Stephanie Zimbalist used to solve mysteries on "Remington Steele." On Sunday, she's at the center of one.
Zimbalist plays the title role in Caroline? (8 p.m., Ch. 5), a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation.Briefly, the mystery is this: It's the 1950s, and 14 years after she's presumed dead in a plane crash, Caroline returns home. Her mother is dead. Her father (George Grizzard) has a much-younger new wife (Pamela Reed), and they have a young son and handicapped daughter.
Caroline's stepmother, Grace, suspects her of the worst. Is it just coincidence that the deadline for a large inheritance is at hand - an inheritance that would otherwise go to Grace's two children?
There's a lot of tantalizing evidence that this is the real Caroline, but just when it starts to become convincing there are clues that this is an imposter.
But while the mystery of Caroline is what draws the viewer into the story, by the end of the movie it's almost irrelevant. It's the characters you end up caring about.
"I always saw it as a story about family systems," Zimbalist said. "It's a look into a dysfunctional family through the eyes of a little boy. The mother is very controlling. The father is a workaholic and doesn't have time (for his children).
"It's really about how the two children find themselves."
The couple's young daughter, Heidi, is not allowed to overcome her disabilities and is treated as if she were mentally retarded as well as physically handicapped.
"And the boy has a chance at a normal life, but he's joined at the hip to his sister, who he must care for all the time," Zimbalist said.
Zimbalist, who hasn't done much TV since "Remington Steele" ended its run, was drawn to "Caroline?" because of the story and the other actors.
"This had a wonderful cast attached to it," she said.
Topping the list is Reed, in a powerful role as Grace. She's been appearing in "Grand" as the maid, Janice, but you won't even recognize her here. Grace is not a sympathetic character - she's too often cold and manipulative - but Reed gives her enough subtle shadings that she's multidimensional and understandable.
"She's just an excellent actress," Zimbalist says. "She's very bold and daring and very inspiring. She's the kind of actress that turns the jets all the way up."
Grizzard does a fine job as Paul Carmichael, and Patricia Neal and Dorothy McGuire are excellent in small roles.
"They're very different, but they're both first-rate actresses," Zimbalist said. "It was great to work with them."
The two children play major parts in the drama, and do surprisingly well. Jenny Jacobs, 13, had no acting experience when she won the role of Heidi. She was the 1982 Cerebral Palsy poster child.
"She was amazing," Zimbalist said. "Not only did she memorize her lines, but she memorized all of our lines as well."
Shawn Phelan, 14, has been acting on stage since he was 10, but this was his first television role. And he said he learned a lot from Zimbalist.
"Stephanie taught me to have fun when you're doing a job," Phelan said. "It can't be all concentrated work. You have to find a balance between work and fun.
"There's also a balance between having fun and goofing off. People are putting a lot of money and effort into a production, and to them it's not funny if you're goofing off. But by watching Stephanie, I realized that even serious work can be fun."
Zimbalist was delighted by Phelan's comments. "We palled around a lot; we went hiking, I took him paddle boating, we played video games.
"But they (Phelan and Jacobs) learned a lot from working with George and Pamela and me. It's hard for kids to focus for that long a time. They learned how to do that."
With "Caroline?" behind her, Zimbalist doesn't have any more television projects lined up and has no plans to do another series.
"I'm not ready to do a series again," she said. "I've had several offered to me, but I don't see doing one in the near future."
Instead, she's concentrating on her first love, the theater. As a matter of fact, while "Caroline?" is broadcast, Zimbalist will be appearing in a play in Los Angeles, "Baby Dance," which she helped develop herself.
"Appearing on stage is totally different," she said. "Acting on film, you rely on what you know; acting in theater is where you grow. That's where you get your freedom, your broad choices, your chance to experiment and get feedback from the audience.
"I may do TV again, if the right thing comes along, but I'm very happy on stage."