Forbes Riley initially viewed infomercials as her day job. "I made a lousy waitress and had good presentational skills," she says. In 20-plus years, she has hosted dozens of promotional TV programs, notably for health and fitness products, helping to sell more than $2 billion worth of merchandise. Her longest-running infomercial, for Jack Lalanne's Power Juicer, is now in its eighth year. Recently she was named the best female presenter of the year by the Electronic Retailing Association.Riley began her career as a legit actor. "I was Broadway-trained, craft-oriented, and studied with Uta Hagen and Meisner," she says. "People in the business put me down for doing infomercials. But for one infomercial, I could walk out with $10,000 in my pocket. And some waitress is going to tell me I have a problem?"She thinks the attitude toward actors who do infomercials has changed—after all, many celebrities are now doing them,...
- 11/18/2010
- backstage.com
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