Interview with Sharon Rose Gabet
Sharon Rose Gabet ,thanks for taking this interview. Bio:Sharon Rose Gabet is an actor, a registered nurse and certified yoga teacher trained at Shambhava School of Yoga, Boulder, CO. Born and raised in Indiana, she received a degree in nursing from Purdue, completed the MFA Acting Program at Cornell University, moved to New York City, was accepted into the famed Actor's Studio and worked with Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan, Lee Grant and Arthur Penn. She enjoyed a dozen years as an Eighties soap star, garnering two Best Actress Daytime Emmy nominations for her portrayal of Raven Whitney on 'The Edge of Night' (1977-1984).
After her third child was born with autism, Sharon Rose began a twenty-year study and exploration of alternative medicine, holistic healing, spirituality, metaphysics, psychology, philosophy, astrology and astronomy. Her professional resume includes experience as a nurse, energy therapist, workshop facilitator, astrologer, actor and author ('Spiritual Magic', 'From the Raven to the Dove'). She loves traveling around the world's ancient archaeological sites and lives with her daughter among the California Redwoods. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0300046/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
Can you please tell the story of how you got into acting and where you are currently at?
It’s funny, I had no aspiration to be an actor at all coming out of high school even though I sang and acted in all the plays and singing groups while I was there. I was way more practical. I went to nursing school and was going to marry my hometown honey who was in law school. But while studying nursing at Purdue in Fort Wayne, Indiana’s regional campus, I passed by the theater department and saw auditions for their first musical of the year. I thought, “why not?” I auditioned and I got the part of the leading lady. There was no turning back from there… (even though I did complete my nursing education) I started taking theater classes which were excellent and in my second year our production of Dames at Sea was picked as one of ten college productions in the country to win the American College Theater Festival award of performing live in the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Then I was awarded a Fellowship to Cornell after a series of auditions and that got me out of Indiana and into New York State. After I graduated from Cornell, I followed a couple of my classmates (Ethan Phillips- Neelix on Star Trek Voyager and Catherine Hicks of 7th Heaven) to New York City. I still can’t believe how it all happened and how fortunate I was. Six years after graduating high school I was in NYC and a year later I was Raven on The Edge of Night. Would never have dreamed that in a million years.
Ms. Gabet, can you tell us that one story you wish everyone knew about yourself? You know the one that if you had to introduce yourself to people that story?
I was divorced from the father of my children and he remarried. I don’t know what it was - she was jealous of me for having his kids or what - but she was very mean to me. When the kids were there I could not come into her house. I had to drop them off on the corner. Other mean things… not important. So my daughter Johanna who has autism was looking really bad one night. I thought she had the flu and put her to bed. I went in to check on her a little later and she was unconscious. If I had not checked on her she would have died that night. I didn’t know what was wrong, but called her father to come help me get her in a car and take her to the ER. His wife came with him. I was in the backseat with her and she had a grand mal seizure. So now I knew what the problem was. She had had a seizure in bed and aspirated on her secretions and it was in her lungs. Being a nurse does come in handy… She kept seizing. We took her into the ER where they heavily sedated her to stop the seizures, inserted a tracheostomy tube, gave her oxygen and then transferred her to a pediatric intensive care unit about 30 miles away. We all drove there and Jo was taken in an ambulance. When we checked in, they would not let the wife go in. They said only the parents. It would have been a good time for revenge or payback. But I told them, no, please let her in and they did. I am obviously not my nasty soap character.
Ms. Gabet, you are an actress. Can you talk about what you are doing and share any stories about Edge of Night that you are willing to share?
Right now I am writing a lot and also singing and working on a one woman show/Cabaret project. I just re-published my autobiography From the Raven to the Dove in paperback on Amazon.com. I wrote the original in 2002 and thought it needed an upgrade and added over 175 photos and an epilogue of what I’ve been up to for the past 20 years.
I am also preparing my second book Spiritual Magic for paperback right now. It combines introductions to metaphysical laws of energy and manifestation from Plato, Pythagorus, alchemy, hermeticism and Eastern medicine with more modern teachings on quantum physics and Jungian psychology. Pretty wild stuff, but as a nurse (yes I got my license), certified yoga instructor and alternative health practitioner, I’m very interested in mind, body, soul health and the glorious potential of the human spirit.
The Edge of Night was the best experience of my acting career. No doubt about it. I loved everything about it from the way it was shot, to the family feeling with the cast, crew and production staff to that spectacular character, Raven. EDGE was a half hour show so our day was much shorter and far more relaxed than the hour shows. We shot it as if it were live. The entire cast would be on the set together and the sets were in a circle so we watched each other’s work. We all got to know each other really well and we had so many laughs together.
We were not supposed to stop tape for any reason unless we totally blanked out and they frowned on that. You were supposed to try to save the scene so they wouldn’t have to spend money editing. So there were many stories of how we did that. My favorite was when Larkin Malloy (Sky Whitney) and I were shooting a scene on our bed. The cover was red satin and very slippery. Larkin fell off the bed while the camera was on me. They kept rolling, so he gave his lines while he was climbing back up on the bed. The camera was on me the whole time! I had to give my lines and not laugh as he climbed back up on the bed just in time for the camera to cut to him for his tag line and then back to me and then out. Larkin and I and the entire crew SCREAMED in laughter and both Larkin and I were so proud of ourselves for getting through it. That’s what you call professionalism.
