Catherine Hicks studied English and theology at Notre Dame and thought she’d teach English some day. But after seeing several plays, she was bitten by the acting bug. So she went to Cornell and earned a master of fine arts degree in acting. Next stop, Broadway, where she played opposite Jack Lemmon in Tribute.

    Hicks got her start on TV in Ryan’s Hope and played Marilyn Monroe in Marilyn: The Untold Story, for which she garnered an Emmy nomination. One of her favorite film roles was as Dr. Gillian Taylor in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. "I just had to play Gillian," Catherine says, "because I really liked her long monologues about the whales."

    But her latest role as Annie Camden, a minister’s wife with seven children in the long-running TV series 7th Heaven on the former WB Network (now known as the CW) , may be the one she finds most endearing.

    This wholesome family drama, which premiered in August 1996, got off to a slow start. The all-American Camden family once graced the cover of TV Guide, in fact, with the caption: "7th Heaven, the Best Show You’re Not Watching." But all that has changed.

    Thank God for the WB!" Hicks is quick to say. "If we had been on one of the bigger networks, we would have been yanked after three weeks. But they really believed in us so we knew we weren’t going to get bounced if we didn’t get big numbers right away. It took time."

    Catherine also considers the role a personal miracle, though she wasn’t exactly eager to be a TV mom when she was offered the part.

    "You don’t get offers after 35, and I was afraid it was over in 1995," she says. "Things were at a critical point in my life. My dad had died a few years back, and I’d bought a house near mine for my mom. Then one day I got a call from my business manager, who told me, ‘Cath, you’ve gone through your pension money and everything else to pay for that house. You’re going to have to give it up.’

    "But deep inside I had a feeling that something or someone would come along to save the day. So I held on a little longer. Then at Easter I received a call at my mother’s home. It was Aaron Spelling."

    The late Spelling was best known for such sexy TV series as Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, and Melrose Place, but Catherine points out that he also produced Family in 1976. Spelling had been asked to produce a family drama for Warner Brothers, a show that revolved around a compassionate minister, his stay-at-home wife, and their five (now seven) children.

   Hicks considers the show a miracle in many ways. It was a miracle that the series came along when there was a dearth of good family shows, she says, and it was also a personal miracle: It allowed her to pay for her mother’s home. And it’s a miracle as well, she believes, that the show is now doing so well in its time slot.

   "My theory," Catherine says, "is the ’60s brought about permission for uncontested divorce. Now the country has a huge divorce rate that has left kids with broken hearts. Our show brings back a sense of family, a family you can count on. It makes youngsters feel secure. Many are too afraid to be square, yet they are dying to live simply."

    Hicks’ father, a Fordham graduate, encouraged the actress to study theology at Notre Dame. "Both my father and mother were devout Christians who sent me to Christian schools," she says.
    "While I was at Notre Dame, Dad encouraged me to find out about my religion while I had the opportunity." And theology is a subject that intrigues her to this day.

    "Faith has always been an integral part of my life," she affirms. "My father, trained by the Jesuits, was intelligent and prayerful. He set a good example for me by reading Scripture. Sometimes we would pray the together as a family as well."

   Hicks goes to church more than once each week when her schedule permits. She is also an avid reader and enjoys books that deal with faith and spirituality.

    Today Catherine is at work on the set. The show, filmed in a gigantic warehouse in Santa Monica, California, is arranged so cameras can shoot each room of the Camden household from any angle.

  This fall, 7TH HEAVEN embarks on an impressive 11th season, continuing its streak as the longest-running family drama in the history of television.    

   When a scene is completed, Catherine comes over to greet me and we grab a few snacks from a buffet table set up for cast and crew. She makes me one of her famous "roll-ups," which is tasty and low in calories. Instead of using bread, she rolls sandwich filling inside large lettuce pieces.

     As I enter her trailer, I notice a memorial notice with Father Ellwood Kieser’s photo on her wall. The Paulist priest, who headed Paulist Productions for four decades and created the 23-year Insight television series, was a friend. She talks about his concern for starving people in the Sudan and in Ethiopia, and she also speaks about his most recent productions for the History Channel, which focused on the Apostles.

    "I heard about his death on Catie’s first day of school," she says, referring to her 9-year-old daughter. "I really miss him. I know we all have to go, but I didn’t expect him to leave us this soon. I often attended Father Kieser’s service, and I so appreciated his sermons. I miss his presence and I miss him at the 8 o’clock service."

    Hicks also feels a special affinity for the Jewish faith since Jesus was, after all, a Jew. "Our spiritual roots," she says, "are so intertwined. Our altar, for example, is the table used at Passover."

    To ensure that her daughter is rooted in all aspects of faith, she sent her to a Jewish preschool where she learned about the Old Testament. "She’s now enrolled in a Christian school, but Catie knows more about Moses than anyone in class," she says with motherly pride.

    Hicks is married to special effects designer Kevin Yagher, who is very supportive of their faith. They met while working on the same movie, the campy horror flick Child’s Play.

    "We hang out together at home, watch TV, eat dinner together," Catherine says. "We also find time to be silly and sing around the piano.

     "I want Catie to know that cozy, close feeling of family," she continues. "I also want to keep family traditions that I remember from my own childhood alive. For example, Christmas Eve was the big night for us. We’d always have a light dinner of clam chowder and crackers, go to church, then come home and open a few presents. Right before midnight, we’d put the Baby Jesus in the manger. Now we do it as a family with Catie."

    Family values also shine through on 7th Heaven. The kids aren’t saints, but they strive to do the right thing. And when they fail, they have parents they can turn to.

   The plot revolves around problems that members of his congregation bring to the minister, played by Stephen Collins.

    "As a result," Hicks says, "we can help our audience deal with some pretty tough topics that include racial intolerance, drug abuse, alcoholism, teen pregnancy, and gun control."

    In one episode, for example, a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust (whose story was based on an actual case) comes to the minister’s church to talk about that terrible time in history.

    In another episode, Annie comes to her husband and tells him, "I have a confession to make," and he quips, "That’s another religion."

    She would also love to do a religious talk-radio show. "I feel a passionate desire to defend the Church," she says.

    So perhaps, when her days as Annie Camden come to a close, we might just hear Catherine Hicks on talk radio defending the faith.