UNC alumnus pens novels as 'an entertainment'

Wisner Washam was walking across campus in 1952 when he noticed a sign tacked up on a tree — “Auditions for announcers for the new radio station.”

Studying acting at UNC, Washam’s career path was about to change.
“I went over there, put on my deepest voice and tried to speak like Charles Kuralt and got hired,” he said.

Not only did Washam emulate Kuralt’s voice, but he worked with the legendary broadcaster, who was also a student at the time. The pair was part of the first FM-broadcasted show of W-UNC in 1952.

“Stopping to read that notice on a tree really changed my life because it got me into the whole world of radio and writing,” he said.

Washam went on to be the head writer for the ABC soap opera “All My Children.” After retiring from television in the early 1990s, he continued to write independently.

His most recent novel, “The Cloning,” follows a young professor who attempts to clone a fragment of DNA, thinking it is the DNA of Jesus.

At UNC, Washam lived in the then-dormitory Steele Building — conveniently near Historic Playmakers Theatre, where Washam took classes and worked with the Carolina Playmakers.

This student and faculty group, a part of the Department of Dramatic Art, was prominent on campus from the 1920s until PlayMakers Repertory Company phased it out in the 1970s.

After graduating from UNC in 1953, Washam spent time in France with the U.S. Army and studied acting in London. He returned to the U.S. in 1959 and went to New York City with only $200.

He began work as a stage manager there. While working on playwright Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite,” Washam met his future wife, actress Judith Barcroft. He understudied the groom, and she understudied the bride.

“We fell in love backstage, got married and bought our first co-op. And she was pregnant when the show finally closed after 1,100 performances,” Washam said.

Later, Barcroft — who was acting on “All My Children” — mentioned Washam’s writing skill to the show’s creator.

“I always thought he was such a good letter writer,” Barcroft said. “Those were the days before email. He used to write beautiful letters.”

Washam began writing for the show regularly in 1971. He became head writer within five years and remained for almost 20, winning two Emmys.

Lorraine Broderick was Washam’s assistant and eventually his co-head writer. She said Washam’s time was the heyday of “All My Children.”

“He loves collaborating, so you feel that you’re in a place where any idea will be considered,” she said.

When soap operas became less popular, Washam turned to writing independently. The idea for “The Cloning” came to him in a dream, he said.

“This story was conceived before Dolly the sheep was ever cloned,” Washam said. “It was really an idea that was totally off the wall.”
Washam submitted the screenplay to the Writers Guild of America East in 1996, and it won the contest that year.

No one picked up the script, so Washam wrote the novel version, which was published last year.

“This is not a great, profound work of literature,” he said. “It’s an entertainment. I like to make people smile.”

Washam lives in Manhattan with Barcroft and continues to write.

“I’ve had a very wonderfully checkered career,” Washam said. “I’ve managed to keep my nose above water, which is not easy to do in the entertainment world.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.