by Alan Carter | Entertainment Weekly Magazine
November 18, 1994
How Green is Mark Valley?
As a soldier, Mark Valley fought Iraqis in Desert Storm. So taking on the rabid
fans of NBC's Days of Our Lives shouldn't faze him. But Valley plays Jack
Deveraux, replacing actor Matt Ashford, whom some viewers still clamor for more
than a year after he was fired.
Valley, a New York State native, beat out numerous "names" and began appearing
last week, though his only previous soap experience was five episodes of Another
World.
"To tell you the truth," he says, laughing, "I have no idea what I'm getting
into. What pressure?" That attitude is no surprise, coming from a West Point
grad and former Army parachutist. He says the military and soaps have much in
common: "You get up early, you need discipline, and you never know what to
expect."