Erik studying on the set. Erik
attended classes with co-star Scott Groff on the set. He had
to have his homework done before leaving the set at the end
of the day.
In late 1993, Vivian and
Lawrence told Nikki that the next day they would leave on a
vacation for Europe. It was just after Carly had "died."
Nikki got very emotional, as
he often did, and starting screaming, "I won't go to
Europe." He didn't want to leave Salem just after Carly had
died. He needed to stay there to be close to her.
Erik posed with Michael and
Crystal outside the Salem Place theater for a picture in the
1994 Days calendar.
Nikki and Carly were reunited
at the airport. Carly didn't remember her son, but Nikki was
still happy to see her.
Erik, hanging out with friend
Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
Nicholas gave this photo to
Victor in 1999, but it was taken back in 1993. The photo is
a composite picture, one that was cut and pasted together.
Days does that sometimes if they need a picture they don't
have. In this case they needed a picture of Victor, Vivian
and Nicholas back when Vivian was dating Victor. Nicholas
{Victor Webster, the actor that played Nicholas in 1999}
brought this picture to Victor in the nursing home.
Erik starred in the 1994 tv
miniseries "In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride &
Madness" AKA "Bitter Blood." It was based on a true story
about a family's custody battle over children. He played the
oldest son, John Wesley Leary. John's parents were just
divorced and the mother had custody of him and his brother
James. The father believed the boys were in great danger and
wanted custody of both boys.
Their dad asked the boys if
they would like to come and live with him and their
step-mom. The boys were so excited. Then James {Ira David
Wood IV} asked, "What about mom?" Their dad said they could
visit her.
James and John both changed
their minds. John saying, "No way, forget it." They were
both scared of Fritz.
When it was time for the boys
to go back to their mom's home after the vaction with their
father, they were crying and carrying on about not going
back. Their dad had mixed feelings. He knew he had to send
them back but he didn't want to.
John was begging his father
not to send him back to his mother and his "cousin" Fritz.
He wanted to stay with his father but didn't want to tell
his mom or the judge. His dad promised him it would be only
for a short while, long enough for him to talk to the judge.
After they were back with
their mom, they got a call from their dad. He was telling
them about court and talking to the judge. You could tell
that both John and James were scared.
While John and James were
sleeping, their mother went in and told them, "It's ok,"
meaning they weren't leaving now. Fritz killed the boys'
grandparents and great-grandmother on their mom's side. The
three grandparents were to stand up in court for the father
the very next day.
Instead they all attended a
funeral for the grandparents.
John and James were in school
when they talked to their father on the phone. It was going
to be the last time they would ever talk to him.
Only minutes later they in the
back seat of Fritz' truck hiding out during the police
chase. The police knew that Fritz had killed the
grandparents.
Both boys were killed during
the police chase. Their father had a nightmare the night the
boys were buried about them hanging out the back window of
the moving truck and yelling for their father to come back.
Erik starred in the TV movie
A Season of Hope aka The Lemon Grove in 1995.
He played Taylor Hackett. Erik is seen here with his
brother, Mickey, played by Jeremy London.
In the story, the family has a
field filled with lemons. One day they find out that there's
an illness that can kill all of their field, passing it on
to other fields. All their trees have to be destroyed, which
devastates the family.
Erik appeared as Danny in the
1995 remake of the Disney film, Escape to Witch
Mountain. He is pictured to the right with his twin
sister, together they shared special powers. They called
them "Twin Powers," while everyone else called them
bewitched.
His costar was Elisabeth Moss,
who can now be seen on The West Wing as the president's
daughter, Zoe.