Ms. Gabet, you are an actress. What part of the business do you like the most?
I’ll start that question with what I like the LEAST and that is the business part of the business. The audition process has always been demeaning and is getting worse. If you are a superstar, you get everything. If you are “just” a working actor, you get peanuts. The entire process of trying to get work is extremely stressful. But once you get to the “craft” part of the business and have the good fortune to work with talented people, there is nothing like it. The creative process of bringing a character to life from a written page and putting a show together is just sublime. On the Edge of Night, all the actors, old and young alike, were always giggling over the fact that we got to PLAY for a living. It’s the best.
Ms. Gabet, what genre of entertainment are you into now or would you say you want to be a part of in the future? The idea is to set goals outside of this current environment.
Well, for one thing I’d like to see more roles for us senior citizens! HAHAHA! And not just playing a mother or father (or grandmother!). We have interesting lives too. Roles with depth. It’s sad what happens in the business after 40, even if you keep yourself looking good. Slim pickings.
Ms. Gabet, during this time of lockdown, these interviews are to help people find new books, movies, etc to look into. What has been your entertainment or what books/movies would you suggest
I love an occasional binge watch. It’s like a vacation from life. There are so many great series out there. I prefer comedy these days. Don’t want a movie to make me more tense than I am after reading the news. I did Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin’s Grace and Frankie. Loved it. And of course Schitt’s Creek! Hilarious!
I’m a little bit of a nerd with my books… I like psychology books and also books and documentaries on civilization and ancient history. I’m reading psychologist James Hillman right now - Psychological Alchemy. I bought five of his books and have been plowing through them. Myth, Jungian psychology, psyche, alchemy are all so much FUN for me. I love learning about the human psyche and humanity’s potential nobility and both my books focus on that in different ways.
I also love to travel and visit ancient archeological sites. I’ve been to Egypt three times, all over Greece and I went to Peru and Bolivia in October of 2019 with Freddy Silva and an Aymara Shaman. We traveled to Cusco, Machu Picchu and all around Lake Titicaca. Powerful experience. So I watch two YouTube Channels Uncharted X and Fall of Civilizations. Uncharted X visits all the places I’ve been in Egypt, Greece, Peru, etc and fills me in with the latest information on new discoveries. Fall of Civilizations has very long and in depth videos on all the major civilizations and how they rose and fell. I love that stuff.
Ms. Gabet, please tell my reader about what you have been doing recently.
As I said, I just re-published From the Raven to the Dove and am about to publish Spiritual Magic in paperback. Both on Amazon.com. I’m working on my vocal range and writing material for the Cabaret Act. I’m also working on a play called The Night Shift. I just started working on my physical strength with Pilates equipment. Don’t want to ever need a walker… hahaha. I’ve always got a few craft projects to work on. I garden and meditate regularly. The pandemic has been rough for my autistic daughter who I care for. She is used to us going out to concerts and doing a lot of different things. So I’ve had to buy a lot of paints and craft supplies to keep her busy.
Ms. Gabet, the classic question: what charity do you support? Can you provide a link to it and explain your reason for supporting that charity?
Right now I am building up a Special Needs Trust for my autistic daughter Johanna who will be 31 this summer. It’s taking most of my focus and resources. I’m going to be 70 in January 2022 and I’ve been Johanna’s major caregiver since she was born. As much as I love her, I need to set up a program and living situation for her so she can begin the separation process from me. I’m not going to be around forever. Nor will I always be able to do everything for her that I do now. It’s a sobering reality because I want her to be as safe and happy as she is with me. Johanna is non verbal and will never be able to provide for herself. All my book proceeds go to the Trust and I also sold a dozen high quality canvas replicas of the famous Raven portrait that hung over the Whitney Mansion fireplace for the Trust. (I got the original portrait after the final day of shooting on The Edge of Night.) I have five portrait canvases left -sized 24” X 18” @ $170 each (includes postage). If anyone is interested, contact me on Facebook (Sharon Rose Gabet) with a private message. I will sign them with whatever you want. I’ll also have more things to auction off or sell from my soap days in the future.
Ms. Gabet, what is your dream project? With whom do you want to work with or if you start to sign with or direct what genre of work or music project would your future projects be or what type of movies?
As I said, I’m working on a Cabaret act filled with my life stories and songs that enhance those stories. I think my dream project would be doing an episodic show with my best friends Frances Fisher (Detective Deborah Saxon) and Terry Davis (April Scott) who were on the Edge of Night with me. We have stayed close friends for over 40 years now. We would just be a riot together. We’ve got the depth of relationship, we are all accomplished dramatic actresses and we can do comedy for sure! Omg, what fun that would be. We could do a murder mystery show. The Golden Girls do The Edge of Night.
Ms. Gabet, what question do you wish I had asked? And what is the answer to that question?
Are you happy with your life?
Yes, I am. I’m very grateful for the opportunities and experiences I’ve had. My highs and lows in life have been extreme, no doubt about that, but I’ve managed to keep my faith and trust in life and in my Creator. I’m constantly surprised with blessings.
Link to my book on Amazon:
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube Channel: Sharon Rose Gabet