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John McCook wasn’t always known as Eric Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful. A longtime veteran of the popular CBS soap opera, McCook got his start on Broadway in a 1964 City Center revival of West Side Story immediately after arriving in New York. During an appearance on CBS’s Soapy podcast, the performer shared his short-lived Broadway experience and how it led to his long career in Hollywood.
“The West Side Story I auditioned for was a large company and so Actors’ Equity required that there be two understudies instead of just one,” he recalled. After getting cast as the second understudy for Tony, he jumped into rehearsals and was soon discovered by somebody from Warner Bros., who saw him in the show.
“I got to do the show, and Warner Bros. saw m,e and they put me under contract and sent me back to Burbank. So I went to New York to be a musical theater guy, and then I was back in Burbank for about eight weeks.” McCook soon signed a contract with the studio, beginning his television career. Check out the clip from the podcast, and check out the whole Soapy episode here.
John McCook is a stage and screen performer, best known for his roles in the soap operas The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful. For the latter, he received four Daytime Emmy nominations and went on to win an award in 2022. In addition to West Side Story, he has also appeared in regional stage productions, including opposite Carol Burnett in Putting It Together at the Mark Taper Forum.
