Laura didn't make 'Landing' reunion

By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan December 5, 2005
Constance McCashin had a terrific love life as Laura on ''Knots Landing." First, she was married to Richard, the unscrupulous lawyer played by John Pleshette. Then she had a lesbian affair with Lisa Hartman's hubba-hubba character Cathy. And, finally, before succumbing to a brain tumor 10 television seasons later, she settled down with William Devane's villanous Gregory Sumner. McCashin lives in Newton now with her husband, director Sam Weisman, and long ago got out of the acting biz. But we figured she'd show up on Friday's heavily hyped ''Knots Landing" reunion. We were wrong. ''[Producer] Henry Winkler called me on my cell while I was getting my hair blown out at a salon on Newbury Street," McCashin told us yesterday. ''He asked me to be on the show, but I declined." A psychotherapist at Brandeis these days, McCashin actually didn't decline, she just asked for more dough than Winkler was willing to pay. ''I said, 'Pay for my daughter's first year at Wesleyan,' " McCashin said, laughing. ''A lot of people tune into these things just to see who got fat, and if I'm going to be scrutinized like that, it's got to be worth my while."

Constance McCashin is my mom FYI.