Pranakasha Matt interviews Wesley Eure, best known as Will in The Land of the Lost. Wesley is the most wonderful, kind, generous, and caring person---it was such a joy to do this interview!

Wesley's website https://wesleyeure.com Wesley's Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WesleyEure Wesley's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wesleyeure/ Wesley's Twitter https://twitter.com/WesleyEure Land of the Lost Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/120883895197744 Parasense: The Naked Experiments https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18270396/

Wesley Eure (born Wesley Eure Loper; August 17, 1951) is an American actor, singer, author, producer, director and educator. He is best known for appearing as Michael Horton on the American soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1974 to 1981, during which he also starred on the popular children's television series Land of the Lost. He later hosted the popular children's game show Finders Keepers in 1987 and 1988, and co-created the children's educational television show Dragon Tales in 1999. He has also published several books, produced plays and been an organizer and fundraiser for several charities. Eure was born Wesley Eure Loper in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 17, 1951. His father left the family when he was two years old, so his mother, Mary Jane Loper (February 6, 1927 - January 25, 2011), moved his sister Gai (born September 10, 1950) and him to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where Eure's grandmother lived. While Eure grew up in Mississippi, his mother obtained a bachelor's degree in psychology and began teaching. She subsequently took positions in Texas and Illinois, and became a drug abuse counselor with the state of Nevada.

The Eures moved to Las Vegas, where his mother ran a methadone clinic and hosted a radio talk show about drug abuse. He spent his senior year of high school in Las Vegas. Eure moved to Los Angeles in 1973 after discovering it was cheaper to live there, but offered just as much opportunity to become an actor. He was hired to star in a pilot for a Kaye Ballard TV series, The Organic Vegetables, created and produced by the team behind The Monkees. When that series was not picked up due to the 1973 writers' strike, Eure answered an ad in an industry trade publication to audition for a television show. He learned that David Cassidy was threatening to leave The Partridge Family, and that the audition was for a role as a "neighbor boy" who would take over the lead in the family band from Cassidy. Eure won the audition, but never joined The Partridge Family after Cassidy agreed to stay on. The show was canceled before the next season started. In 1974,

Eure starred on NBC's Days of Our Lives, playing the role of Mike Horton. He also starred as Will Marshall in Sid and Marty Krofft's children's adventure series, Land of the Lost from 1974 to 1976, filming this show and Days of Our Lives simultaneously. (The gold chain he wore on the show was a gift from his then-lover.) As a publicity stunt, Eure agreed to be billed simply as "Wesley" on Land of the Lost, although he later regretted the decision. Eure's stardom in the 1970s led to a number of appearances on game shows. He was repeatedly asked to appear on both Password and Match Game. He appeared on Password so often that he became a semi-regular on the show.