Grace Under Fire
Soap Opera Weekly/David Johnson

Y&R's Josie Davis

♦ CHARACTER: THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS' Grace Turner, a friend from Sharon's past.

BIRTHDAY: Jan. 16

BIRTHPLACE: San Fernando Valley, Calif.

"J" IS FOR JOSIE: "My family, we're all actors - and our first names all begin with J. My dad's name is Jeff, my mom is Janet, my brother is Josh. I was watching Josh on television and my dad said, 'Hey, Josie, do you want to do what Josh does?' I said, 'OK,' My dad's a photographer, too. He took my pictures - and got me signed with an agency. I started to do a lot of commercials."

AIN'T SHE SWEET?: "Charles in Charge was my first acting experience. (Davis was only 13 when she created the role of Sarah Powell.) I got 52 episodes guaranteed (she played the role for several years, starting in 1987). The character was very intellectual, sensetive, pretty insecure in the beginning, into poetry, saving the whales, the environment, and spoke openly about that."

TYPECASTING BLUES: "Right after Charles in Charge, I went through a difficult phase. I could not seem to get producers and casting people to change their minds about my image. They just saw me as 'that girl on the sitcom.'"

A LITTLE MODELING ON THE SIDE: "I did some modeling, mainly print, after Charles in Charge. People said, 'You're crazy if you don't try it.' My mom's a model, too, so she helped me."

RETURN ENGAGEMENT: "I did two episodes of Silk Stalkings. In the first one, I was Alex, an innocent tennis player. The show got fan letters about me so they brought me back for a second episode - but in a different part. I was Luana, a bitchy slut, who was into her looks, into guys all the time. That helped to break the Charles in Charge mold."

PLAY BALL: "I guested on High Tide, playing a professional volleyball player. I'd never played the game in my life. Boy, did I learn fast. Every job I do, it seems I have to learn a different sport. I'm just naturally athletic - otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do it. I learned volleyball in a half-hour - playing in the sand with an Olympic-size net."

WILD AND CRAZY GIRL: "Grace is extremely confident, free-spirited, open and friendly. Not shy at all. She's pretty wild. Not afraid of much. Completely the opposite of who I played on Charles In Charge. That's why people are going to be kind of shocked when they see me. People are just shocked by the way I am in person - and I'm not even wild and crazy like Grace."

MOVING RIGHT ALONG: "My first day (on Y&R), they brought me on the set to tape my scenes. They said, 'Let's just do 'em.' We were done in five minutes. It went without a hitch. I said, 'Wait a minute, what happened?' Sharon (Case, who plays Sharon) said, 'This has never happened before.' I couldn't believe it."

DAVID JOHNSON