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Judi Evans:
"I missed my senior prom, but now I'm living out my fantasies on Guiding Light."
by Joan Loughlin
Daytime TV
December 1983

Judi Evans didn't go to her high school prom. She also tried out for class valedictorian but didn't make it. So when her character Beth Raines on Guiding Light was voted queen of the prom and valedictorian, Judi was thrilled.

"It was like a dream come true," smiles Judi. "Missing it in real life made my scenes more believable. I was so excited about going to the prom on the show that I cried all the way through. I'm getting to live out all my fantasies."

But 19-year-old Judi, who was born and raised in California, isn't exactly a wallflower. With her acting talent and golden girl looks, Judi won the role of Beth, despite her limited experience, and has captured the essence of being a young girl in love for the first time.

Judi may be new to the acting world, but she certainly has show business in her blood. She got her start at age two as a clown in her family's circus. Her father was a ringmaster, her mother a trapeze artist and her three older brothers were jugglers and gymnasts.

"It's a perfect way for a family to live," explains Judi. "You're together 24 hours a day and you learn to love each other and get along. Besides, where else would I get to ride an elephant?"

When Judi was eight, her parents decided to limit their performances to only a few times a year and Judi and her brothers enrolled in a regular school. "They decided we should be around our peers," she says.

Judi's extremely close to her parents, which made the move to New York a difficult one. Though she loves her work and is adjusting to city life, she misses her family and talks to them often on the phone.

"We always did things together, some of them were wild, spur of the moment things," laughs Judi. "Like driving hours just for a taco or taking midnight drives down the coast to Mexico."

"They're my best friends," she continues. "They've always been there to counsel me. Family is very important to me. They always have a pillow there when I fall."

But Judi isn't falling these days. In fact, she's doing great and she credits her new career and friends. She's closest to co-stars Krista Tesreau (Mindy) and her TV mom Tina Sloan (Lillian). "Krista and I are always going out and Tina's like having my mom here in New York. We spend a lot of time together, talking and laughing."

"Everyone told me New Yorkers were rude, but it's not true," says Judi. "I feel more at home here than in L.A. There's so much energy--I feel like I belong."