Michael Zaslow; Award-Winning Soap Opera Star, Stage Actor

Michael Zaslow, the charming David Renaldi of the daytime soap opera “One Life to Live” and the evil but durable Roger Thorpe of “Guiding Light,” has died. He was 54.

Zaslow, who died Sunday at his home in New York City of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, founded an organization called ZazAngels for research into the illness.

The Inglewood-born TV actor, who was also successful on stage, returned to “One Life to Live” in May as Renaldi, a character he made popular on the show from 1983 to 1986. Zaslow’s character, like the actor, suffered from the neuromuscular disease and raised public awareness and support for research.

But Zaslow had a far longer tenure and less lovable persona as Thorpe on “Guiding Light.” He created the baddie in 1972, left in 1979 for a 10-year hiatus and then returned for another boo-able and hiss-able long run. Over the years, Zaslow’s Thorpe had affairs with three married women, raped two others, including his wife, and accidentally killed a woman when he threw her down a flight of stairs.

His dastardly deeds earned him three nominations for the Daytime Emmy for best actor, which he won in 1994.

“I think a villain doesn’t know he is a villain,” the affable actor told The Times shortly after winning his Emmy. “[Thorpe] tries to go after what he wants. He’s very passionate, driven by needs he doesn’t understand.”

Zaslow also appeared on the prime-time soap opera “King’s Crossing” and in the dramatic series “Law & Order,” and in a few motion pictures including “You Light Up My Life” in 1977.

He earned his greatest fame and pay from his work for the small screen, but never expected to be there.

“Television was an accident to me,” he told The Times four years ago with a laugh. “I was a serious artiste.”

To Zaslow, the “magic” moment of his long career was the night in 1974 when he stepped in--with three hours’ notice--for an ailing Keir Dullea in the Broadway revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” opposite Elizabeth Ashley. When he took his curtain call, the audience gave the substitute a standing ovation.

Zaslow began his career close to home, singing baritone in musicals for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. He also worked with the USO, touring Asia as the star of “Carousel.”

Moving on to Broadway, he starred as Perchik in “Fiddler on the Roof,” where he met his actress-cum-psychotherapist wife, Susan Hufford. His stage roles ranged from Macbeth to Noel Coward.

“A career,” Zaslow often said, “is largely a result of tenacity, perseverance, talent and luck, perhaps with luck rated at the top of that list.”

Zaslow earned a political science degree at UCLA, where he was inducted into the scholastic honorary society Phi Beta Kappa.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by their two adopted Korean daughters, Marika and Helena.

A public memorial benefit for ZazAngels and ALS research, with a performance by actor Alec Baldwin, is scheduled Jan. 25 at New York’s Royale Theater.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be sent to ZazAngels, 40 Wall St., Suite 428, New York, N.Y. 10005.