the House of Cards, to me that just turns my stomach, you know? Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright in their characters are just so gross, and I don't know why they'd even want to portray characters like that because it just makes you look so creepy. But on the other hand you have someone like Mark Walburg who I love watching and anything he does!
 
It is self-evident of how he takes care of himself. But I just love his roles from "The Departed", "The Shooter", and many others. I mean he plays these roles where you have the common man or the underdog is stuck in a really bad position, and where the government is out to get you or whatever. He never falters about doing the right thing, and just like the Powers of Matthew Star character which I played, where the character helps the common person, it helps to resonate with me. Jimmy Stewart also has this ability to act and showcase how to humanize and help the common person. With the parts Walburg and Stewart pick, they always exemplify how they live it in their life, too, which is crazy. It is amazing how that habit and ethical way of “doing the right thing” carries into their personal life.

Peter on the set of Powers of Matthew Star with Hollywood legend Leonard Nimoy: Photo Copyright AP

NS: You have had some significant roles in your career, such as playing the lead role in The Powers of Matthew Star, with Louis Gossett Jr. [a role you won over many actors, among them Tom Cruise!]; Burke's Law with Gene Barry; and the soap opera Sunset Beach, where you played good cop gone bad, Eddie Connors. How do you prepare for your roles?
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PB: Mostly when I was young, for me it is just my personality that when I read stuff it resonates with me. So that goes all the way back to the first role that I did with Shirly Jones, it was kind of a thing. That storyline and narrative of conflicting with dad, and the storyline of Powers of Matthew Star was again where parents were killed and the main character I played conflicted with parents and tried and come of age. I loved that character, which was essentially an alien who had telepathic ability to move objects with his mind. Working with Louis Gossett Jr. was great, and someone bumped into him a few years back and he was like “Oh, I would love to catch up with Peter again!”.
 
Even in the Young & Restless, the scriptwriters and producers saw it in me and write in the script "Dad" in the first year. So, I just read stuff and when it resonates with me, I can be authentic with it.
 
Same with horror pictures, too. With Hell Night, at that point I was ready to give up acting because I was only in it for like a year or two years at most, and I was just so stressed out and the whole experience of shooting a horror movie made me a nervous wreck. I didn't even want to do it — they had to get me drunk to convince me!

My co-actress for that movie, Linda Blair, she was so kind and nice, and she talked me into doing the movie. When I finished working with her in January, I was then auditioning for the Powers of Matthew Star, and then just continued from them onwards. There were so many times that I did not want to be an actor. The opportunity to act in the movie Friday the 13th came up just between another project, and my agent at that time put me up for auditioning for the part, and I ended up getting the part. I also knew Amy Steal in Part 2 and she encouraged me to continue acting the part in that, too. In my mind, I thought, 'Oh, I'll be in the last one. That's kind of cool. These things are famous.' Little did I know.

Peter Barton and Linda Blair in Hell Night: Photo Copyright Reuters

Peter Barton and Linda Blair on the set of Hell Night. Photo Copyright Reuters.

​NS: In one of our conversations, you have described playing Eddie Connors on Sunset Beach. What was the fun part and why?

PB: Playing Eddie Connors was fun because out of all the roles I did, it was the first role where I played a character who was a bit of a jackass! This character was constantly upsetting people and was doing all the wrong things all the time by being selfish. I just thought it was fun because it was a different role to play – just an obnoxious character that say what you weren't supported to be saying. I’d never played a villain before so playing Eddie Connors, and Aaron Spelling just thought that would be fun to see me play a villain.
 
NS: What was it like to working with Aaron Spelling? How did it happen?
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PB: So, after I left Young & Restless I did not do an audition for quite some time – six years at least! So, when I went to do the audition for Burke's Law and read the script I realised I can play the part because it was another father-son situation. It just instantly resonated with me. I am not sure where the confidence came from, but I was like "Ah, Peter Burke...Peter Barton…you gotta hire me!", and the script looked good partly because of the way the character was perceived.
 
