Bridget Hanley / Always a bride

Actress Bridget Hanley has been called "one of Edmonds' most famous daughters." She grew up there, and she's the "Hanley" portion of the historic Ganahl-Hanley log cabin downtown. Although she has been acting for 43 years, there is one role she will never shake: that of Candy Pruitt in "Here Come the Brides," a loose interpretation of the Mercer Girls in frontier Seattle. Hanley played the much-envied sweetheart of teen heart-throb Bobby Sherman. The show aired only from 1968 to 1970, but fans remain rabid. And they are thrilled that the show's first season has now been released on DVD.

Q: Living in Los Angeles now, do you get back to Edmonds much?

A: I try at least once a year. A bunch of us gather at a friend's home, a bunch who went to school together since first grade. Then I get to see my sisters and all of that.

Q: What's your favorite thing to do when you come back?

A: Drive by my old house and the cabin. There's a wonderful drive, where you can see the water everywhere you look. It's so beautiful and I think, "Why did I ever leave?"

Q: Do you ever see Bobby Sherman? (He played Jeremy Bolt and is now an LAPD reserve officer.)

A: Yes, when we sign pictures sometimes for charity he comes by.

Q: You're widowed, a mother and a grandmother?

A: I'm a step-grandma. And my daughter, Megan, is getting married in October to the grandnephew of my very first agent.

Q: Is "Here Come the Brides" still part of your life?

A: It is because there's this huge fan base all over the country and also in Europe. I still get letters from people saying what a difference it made in their growing up.

Q: Wasn't it weird to be from Seattle and in the quintessential show about Seattle?

A: Yes. I was under contract at the time from Screen Gems. I knocked on everybody's door until they agreed to test me. I said, "Listen, I'm from Seattle and I bite my nails, what more do you want?" And Bobby was kind enough to come in and we did the test together, and it was instant chemistry.

Q: Are you haunted by that show, or do you carry the memory of Candy Pruitt proudly?

A: I carry it proudly. She was such a forerunner of a woman who had her own mind and was not buffeted around by men.