"I don't care about being wealthy or being a star..."

Cathy Hicks suddenly remembered she had an interview scheduled with Afternoon TV when the doorbell rang and she stepped out of the shower, clad only in a towel, with her hair dripping wet. Face to face with her interviewer, she burst out laughing, not at all disconcerted as most people would be in that situation. She disappeared for scarcely 20 seconds, reappeared in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and said, "Let's go!"

This natural beauty is so unpreoccupied with her looks she wears no makeup and didn't even comb her wet hair. If most of us could look the way Kathy does with no preparation, it would be a real cause for celebration. She's really a natural--flawless skin, perfect white teeth, big blue eyes. She calls it "commercial-looking." We'd call it gorgeous.

At Le Figaro, a famous Greenwich Village cafe next door to her temporary living quarters, she says, "I'm still living out of a suitcase, literally?' In fact she's bunking in with an actor from "The Guiding Light" for the time being, but is busily engaged in looking for the perfect apartment for herself in the same area. She has some definite requirements for her dream apartment. "I want to see trees and hear kids playing and hear church bells and smell cooking," she says. "I want a place with high ceilings and long windows and a fireplace · and a clean bathroom. That's all I want. I'd decorate it with favorite prints and Paintings. rd love a baby grand piano, I love to play the piano but haven't been able to in a long time. I want wood floors with really nice rugs. And I want to live in Greenwich Village. It's a neighborhood."

Over mugs of steaming hot cider Cathy told us a tittle about her background. "I was born in the Village, right up the street from here. For health reasons--my dad got sick--we had to move to Arizona when I was five. It was just a desert then, cowboys and two stores. There we were, the three of us, in the desert with the citrus trees.

"I went to Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana,· only then the women's part was called St. Mary's College. I fooled around the first year, mainly because there were seasons! That's all I could focus on. It was literally the first time I had seen trees and snow!

"Every time I went by the theatre building my heart sank to my stomach and I couldn't shake it for two days. I thought, 'I want to be in there, but how do I start? Everyone in there has been acting all his life,' In high school there wasn't a theatre department. Cheerleading was as theatrical as you could get.

"By sophomore year I was doing absolutely nothing. I decided to sign up for an acting course. By the time I did it I found out I was as good as everyone else. I went back to Arizona State for one semester and was cast in my first part. I also did some modeling and saved enough money to go back to Notre Dame to study theology. It was great to learn about my heritage. I was brought up a Catholic. I was even thinking of becoming a nun for two months. I wanted to be a missionary!

"Then it was suggested that I go to graduate school to study acting. I went to Cornell on a two-year master-of-fine-arts program. It was the first time I was taken seriously as a professional actress. At the Ithaca Repertory Company I was cast as Stella in 'A Streetcar Named Desire,' Cherie in 'Bus Stop.' The big climax was playing Maggie in 'After the Fall' by Arthur Miller. That's the first time I did heavy research for a role.

"After that I came to New York--it was this past August--and I got some work right away in commercials. I didn't want to do TV; I wanted to do theatre. I got a call to audition for 'Ryan's Hope,' but I had never seen it before. I was going to audition for 'Guiding Light' the next day so I was mentally more prepared for that. But I went onto the 'Ryan's Hope' set and got a good intuitive feeling. It was like a repertory company. I thought, I want to be here. it's acting every day and it's so hard. I'm still doing my gestures too big, as I would for the stage. I feel so exposed. It's humbling. It'll take me a long time to get good at it.

"I love the actors on 'Ryan's Hope.' It's really a joy. It's easy to play Nancy Addison's sister. She's a lovely lady. I had watched her on 'Guiding Light' for years. Then when I walked into my first rehearsal to play opposite her it was a thrill. And Malcolm Groome's a treat. People aren't bored there. The actors are young and respect each other,"

Cathy's especially fortunate to have found work in her field, and such exciting work, so soon after coming to New York. She says, "On one hand you can say it's all luck, but it isn't. It's also competence; but I know all kinds of attractive, competent women who are waiting tables. I thought that the city would be much more competitive, but they're always surprised to find a blonde who can deliver a line well."

Cathy told us about her acting goals and also about the very first time she was bitten by the acting bug. "A very profound moment came when I was about ten years old. I came out of the movies and walked my dog down the alley thinking about Jill St. John whom I had just seen. I had that old ache again. I love Katharine Hepburn, Jean Simmons, Maggie Smith. And I have to put in a plug for Marilyn Monroe. I think she was a marvelous comedienne. It took her suicide for people to open their eyes to the times. She was a martyr.

"I don't care about being wealthy or being a star. I just want to be a respected stage actress, to have two good scripts handed to me a year. I want to be Colleen Dewhurst. Acting is the stage, it's now, it's in the present, You go out on the stage and for three hours you become--you become yourself. There's something about acting in the same room with your audience. It's people. What you do every second depends on them. You laugh and sweat together; If someone gets a coughing spell you're aware of it and you care about them

"And the applause! If you see everyone in the audience fanning themselves with their programs you know that you're not getting to them, you're boring. There's no greater thrill than walking out and thanking the audience right then and there and letting them thank you."

It stands to reason that someone as lovely and vivacious as Cathy would have a special man in her life, and sure enough, she does. "I have a boyfriend--Peter," she confides, "who teaches the acting program at Cornell. I hated him at first because he saw right through me. I went to Cornell very defensive, afraid, uptight. I was snobby, cold, suspicious. He said, 'Come on, you can't be an actress like this? Acting is being vulnerable, that's what it's all about, I've achieved it on-stage, but not yet on TV. He was the first man who did not fall in love with me. I thought, 'How dare you!' But then he did," she laughs. "He has one more semester up there, then he'll come down to New York City to direct."

As soon as she gets some spare time, Cathy will hunt up an exercise class to attend. She tells us, "I'm beginning to become stiff! Also, I love to eat. Every day I say to myself, 'Don't overeat, don't overeat.' It's a constant habit with me. I love restaurants. But one piece of toast goes right to my hips," she moans. "Another hobby, besides eating, is attending the movies. I go to movies all the time, they're wonderful. Especially old ones. This afternoon I'm seeing 'Adam's Rib' with Tracy and Hepburn."

Although Cathy isn't yet flooded with fan mail it is now beginning to come in as she gets more exposure on the show. And she's beginning to be recognized by people on the streets as well. She says, "I see people grab the person they're with and point at me, but they don't come up to me yet. They'll stare at me on subways, but I don't know what they're thinking." They're probably thinking it's great to have Cathy Hicks on "Ryan's Hope" and are looking forward to seeing her on their screens, as well as on the subway, for a long time to come.