Sad news about the passing of Anthony Herrera (James Stenbeck, As The World Turns) has been announced today via his Facebook page.
I was honored to have met Anthony at a poetry reading last summer at The Players Club in New York City. As intimidated as any soap fan with meeting the man who so chillingly portrayed the evil "James Stenbeck", I found that in reality Mr. Herrera was a man who loved poetry, could speak in great depth about classic films such as Casablanca and The Searchers and deeply wanted to help people face the battle with cancer (a fight he was all too familiar with). He spoke at great length about his belief in "Triumph of the Human Spirit", a lecture series he took part in where he discussed how love of art can give strength in the face of such traumas as battling disease.
Anthony graciously consented to do a radio interview with me in September where we discussed his battle with cancer, his book regarding his struggles entitled The Cancer War, his project Poetry Theatre and his work as an actor. The OutTakes interview with Anthony Herrera can be found at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/outtakes/2010/09/08/anthony-herrera.
Thank you, Mr. Herrera, and rest in peace. You will be missed.
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The confirmation on his Facebook page is as follows:
Anthony Herrera, a stage, film, and television actor, may be best known for his thirty years as James Stenbeck on “As the World Turns”, CBS Television. He died in Buenos Aries, Argentina on June 21, 2011.
In January 1997, Herrera was diagnosed with a rare and usually fatal lymphoma. He underwent an autologous stem cell transplant at Sloan-Kettering and a donor transplant at MD Anderson Cancer Center, which made medical history. In remission for 10 years, he wrote “The Cancer War”, www.thecancerwar.com.
In October of 2005 Anthony testified for Senator Arlen Specter on stem cell research. He gave a lecture on “The Human Spirit” at MD Anderson, Sloan Kettering, and St. Jude’s in Memphis, TN. It can be viewed on www.anthonyherrera.org.
Herrera was born in Wiggins, Mississippi. He graduated from Ole Miss with a B.A. in English literature. He is a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity.
In New York, he studied his craft with the acclaimed Stella Adler. He starred in the NBC Movie of the Week “Mandrake the Magician”, and had featured roles in “Helter Skelter”, “The Blue Knight “The Rockford Files”, and “Manciuso, FBI”, with contract roles on “The Young and Restless” and “Loving”.
He produced and directed the award winning “Mississippi Delta Blues” and directed a film of Eudora Welty’s “The Wide Net”. He co-authored and toured the play “Smoke & Mirrors” published by Samuel French.
Anthony was President of Poetry Theatre, Inc (www.poetrytheatre.org) where actors such as Hume Cronyn, Charles Durning, Tyne Daly, and Willie Nelson recite poems.
Poetry Theatre was Anthony’s Herrera’s great love, and it will continue in tribute to Anthony’s memory and legacy. There will also be a commemorative page to Anthony, on the Poetry Theatre website. All donations will be listed and any comments about how Anthony affected their lives will also be posted.
For those who wish to donate to Poetry Theatre kindly make checks payable to Poetry Theatre, Inc. and send them to:
Poetry Theatre
210 West 70th Street #808
New York, NY 10023
Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts and memories at this difficult time.
Thank you Laurie, we will treasure this interview! I'll never forget how nervous I was to call in and talk to him. Now, I wish I had. He was one of the greatest actors of all time! I loved scenes with him and Barbara. He will be terribly missed.
ReplyDeleteIn my 35+ years of watching A.T.W.T. every day [or through V.C.R.] he was and always will be my favorite actor on day time soaps. In his prime, and that covered a lot of years, he was the best villain of all of the soaps. I watched most of them and no one could touch him. He was pure evil with class. One day down the road hopefully he and Barbara will meet again. R.I.P.
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