The thing that people don't know is that when I auditioned for it, it was in this big room with about 4 or 5 guys there and I just got nervous and blew the audition. Dennis Dugan, who has made Adam Sandler movies, was the director. I totally blew it, and Aaron [Spelling] came out of the room and he was like "Team, we're going to do it again".  He came over to me and asked, "What happened, Peter?". My response was that I was just so intimated with the way it was set up in there and I felt like I could not do anything because the feeling was like as if was in front of 50 people instead of the 4 or 5 folks!". Aaron asked me "What can I do for you? I really want you to get the part, Peter!". My thinking was that if Dennis reads with me then maybe I can do a lot better than I did before. So, with that, Denis got up and performed with me and I got the part for Burke's Law there and then!
 
If it had not been for Aaron fighting for me, I would never have got the part because I just totally blew it. A few weeks into the series, Aaron came back to me and said that the team were very happy with my work. There is an example that if it had not been for Aaron sticking up for me, I would not have got the part because originally, I blew the audition. So, yes, a lot of twists and turns in everybody's career and mine if no different.  

Peter [left] with [L-R] Lesley Anne-Down, Aaron Spelling, and Randy Spelling on the set of Sunset Beach in 1998.

Peter Barton on the set of Sunset Beach in the late 1990s: Photo Copyright Peter Barton

Peter Barton and Tracey E. Bregman on the set of the Young & Restless in the 1980s ©CBScourtesy Everett Collection

NS: Your last acting role was in the 2005 film Repetition. Did you ever want to come back to acting, or if offered a role, would you still come back?

PB: Yes, my last part was in Repetition and after that I got busy with the joys of parenthood. It has been nothing but pure joy watching my daughter grow up into a young intelligent bright lady. Sure, I mean if there are certain roles out there that I like to do then why not? I would love to audition and go back to acting.
 ​
NS: On July 16, 2012, a man in Illinois named Ray Fulk died at age 71. Fulk, who had no family of his own, was a fan of yours and your former Hell Night castmate, Lucan star Kevin Brophy. Despite never having met either of you, Fulk bequeathed half of his $1.3m estate to each of you. What was your reaction to this?

PB: It sure did come as a surprise! It was one of those things that was too good to be true. When my late dad got the letter and told me that there was this guy named Ray Falk who had left money in his will for Kevin and myself, we could not believe it and thought it was a scam! I called up Kevin, who was working at a normal job as by now he was a father of five kids and had left acting altogether. I knew Kevin for many years, and we worked together in the 1981 movie “Hell Night” with Linda Blair.
 
He never married, had no children or close family and few friends. I would describe him with all due respect as a hoarder. Somehow, he loved our TV shows and considered Kevin Brophy and me to be his friends. He liked the shows in which we acted but never met either Kevin or me. Kevin was in the 1977 TV show “Lucan” in which he played the title character who had been raised by wolves. Ray kept a Lucan poster on the wall of his house many years after the show went off the air.
 
After receiving the letter concerning the bequest, I flew to central Illinois to check it out, and to our shock we learned that this is real. I saw the ramshackle farmhouse where Ray Fulk lived as a hoarder and the empty corn bin where he was found dead. It was quite sad and just weird. It was just bizarre to see that in his will, Ray referred to Kevin and I as “my friends”. We knew he was a fan because he would write letters to us both, but in our heydays, we had quite a few fan letters, so it is bizarre to see this for the first time. I never imagined ever that someone would be so fixated as to share their wealth with complete strangers. The fact that he had no family and considered us as his friends….it just is sad but also shows the loneliness of the man.
 
I also think Ray felt an especially close, perhaps even telepathic, connection with me, probably because of the connection of “The Powers of Matthew Star”. That’s why I think my life is just so bizarre because these connections and things have happened.

Gene Barry with Peter Barton on the set of Burke's Law: Photo Copyright Reuters.

NS: Finally, you mention soccer. Any team you support? Why soccer?
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PB: Now, I was loving football and I didn't like the varsity coach and all my friends were on the soccer team. My skills were not that good because I never played soccer in 11th and 12th grade and I was a fullback, because I was kind of big, 160-165, you know? I would just tackle people and had the physical strength to stop people come down the wings! I enjoyed watching the Olympics, the Football World Cup, and I had a lot of English mates who would watch the league in the England. So, I guess that's where the interest came about. I don't have a favorite UK team, sorry!  
 
NS: Peter, thank you very much for spending time to share your thoughts. It has been an absolute pleasure having you on my blog!
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PB: Awesome. The pleasure is mine. Thanks a lot, Nav!