Courtney Lindberg
Danny Pintauro, who as a child star played the role of Paul Stenbeck, Barbara’s (Colleen Zenk) son (the character later went by his mother’s maiden name, Ryan) on As The World Turns, will be live in The Locher Room and helping to celebrate Pride Month on Wednesday, June 19 at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.
Pintauro is well-known to television audiences for his incredible eight-year run as the precocious and spunky Jonathan Bower on the hit ABC series Who’s the Boss?, where he starred alongside two-time Daytime Emmy winner Judith Light (ex-Karen Wolek, One Life to Live), Tony Danza (Taxi), Katherine Helmond (ex-Jessica Tate, Soap) and Alyssa Milano (Charmed).
The actor began his professional career at the age of 2 as a model and commercial actor. By the age of 3, he was signed to a contract to play Paul, Barbara’s son with infamous villain James Stenbeck. Pintauro made his Oakdale debut on January 1983 and remained through February 1984. During that time, Paul, who had been raised for the first few years of his life by Raymond and Claudia Colfax, was reunited with his biological parents. When James and Barbara’s unhappy marriage tanked, Barbara blocked Paul from seeing his father, so James kidnapped him, a fact Paul discovered when he saw himself on the news.
In 2004, Pintauro recalled to Digest that ATWT’s location shoot to Spain was “my first trip out of the country, and I remember filming the scene at the bottom of the stairs where [Paul] is saying good-bye to his father. I was so distraught and crying so hard that I was sort of forcing Colleen and Anthony [Herrera, ex-James] to lose it; all three of us were sobbing.”
His role on the CBS soap was followed up by his film debut in Stephen King’s legendary Cujo. He continued to book projects like The Beniker Gang, Timestalkers, two episodes of Highway to Heaven, Jury Duty: The Comedy, The Still Life and an episode of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. More recently, the actor had a recurring role in The Quarantine Bunch as well as the TV movie A Country Christmas Harmony.
In 1997, Pintauro was one of the first celebrities to publicly identify as gay and in 2015 he used an opportunity on The Oprah Winfrey Show to share his HIV status to spread awareness. Today, Pintauro is happily married, feeling healthy and is returning to his acting roots actively auditioning for roles.
To participate in the livestream interview with Pintauro, click here.
