TRANSCRIPT: CBS THIS MORNING - October 04, 1990, Thursday

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(Stephen Nichols  Talks About Leaving Days of our Lives/Paula Zahn is the cohost)

Stephen Nichols is saying good-bye to the daytime soap "Days of ourLives" after five years on the show. The role of Patch has made Nichols so popular that last year a consumer survey ranked him second to Bill Cosby as the celebrity who's best-known and best-liked by TV viewers.Patch started as a shadowy character and ended a hero.

Zahn: And Stephen Nichols joins us now.

Good morning.

Stephen Nichols ("Days of Our Lives"): Good morning.

Zahn: Trademark patch gone.

Nichols: Yeah, well, it's gone today. I--I'm going to hang it up.

Zahn: That's going to make a lot of people very unhappy out there.

Nichols: Yeah, actually I was at a fan gathering yesterday, and there were a lot of fans--a lot of women and a lot of them were crying. And I asked them to please remember the character because I'm going to hang the patch up and the character will be put to rest. And I love the character and so do they, but it's time--it's time to move on.

Zahn: The producers tried to mess with your character before. That isn't  the first time they've heard from fans, is it?

Nichols: Yeah, you know, they took the patch off and there wasn't a problem with that. I felt--my slogan is: If it works, don't fix it. And if they see you five days a week with a patch on your face, that's a very dynamic image and they get so used to that. And to take that away really does alter the character, I think.

Zahn: Number two to Bill Cosby on the list. What was your reaction whenyou heard you were that popular?

Nichols: Really, really blew my mind. And they put a little asterisk by my name, soap star,' and also Mary Beth Evans, who I work with, was on that list of 10 people. So it was--it was a mind-blower to find out that it was--that I was that popular.

Zahn: So now you're going to give it all up. Why?

Nichols: Well, a friend of mine at work who is a costumer--is also anactor, said to me one day, So you're leaving.' I said, Yeah.' He said, It's time, isn't it?' Said, Yeah.' He said, You know, an actor's soul is like a gypsy, it has to wander and move on or it dies.' And that's the feeling that I have--that I must move on. You know, I can't continue to do this forever.

Zahn: So what's going to happen to Patch?

Nichols: Well, I think he's going to be snuffed out.

Zahn: No.

Nichols: Yeah.

Zahn: Not that--come on, tell us how.

Nichols: It's really the only way. Well, you know, it's the typical soap opera story. You chase around after some bad people and you--you get killed, you get blown up, you get shot--you know, something like that.

Zahn: You're going to break so many hearts out there.

Nichols: Yeah. I've been trying to prepare them gently for this.And--but this is the way it's got to be.

Zahn: So where do you go from here?

Nichols: Well, I have many irons in the fire, as they say, so that when I'm out there and available
something will pan out. I have a dramatic series in development and a couple of TV movies possibly
with another network. And I have a couple of feature scripts that I'd like to produce independently.

Zahn: What was the toughest thing about the discipline of--of doing a soap?

Nichols: I think the toughest thing was bringing the material up to a level where I could be comfortable with--with it, where I could feel good about it. It was every night two hours sitting down with the script wrangling with these scenes and trying to make something--make some sense out of it. Not always,
but that was usually the case--was trying to get it to--to sing, you know, get it to work and make sense.

Zahn: Does that mean your wife knew your lines almost as well as you did?

Nichols: She certainly did. She ran lines with me every single night for almost the entire five years that I've been on the show--ran lines with me, so that I would know them in the morning, so I could really get into the scenes and rehearse them and not have to worry about the lines.

Zahn: Are you at all nervous about letting go and--and moving on?

Nichols: Well, I was when I made my final decision a few months back, but I've had a few months now to--to go through all the fears and to work through all of the--this stuff with my children. And, you know, there are questions about it. And I'm very comfortable now, and I feel--I feel  really excited about it.

Zahn: Well, good luck. We'll be looking for you...

Nichols: Thank you.

Zahn: ...with the patch or without. Nice to meet you.

Nichols: Thanks.

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