a108  0754  05 May 76
PM-Radio-TV, Adv 06, 480
$Adv 06
For release Thursday May 6
Radio-TV
By JAY SHARBUTT
AP Television Writer
    NEW YORK (AP) - Bruce Solomon, the lecherous policeman on ''Mary
Hartman, Mary Hartman,'' was stunned when told actress Louise Lasser,
who plays Mary, had been arrested recently and booked for
investigation of cocaine possession in Beverly Hills.
    ''My God,'' he said. ''That's right out of 'Mary Hartman.' ''
    The line was a fitting end to an interview with the New York-born
actor, who was here on business during a break in the taping of the
syndicated soap opera satire about life in mythical Fernwood, Ohio.
    Solomon, as every ''Hartman'' buff knows, plays Sgt. Foley of the
Fernwood Police Department.
    He met Mary in the second episode of the series when she went to the
police station to pick up her grandfather, the ''Fernwood Flasher.''
    Ever since then, the good sergeant has persistently tried to seduce
Mary - even threatening to marry her sister if Mary refuses to have
an affair with him - while carrying on another affair in the show.
    In short, Solomon plays a cad, a bounder. And he says his fan mail
indicates viewers love him for it.
    ''It's weird,'' he observed. ''People write letters saying, 'I can't
understand why Mary doesn't take you up on your offer. If I were
there, I certainly would. We're all rooting for you and Mary.'
    ''I think at times they're more interested in my getting it on with
Mary than they are in who's going to be the next president.''
    Such is life for Solomon, who is in his late 20s and might today be
known as Dr. Solomon, a college drama professor, had he not decided
some four years ago he'd rather act than teach.
    He said he'd studied drama at the University of Miami and Wayne
State and was working toward a Ph.D at the University of California at
Berkeley when he made the decision to take the big plunge.
    ''One day, I told myself what I really want to do is earn my living
acting,'' he said. ''It's one thing to be at batting practice all the
time and another to really get out and get in the ball game.''
    So for several months, he worked in Berkeley with the ''Barbed Wire
Theater,'' which he says was an alternative form of theater in which
all the participants - except him - were ex-convicts.
    Then he moved to Los Aigeles, began knocking on producers' doors,
landed a few roles and studied acting in a class run by a lady named
Joan Darling, who later was to cast him as Sgt. Foley.
    He said the role originally called for a middle-aged, overweight
Irish desk sergeant. When he showed up for work, he added, producer
Norman Lear ''was a little surprised . . . but said, 'Okay, go ahead'
because it wasn't a big part.''
    The role has since been enlarged and Solomon continues to appear on
the show. But he hasn't been able to seduce Mary yet and viewers
still are wandering if such will ever come to pass.
    ''i don't know and I couldn't tell you anyway,'' Solomon laughed.
''But it's sure been fun for me. People now come up to me on the
street and say, 'You are such a fink but we really love you.'
    ''I guess,'' said Sgt. Foley, ''people love bandits.''
    End Adv Thurs PMs May 6. Sent May 5.
    
1055aED 05-05
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