After 41 years, one of the biggest All My Children mysteries has finally been solved: Bobby Martin has been located, and he's going to... Disney World?!
In 1970, 12-year-old Michael Bersell was a part of All My Children's original cast. The young actor had been hired for the role of Bobby Martin, the youngest son of Dr. Joe Martin. He appeared in several episodes, but then Bersell -- and all references to Bobby -- simply vanished.
"There's two stories in our family. We don't really know the actual truth," said Bersell, now 54, told the Orlando Sentinel. "I went off to camp or I went up to get my skis and never came back. But I went up the stairs, nonetheless, and never came back down."
Bobby's disappearance wasn't lost on soap fans. For years viewers asked what happened to the Martin child. More than 20 years later, the show offered fans a couples of winks about Bobby's whereabouts. While in the Martin attic, Opal discovered a skeleton with a pair of skiis and the name "Bobby" appearing in a name tag. Later, Tad referred to a skeleton as a Halloween party as his brother.
Earlier this year when AMC vet Sarah Michelle Gellar (ex-Kendall Hart) announced that she'd be returning to the show to help celebrate its legacy, but since the role of Kendall had already been cast, the actress offered a unique idea about what character she could play.
"I can come down from the attic with Bobby Martin; I can be his ski bunny wife," Gellar teased.
Bersell's next soap gig also ended prematurely, but it was much less nebulous: his character on the CBS soap Where the Heart is was "burned to a crisp" in a gasoline fire.
When Bersell's family moved to a small town in Vermont, he started out washing dishes and doing food prep at a restaurant. The experience struck a chord, and his career blossomed. Bersell moved back to Florida and worked for several eateries before landing at Disney World 23 years ago. He has had several roles there, and was twice selected to represent the United States and Disney World in the Culinary Olympics.
Read the complete interview with Michael Bersell in the Orlando Sentinel:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-daily-disney/os-disney-all-my-children-chef-20110922,0,3168704.story
