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Ross,
a resident of Arlington, Texas, contacted her natural parents to
check on possible genetic problems affecting her 18-month-old son.
Ross' mother, who asked that her name not be used, initially wouldn't
tell Ross who her real father was for fear of disrupting his life.
Then she softened.
"She told
me he was an actor, then she told me his name and it didn't ring
a bell," Ross said from Arlington. "She said, `He's on
a TV show called `Northwest Territory' - or something.' I said,
`Could it be `Northern Exposure'?" The CBS sitcom
is one of Ross' favorite programs. It is filmed in Roslyn, in Kittitas
County, and Bellevue.
"I went
through everybody on the show. I thought the doctor is too young,
I thought of Holling (the bartender-mayor), but then thought, `No,
he's got blond hair,' " Ross said. "When I thought of
Maurice, I felt something really strange in my stomach."
Ross had been
admiring Corbin long before she realized there was any connection.
"He's
on a broccoli commercial and everybody knew I loved that broccoli
commercial," Ross confided. "It's about Birdseye broccoli
with the dog next to him. I loved the way he talked and he seemed
like a real nice guy."
Originally
from Lubbock, Texas, Corbin said he dated Ross' mother in the spring
of 1964. She phoned him in June of that year when he was playing
summer stock theater in Colorado to announce she was pregnant. But
a few weeks later she called back to say it was a false alarm.
Ross said her
mother did not tell Corbin about the baby because he would have
felt compelled to get married and possibly cut short his acting
career. Ross, a graduate student who plans to get a Ph.D. in psychology,
was adopted by a doctor and his wife from Arlington shortly after
birth. She grew up riding and showing horses, a passion no one else
in her adoptive family shared.
But Corbin,
who dresses in a cowboy hat, boots, Wrangler jeans and a big, silver
rodeo belt buckle, understands just how she feels. Strangers for
26 years, the father and daughter share the same favorites in country
music and cowboy Western movies. Corbin borrowed Ross' spurs on
a recent visit to Texas and won first place for cutting cattle at
a Fort Worth rodeo.
Relatives say
the two look, walk and talk alike. When Ross learned about Corbin,
she rented home videos of his movies - "Urban Cowboy,"
"War Games," "Who's
Harry Crumb?" and "Critters 2; The Main Course."
Her husband, Jim, stopped the videotape and had Ross pose nearby
to observe facial similarities.
"Shannon
looks so much like me, it's spooky," Corbin said. "It's
a very strong genetic tie."
The discovery
gives Corbin, married for 15 years, a third child along with two
sons, ages 12 and 8. And it gives him fodder for his acting career.
"Northern Exposure" has just begun to tape programs
for its fall season.
"The script
we're doing now is a love story," Corbin said. "When I
played it, I got giddy - I wouldn't have done that a month ago.
"Shannon
changes my outlook - how I act and how I write. When you find a
daughter, you fall in love."
Copyright (c) 1991 Seattle Times Company, All Rights Reserved.
Article
link: http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=1297450&date=19910731 |
