From Russia to Hollywood

 

Samantha Smith, the lefty 10-year old who became famous almost overnight for her letter to Russian leader Yuri Andropov, is now a rising t.v. star.

Publicity generated from Andropov’s response and the family’s subsequent trip in July of 1983 led to numerous news and talk show appearances for Samantha.  A book has been published about her experiences in Russia, and she also interviewed the 1984 Democratic presidential candidates for the Disney Cable Network.

In an interview with Samantha for our cover feature (July/August 1984) she said she’d like to be an actress, a journalist or a senator from Maine.

One of these aspirations is now a dream come true for the 8^th grader from a small town in Maine.  This season she made a guest appearance on the CBS comedy series “Charles in Charge/”  And she has a part in a brand new series, “J.G. Culver,” co-starring with Robert Wagner (“Hart to Hart”).

Wagner plays a top-notch insurance investigator and the divorce father of two daughters, and Samantha will play the older daughter.  Another newcomer, Maia Brewton plays her younger sister.

The two-hour pilot, originally titled “55 Lime Street”, was aired for ABC officials recently and will be the lend-in for the series whish is scheduled for prime-time on Saturday nights this fall.

IN a recent phone interview, Jane Smith, Samantha’s mother, talked about the coming changes in their lives. “We’ll all be going to Los Angeles, where the series will be filmed, but we haven’t decided whether we’ll be moving there permanently.  We’ll just have to see what happens.”  Jane is employed by Maine’s Department of Human Resources in Augusta, and her husband Arthur, is a former teacher.

 

 

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