I sat down with Clint a few weeks ago to reminisce about his time on One Life to Live and found that he's been keeping himself very busy with his ranch, that he does occasionally watch One Life to Live, he does keep in touch with some of his former colleagues and that he really misses "being on the boards".

Clint purchased his Northern California ranch in 1981, while still working in New York City for One Life to Live. Born and raised in North Dakota, he wanted to get back to his cowboy roots and happened to find the perfect place, not too terribly far from Sacramento, California.  Today, he spends "90% of the time working the ranch and trying to get caught up on things I couldn't do when I was working 3,000 miles away."

He still keeps in pretty regular touch with a couple of the Buchanan's on the show. "I talk to Philly [Phil Carey, "Asa"] on a fairly regular basis, once a week, once every two or three weeks and with Woodsy [Bob Woods, "Bo"]. That's pretty much it." And then he took a wide open opportunity to make a little wisecrack, "You know what surprises me about seeing them on the show?  When I see them on the show, they look so much older and when I look in the mirror I'm still the same.  Now, how can that be?"

When I asked him about the ongoing rumors that he turned down the network when asked to reprise the role of Clint Buchanan, he got pretty upset. "The thing that's got me a little pissed off is that I've heard negative stuff from my fans who are angry with me because I turned down the offer to come back to play Clint Buchanan but I was never given an the opportunity to say yes, no or maybe.  It bugs me that the fans think I received a solid offer and I said no. That's just not the truth."

As I'm sure all of you would have asked, my next question was whether or not he would have accepted such an offer. "Whether I would come back or not, come back to what? I would love to go back and do One Life to Live as I knew One Life to Live but I haven't seen that show since the 90's and I don't recognize this show. I tune in ever once in a while and it's just not a show I'm familiar with…  I don't think anyone can come up with a justifiable reason at all why some Clint Buchanan hasn't been there when his daughter was kidnapped and going through the crap she's going through right now. That's his child, the apple of his eye, but then I don't understand why they sent Clint Buchanan - a Texan - to London in the first place."  I can't think of any fan who could or would disagree with this sentiment. 

In addition to his work on the ranch, Clint would love to get back to work in the acting world. "I would love to get back on the boards. Not necessarily on OLTL, not necessarily on a soap opera but I would like to get back in front of the camera. I'd like to strut my stuff. When I said I was hanging up my acting spurs, I didn't say I was dying. I would still like to perform in something I could sink my teeth into." 

He did say that he doesn't know what is out there or if there is anything specific he would like to get involved with. Since his agent passed away, he's been out of the loop. "I'm 450 miles away from Los Angeles and there aren't a whole lot of talent scouts up here looking for Clint Ritchie, which boggles my mind."

I remember Clint from the heyday of OLTL, back when Tina and Cord, Gabrielle and Max and Clint and Viki were THE big stories so I was all about taking a walk down memory lane with Clint Ritchie. His favorite storylines were any involving the Buchanan's, where the family was really together, "at the time the family camaraderie between the Buchanan's, the way they jerked each other around and pulled each other's chain, the kind of thing where I'll call my brother a son of a bitch but don't somebody else dare call my brother a son of a bitch…  Back when it was real. There was also some beautiful stuff with Erika that to me was precious and still is precious. When we did one on one, we really connected. I remember when Jackie Smith and Josi Emerick were big wigs at ABC Daytime and referred to us as Gable and Lombard and Tracy and Hepburn because of the chemistry we had going. We had great writers back then instead of people learning to write and it really showed." 

Since we all know the character has been recast and Clint Ritchie was never asked to reprise, you gotta wonder how that makes him feel. I know I would be slightly more than a little upset if it were me. I mean, the role was his, he started it, he even convinced the network to change the name of the character from "Chris Logan" to "Clint Buchanan" because he felt the role was made for him. And the role has been recast without even an offer to reprise. But Clint Ritchie really doesn't mind. "I don't own Clint Buchanan, the network owns Clint Buchanan and I'd like to see what their impression is of the guy who should play Clint Buchanan now."

He went on to tell me the story of first getting the original 9-page character breakdown for the role of Chris Logan, in August of 1979. No one told him it was for a soap opera, that it was filmed in New York. All he was told was that it was for a "good show". He had been out riding his horse when he got the page (on the old school beepers), left the stable, battled that infamous L.A. traffic to get into Hollywood, picked up the breakdown and read it while sitting in traffic trying to get back to his horse. "I drove in, went immediately to my telephone to call my agent and said, 'I think someone has been following me around town and wrote a script just for me. This is me. They can cast this sucker any way they want to but if they don't cast me, they're miscasting it.'"

When he went to New York to audition for the role, he walked in wearing his Levi's and cowboy boots and cowboy hat while carrying his "audition wardrobe" in a bag over his shoulder. He started removing his sports jacket, oxford shoes, slacks, etc. and asked the Producer what he should wear for the audition. "He said 'wear what you're wearing' and the rest is history. So, it would be interesting now for me to see what the studio thinks Clint Buchanan is today. I don't have any problem with it at all, please believe me."

He told me he was very flattered by the rumors that the network was hoping Patrick Duffy would play the new Clint and I'm sure he's equally as flattered that daytime vet Jerry VerDorn has been chosen to play the role. 

He also had a message for his very loyal fans. "I have never ceased to be amazed by their loyalty. I think I have the most loyal, dedicated and wonderful fans of them all. I'd put 10 of mine up against 100 of everybody else's. They have been such great supporters and I just don't want them to think I bailed out on them or anything."

I found Clint Ritchie to be very funny, open, honest and charming. It was my pleasure to have the unique opportunity to sit down with and catch up with one of my all time favorite One Life to Live vets. I wish him all the luck in the world at getting back on the boards and hope he continues to enjoy his life on the ranch!

Special thanks to Clint Ritchie for taking the time to chat with me and to JHS for setting up the interview.

 A glance down Memory Lane

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