A's The Letter of the Law

Jenny Cooney, TV Week, 10/4/93

Thanks to Rosie in Australia!

Initially they killed him off, but now there's been a remarkable revival.

    When A Martinez went to the gas chamber in an episode of L.A. Law three years ago, little did he dream he'd be brought back to life!

    A, who used the first letter of his given name, Adolfo, as his legal name, won a role in the Network Ten drama as a death row inmate who asks Victor Sifuentes (Jimmy Smits) to intercede on his behalf.

    "It was a really nice part," A tells TV Week in an exclusive interview over lunch on the 20th Century Fox lot, where the show is filmed.  "But I hesitated before I took that role because I figured it would preclude me ever coming back on a regular basis - which had always been a dream of mine."

    Fortunately for A, who appeared in the daytime soap Santa Barbara as heart-throb Cruz Castillo for nine years, TV does not always bury its dead.

    "It turned out that the director of that episode (Rick Wallace) went on to become the executive producer, so when my agent brought up the idea of me returning as a regular - even though it would seem out of the question because I'd already died - the fact that I'd worked with the boss and he liked me was like an audition under the best of circumstances."

    So A is now back in L.A. Law as lawyer Daniel Morales, who arrives at the law firm from, ironically enough, a practice in Santa Barbara.  Anxious to make a fresh start after the death of his wife a year earlier when his daughter was born, Daniel juggles his law career with being a single father.

    "From the moment you see this guy," A says, "you'd have to be cold-hearted not to cheer for him.  He's set up in a beautiful light."

    Although A's character is anxious to strut his stuff in court, the show's writers are also keen to start a romance for him with Grace (Sheila Kelly).

    "My instinct is that this guy really wants to have a woman in his life, but his tragic past and being a single father gives us plenty of room for conflict," he says.

    Although A jumped at the chance to join the regular cast of L.A. Law, he was also nervous at the prospect of leaving Santa Barbara after so many years.

    "I sort of expected a backlash from fans," he admits.  "But it wasn't like that.  A few people expressed anger, but most of them were sophisticated enough to understand what it meant for me as an actor.

    California-born A was 12 when he made his public debut, singing at a Hollywood Bowl talent competition.  While attending UCLA, he appeared the the films Born Wild, The Cowboys (with John Wayne), Beyond the Limit (with Michael Caine) and Once Upon a Scoundrel.

    But it wasn't until 1984, when he joined the original cast of Santa Barbara, that his career hit full stride.

    As Cruz Castillo, he romanced Eden Capwell (Marcy Walker) for four years, finally marrying her in one of the most highly-publicised daytime TV events in history.

    It also, in 1990, finally earned him an Emmy Award for Best Actor, after several nominations.

    A and his wife Leslie Bryans have a son Dakota "Cody" Lee, 6, and daughter Devon Makena, 3.

    An avid diver, A hopes to visit Australia later this year, but already feels familiar with the country from the large amount of fan mail he's received during his stint in Santa Barbara.

    "The fans in Australia generally seem a little more cheerful and better educated than the American fans," he says.  "You get an awful lot of mail from people in the U.S. that makes you fear for the future of this country!"

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