Hollywood Demons Recap for Stephen Collins

 

This week’s episode of Hollywood Demons is about Stephen Collins, who was the father on 7th Heaven. He was deemed one of America’s favorite TV dads, until dark secrets came to light about his life and behavior.

Several people talk about their initial thoughts on Stephen, thinking he was a fine man and actor…at first. However, the more they got to know him, the more their opinions changed.

Jeremy London, who played Chandler on Seventh Heaven, and Garth Ancier, who was the founding president of programming for WB, talk about being in the business.

Kyle Searles, who played Mac on the show, also talks about starting out in Hollywood.

All of them had good and bad experiences….and they all had one thing in common—they all worked with Stephen.

Producers reached out to over 100 of Stephen’s contacts, but nearly all of them refused to participate/did not respond.

Dr. Drew Pinsky also talks about how only the men were willing to talk about their experiences….and how he deems Stephen a monster. They had gone to the same college and shared a heritage, which is how they came to know of each other.

Tom Greene, who is a writer and producer, talks about getting to know Stephen after seeing him on All the President’s Men with Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. They would go on to work together on Star Trek: The Motion Picture…..the movie that would put him on the map.

Before long, Stephen’s career would blow up and allow him to become a household name.

He would then go on to meet Faye Grant on Tales of the Gold Monkey and they would soon fall in love and get married.

Despite being a household name and very popular, Stephen kept his private life very quiet.

April Price, who was a fan of the show, got to visit LA in 1983, thanks to her Aunt Cindy. She got to meet Stephen and was initially happy. She got an autographed picture from him, but thought it was weird that he signed it Love. Stephen.

That summer, April would go to LA with her Aunt Cindy. One day, when she was home alone, Stephen came over…and was completely nude.

Kelley Mead, who is a former detective, gives her take on the case.

April goes on to talk about how Stephen would expose himself when he was over to help her hook up a TV set. She also talks about previous abuse she faced at the hands of a babysitter. All this abuse added even more trauma, which she would bury.

The abuse from Stephen would continue, with April feeling powerless. She had agreed to go see memorabilia from the show at the end of her visit, not knowing the horror that would follow. He would be naked in front of her, but luckily, her Aunt Cindy would come home early, allowing her to escape.

Stephen, who was now a husband and father, would go on to pen a manuscript about disturbing sexual behavior. April could see parallels in his writing to her own experience, which shook her to her core.

Garth talks about 7th Heaven coming to be and how it was different than shows that have been on before.  The kids were cast first, followed by the adults, including Stephen.

 

The show would become a huge hit, with Stephen being the doting preacher dad that America loved. April found this disturbing and worried for the safety of the children. She talks to Aunt Cindy about it, who was livid. However, they were both afraid to speak up. due to his fame.

 

The public loved Stephen and the show since it was clean and family friendly.

 

April would one day come face to face with Stephen again. He apologized to her and she thought she was safe from him….only now realizing that it was damage control since they were in a professional setting.

Stephen had several comments about Jessica Biel’s sexy photoshoot and claimed she was a minor, therefore, child porn. This cost Jessica her role on the show.

The show would continue to be successful and brought in many famous people, including Ashlee Simpson and the Olsen twins.

 

Several of the actors saw Stephen as a role model and were won over by his charisma.

 

Jeremy talks about his addiction issues and how it cost him a lot in life, including his reputation and job.

 

Stephen would remain silent on the issue.

 

7th Heaven would end after 11 seasons and become one of the longest family shows in TV’s history.

 

Seven years later, Kyle is called by TMZ about the Stephen bombshell that just dropped. Since he wasn’t in contact with anyone, he had no clue what was going on.

Word was soon out about his scandal, and everyone was talking about how an audio recording was released from a therapist, where he admitted to having inappropriate experiences with young girls. One of them was only ten, one was April and another was a babysitter.

The ten-year-old victim shared her disturbing experience to police.

An investigation began and the detective involved found Stephen very odd. Sadly, the statute of limitations was up, so he could not be charged in this case, but he was still investigated.

 

April then reported her own case.

 

Despite everything he was not charged, but his reputation was ruined.

 

Stephen would talk about the case to ABC News in 2020, the details of which shook those who knew him to the very core.

Jeremy and Garth had no idea what was going on behind closed doors, nor did they witness any inappropriate behavior. Dr. Drew says he was a smart man who knew how to hide things.

 

Stephen is now living with a woman 40 years his junior.

 

People wonder if the signs of his behavior were there throughout his career while others turned a blind eye.