Sizzling seductress Michelle Stafford is best known for her role as the scheming Phyllis Summers on the Young and the Restless, but when the camera stops rolling, her life is quite the opposite to her onstage character. In fact, the sexy soap star, and two-time Emmy-Award winner says her favorite role is not Phyllis Summers, but caretaker to her three dogs.
Stafford and her three pups make their home in Los Angeles. Beauregard, the oldest, is a Golden Retriever, and Stafford is well aware that his name is rather wacky. “I thought it was an insane name for a dog. The name is fun, goofy and Southern. I thought if a dog was named Beauregard it would be kind of funny.” Duke is Stafford’s Swiss Mountain Dog, who was donned a more fitting name. “I thought Duke was a cool dog name. He seemed like he would grow up a Duke and be very strong. It’s a strong dog name.” Josephine, Stafford’s beautiful Rottweiler, is the only female dog in the home. Stafford admitted that, “Female dog names are harder… [Jo is] a family term of endearment that we call each other. If you do something good in my family, it’s a ‘Jo’ move.” Although Rottweilers tend to have a dangerous reputation, there’s a reason why Stafford has an affinity towards them. “I had a Rottweiler that I got before, Mason, who was the love of my life. I had him for 9 1/2 years and he died. When he died I had Beauregard. I wanted more than one dog because I think it’s better for dogs since they are pack animals. So, I got another Rottweiler, but I got [Josephine] because I didn’t want to compare him to Mason. I love Rottweilers, they are awesome dogs.”
Stafford has worked with some of the best in the industry including Joan Collins and Tommy Lee Jones, so naturally one wonders who in Hollywood her dogs most resemble. “Beauregard would be Tom Hanks, he’s a good guy, he has a good sense of humor, you like being around him and he’s easy going. Duke would be Steve Carrell. He has a great sense of humor but it’s very dry,” and Josephine would be, “Greta Garbo or Veronica Lake because she’s a little shy and timid.”
With her continuing role on the soap, (and now playing two characters), and house full of dogs, Stafford finds little time to sit back and relax. “If you are a person with three big dogs you are not a person who has to chill out all the time, you are a person that is active. I relax by being active, like going for a walk or a hike.”
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