The Woman Behind the Fan Club

(It's good to be Debbie!)

Interview by Kathy Hardeman
for www.eyeonsoaps.com
 

Debbie Morris, General Hospital Fan Club President since 1988, graciously offered a segment of time so we could chat about her life as Head of the General Hospital Fan Club, the Fan Club Weekend and General Hospital as an entity.  The coolest thing about Debbie Morris is her love for the show, the actors, and her resulting involvement.  And the woman has great stories to tell.  C’mon, with 15 years as GH Fan Club President, admittance to green rooms, press rooms, dressing rooms, backstage happenings, the Daytime Emmy’s, and Soap Opera Digest Awards, she interacts with the actors on a regular basis.  But let me tell you, with all her access, she’s aware that she walks a privileged path, and she still blushes if Maurice Benard teases her.  Really.  She told me. 

One of the cutest stories she related had to do with a friend she took with her to the GH studio because she adores Maurice Benard.  For storytelling purposes, I’ll call the friend Sally.  Maurice was busy autographing and Debbie informed him that she’d brought Sally who admired him and asked if he’d mind meeting her and having a picture taken with her. (You know “admired him” really means she thinks he’s hot.)  He said of course and Debbie called to Sally across the room to come meet Maurice.  Sally, realizing that she was about to meet the object of her GH affections experienced one of those brain freezing, heart pounding he’s-so-gorgeous-there-he-is-in-living-color-my-knees-have-turned-to-jelly moments.  So Sally waved hi to Maurice and asked him to come to her.  Umm, this is not the way star/fan protocol works, so Debbie went to Sally and brought her to Maurice who was busy autographing.  In a funny mood, Maurice stood, put his arm around Sally and leaned close to her asking, “Sally, you want some of this?”  I would like to meet Sally because she blurted her next comment off the top of her head and I have been known to do the very same thing.  She looked at Maurice and said, “Oh my gosh, I should have worn my Depends.”  After a few beats, they all started laughing including Maurice and even now months later, they still break into giggles whenever they remember.   

I bet, if you’ve ever thought about meeting one of the actors, you’ve imagined what you’d say and how cool you’d be, but according to Debbie, there’s a little bit of star struck that remains within every fan, including her. 

Twenty-seven years ago, through a series of happenstances, Debbie became friends with Liz Reilly, wife of John Reilly a past GH cast member (ex-Sean Donely) and one of Debbie’s personal favorite actors.  In fact, she called him her first soap star crush.  Liz Reilly asked her to act as John Reilly’s Fan Club President and a joyful career was born.  Not right away of course, at the time Debbie, a single parent, worked at another job.  Obviously, she was an impressive Fan Club President for Mr. John Reilly because soon other actors were requesting her services.  In 1988, Wendy Riche, Executive Producer at GH, asked if she’d be interested in taking over as GH Fan Club President because the originating president was retiring.  This was the ultimate plum, to be Fan Club President for a show, and after carefully considering the time and commitment required Debbie accepted the position.  When Port Charles arrived in the ABC Daytime line up she was offered that show as well. 

Are you wondering what it means to be Fan Club President for a whole show?  I mean besides the obvious perks of interacting with the actors, attending studio and fan events, along with glamorous award shows.  I asked Debbie.  Her finest hour of the year is the GH Fan Club Weekend.  But before the weekend arrives, a whole year’s worth of work goes into site arrangements, coordinating events, scheduling actors, setting up photo ops with the press, and tons of grunt work stuffing envelopes, writing newsletters, and answering fans’ excited e-mails and letter queries.  In addition, she acts as liaison between the studio and fans and promotes other GH related events during the year such as Super Soap Weekends.  In an average day, she estimated that she receives about 200 snail mail and e-mails with numbers jumping significantly during November through February when club renewals and ticket arrangements are jumping. 

Debbie is committed as GH’s Fan Club President to making the fans happy in whatever capacity she is able.  Years ago, before her fan club president or GH fan club president days, Debbie flew to Los Angeles with a friend in the press who was interviewing an actor in the GH studio.  Because she wasn’t press, Debbie had to wait outside at the gate and she decided then and there that if she ever had access to a place like the General Hospital Studio, she’d make sure she shared the privilege with as many others as possible.  With that mindset, over the years she’s arranged innumerable studio tours and meet and greets between fans and actors.  However, with security becoming a major issue, studios have been forced to limit public access.  Because studio access has become so limited, Debbie offers the two studio tours allowed by ABC in the raffle and not the silent auction at the Fan Weekend.  Her commitment to the fans of General Hospital remains top priority because first and foremost, she too is a fan.  

A busy, dedicated woman, Debbie makes herself available to the legions of fans seeking information ranging from how to contact their favorite stars to studio policies.  If she doesn’t know the answer, she knows who to ask   In response to my question regarding the best part of her job, her answer followed immediately.  She likes making the fans happy.  In my opinion, she does her job well.  If you need to find her, she can be reached at GHPCFanClub@aol.com.  Snail mail should be addressed to Debbie Morris, P.O. Box 96737, Houston, Texas  77213.  (But remember – she doesn’t have seating info and don’t mock the chicken)

[Interview excerpts reprinted with permission from Kathy Hardeman and Eye on Soaps]

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