Samms Checks Back Into ‘General Hospital’

Back in 1985, Holly Sutton Scorpio, played by Emma Samms, left ABC’s “General Hospital” via that soap staple--a plane crash disappearance. This month, Holly, again played by Emma Samms, turned up alive and well in New York. Soon, Holly will be back in the soap town of Port Charles.

In her years between “GH,” Samms found prime-time soap success on “Dynasty,” replacing Pamela Sue Martin as the headstrong, spoiled Fallon Carrington Colby, and on its less-successful spinoff, “The Colbys.” She also appeared in television and feature films and as a guest star on several series.

Why, then, did she decide to return to daytime?

“Because they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse!” Samms says with a laugh. “I’m doing this role for a limited time, just a year. And there’s a guarantee from ABC that I’ll be able to do all the other things I have in development (according to her contract, three films and a prime-time pilot). So it’s an all-win situation.

“I must tell you the truth, though,” she adds. “The real incentive for me to go back is that I am so fond of everybody there. I had a marvelous experience working with the actors and the crew. I returned to visit them a number of times--I’d hang out in the prop room and answer phones for them.”

The arrival of the popular actress should be a boost to the serial, which has been undergoing considerable changes on and off camera. Another well-liked leading lady, Finola Hughes as Anna Scorpio, recently departed the show to work on an ABC pilot, replaced by actress Camilla More. The ‘GH’ future for Hughes and the character is undecided.

In addition, executive producer Gloria Monty departed after a much-heralded return only 13 months ago. And, at press time Tristan Rogers, whose character Robert Scorpio had been married to Holly when she disappeared and is now wed to Anna, had not renewed his contract, which expires Feb. 7.

Consequently, speaking on only her second day at work, Samms is genuinely vague about her storyline. “I have no idea who I’ll be paired up with,” she says. “All I can say is, you can imagine what havoc it’s going to cause with Holly returning to Port Charles.”

Despite her time away, it was easy slipping back into the role. “I know that character like the back of my hand. She’s the most fun, and the closest to my personality, of any I’ve ever played,” she says. “Hopefully, too, the changes, and the lessons I’ve learned as a person, will be evident in her, either subtly or overtly.”

The only change behind the scenes, she adds, is that the show now tapes at a different studio. “Other than that, it was like going back in time six years. There were so many of the same friendly faces. Everyone’s the same, except that we’ve all grown a little older.”

Knowing that she had been away from the 50-pages-of-dialogue-a-day grind, did the writers at least start her off easy?

“Oh, no!” she says with another laugh. “They never do that. My first scene ever on ‘General Hospital’ was swimming naked in a cold mountain pond with fish. But, I’m pleased to say, I haven’t screwed up yet.”

Along with the projects called for in her ABC contract, Samms is developing a series of television movies with Robert Hays and a film for the Lifetime Channel called “Starlight.” The latter, in which she will play herself, is about the Starlight Foundation, an organization that fulfills the wishes of seriously ill children worldwide; Samms co-founded the enterprise, inspired by the helplessness she remembered feeling as a child watching her younger brother die.

Besides serving on the boards of Starlight and its sister Starbright Pavilion Organization, Samms is active in organizations promoting the rights of people who are deaf or hearing-impaired. She and actress Marlee Matlin successfully testified before a Senate hearing for the passage of a law guaranteeing that all new television sets above a certain size would have a built-in microchip for closed-captioning.

“I’ve always felt that it’s really my obligation to utilize the benefits given to me along with my career success,” she explains. “I can draw attention to a worthy cause and try to do as much as possible. I have a lot of resources at my reach, and it’s only right that I give something back.”

Were those activities not enough to fill her date book, the actress-philanthropist who initially aspired to a ballet career in her native England until suffering a severe hip injury, is also a certified emergency medical technician and an accomplished photographer, with credits including an “Architectural Digest” layout of playwright Neil Simon at home.

“I’m not multi-talented. I’m multi-interested,” she says. “There are so many things I want to try. My parents encouraged me to be brave enough to have a go at it. I can’t even remember the last time I was bored.”

Certainly, this coming year promises to be stimulating. And for those who might feel that career deja vu equals a step backward, Samms says matter-of-factly, “I really don’t care what they think. If I were going to make an argument, it’s not as if I haven’t been able to do other things. If they could see my deal, they wouldn’t say it.”

“General Hospital” airs weekdays at 2 p.m. on ABC.