For some reason, Palm Beach County seems to be one of the nation’s leading suppliers of soap stars and soap star families – “Days of Our Lives” stars Deidre Hall and Nadja Bjorlin and former “General Hospital” star Drew Garrett grew up here, and the mothers of “All My Children’s” Susan Lucci and “One Life To Live”‘s Ilene Kristen live here.

And here’s another: Daytime vet Hillary B. Smith, who plays “OLTL”‘s principled lawyer Nora Hanen, was born in Boston but raised in Palm Beach attended Palm Beach Day School and lived on the island until she was 19 years old – “My father was down there until he died in 2000, my stepmother lives there and my sister lives in West Palm. She’s got the better view,” Smith says.

Since 1992, Smith, 53, has played Nora, half of one of the show’s most enduring couples with police commisioner Bo Buchanon (Robert S. Woods). Through separations, mistaken paternity, comas and that time she married his brother, Bo and Nora’s quirky chemistry never dimmed. And the two will celebrate the recent rekindling of that flame this week, when they remarry. Their first wedding, in 1995, was officiated by none other than Little Richard. Smith, who previously played “As The World Turns” super detective Margo Hughes, confirms that the self-named Originator of Rock won’t be returning, but promises something spiffy.

Question: Do you ever get back to Palm Beach?

Answer: I do get down there quite a bit to see my sister, Chapman Greeley. We go to the Keys a lot, so it’s a day trip up from there. I go see her, visit friends – I’ve got a lot of friends and classmates still there.

Q: Have any special places you like to go down here?

A: One of my other sisters, Rebecca Perry, who’s passed away, when I was taking care of her there was a place down there that had unbelivable souffles, that was back behind Testa, tucked in there. Also we used to go to Peter Dinkles’, just down from there, and O’Hara’s which was the big discoteque in town.

It’s so funny – I was in a wedding in the Keys, and ran into this girl who says “I went to Palm Beach Private,” and I said “You would have known my sister” and she said “Oh, my God! I broke your arm when you were five years old!” (Laughs) I was like “I remember! You put me up on your feet, and you were supposed to catch me, and you didn’t!”

Q: You know, I was trying to figure out what Nora’s full name was, and I realized that several of them rhyme – “Hanen,” “Gannon” and “Buchanan,” which all rhyme. That’s sorta funny.

A:  A friend of mine the other day was like “You’ll be Hanen Gannon Buchanan Colson Hanen Buchanan Buchanan.” And I was like “Colson – that one was annulled. And it doesn’t rhyme.”

Q: And that would be Daniel Colson, who turned out to be gay and a psycho killer.

A: (Laughs) He was played brilliantly by Mark Dobies, a very good actor. I don’t think he played (Colson) as interesting until they made him psycho. He was much more fun then.

Q: Bo and Nora were apart for a long time. Did you always feel they were eventually going to get back together?

A: I always felt they should, but I didn’t think they were going to. (Show runners and writers) always want to have them recapture that magic with someone else. They always want to put their own stamp on a couple in their regime. It boils down to this – Woods and I have a very easy way of working with each other. It just works. We’ve got chemistry – we trust and respect each other, and are always looking out for each other.

Q: When did you know that they were going to start edging them back towards each other?

A: I think it was the January before they (started moving them back together). They came to us and said “This is what we’re thinking about doing.” But Nora was already dating Clint (Bo’s brother) and I was like “How are they gonna do that? They’re gonna get engaged! She’s not actually gonna marry Clint, right?” We felt really strongly that you can’t do that. There’s no good guys there in that situation. They were like “Not to worry!”

Q: But they went ahead and married Nora to Clint anyway, even after she kissed Bo right before the wedding.

A: It was tough the way they did it. Some people were pretty angry about it, but they kina forgave us. I think that just shows a lot of what Bo and Nora are really about. That’s attributal to that pairing. People were willing to forgive them, just to get them back together.

Q: What is it about them that fans love so much?

A: They were happy. They were full of love and respect. They always had a good time when they were on camera, whether they were trying to quit coffee, or lose weight. They alway spoke to each other and never kept anything from each other. When they broke them up it was done in a way that wasn’t true. People just wanted them back. Fans really want fun. There’s not a lot of fun going on in daytime. It was nice to have happy back.

Q: So Little Richard married Bo and Nora the first time…

A: Wasn’t that fabulous?

Q: It was! But he couldn’t come back and marry them again?

A: No, he could not. But I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what happens.

Q: Everything in Hollywood – and certainly on some other soaps – seems to be about youth. I think it’s great that “One Life To Live” is focusing on romance between characters older than their 20s.

A: I hope they continue to put them out there. I was a big soap viewer before I was on them. I always dreamed about being on a soap. I did not watch the younger story lines. I was more interested in what was going on with my parents’ generation. There was more at stake. The young kids get their hearts broken and move on. The older couples were much more serious, much more deep and interesting. I always migrate that way. It’s great to have younger storylines – we have some great kids on the show. The generations are very intermingled.

Q: Speaking of generations, are there any plans to recast the role of Nora’s daughter, Rachel? (Actress Daphne Duplaix, who most recently played the role, was let go in March)

A: No, no new Rachel. It broke my heart when they let Daphne go…I didn’t understand that decision. They found the perfect Rachel and then they let her go. I can’t imagine them recasting the role with anyone but her.

Q: What’s your favorite Bo and Nora moment?

A: It’s so hard – It’s been 18 years. I think it was the first time they were in a hot tub together, or their first kiss. Or when they danced together. Maybe it was when he built an ice cream sundae on my stomach. They were like “Let’s do something different” and I said “Why don’t they build an ice cream sundae on my stomach?” I got freezer burn on my belly button.

Q: So, if Little Richard isn’t going to marry Bo and Nora, is frequent guest Snoop Dogg going to?

A: No. But I have to tell you – Snoop is a very funny guy and a huge fan of the show. He feels like he’s known (the character of) Bo forever, and he has, because he’s been watching since he was a kid.

Q: If Bo and Nora were ever to leave the canvas, how would you like to see their story end?

A: I have my ideas. I think that if I ever decided to leave, or if they had me leave, I would like it to be in a way that recaps their love affair, where they really show the flashbacks of what these two were to each other, and the love these two people have. I don’t want them to leave angry with each other. I want them to part loving each other. The retooling of history is what I object to, and what long time soap fans object to, when they do something what isn’t (in keeping) with the history of a character. When they’ve done that with Nora, I wasn’t too happy. It was like “Wait a minute….”

Q: Give me an example.

A: The one thing that happened that was so not in (Nora’s) character, that she ever would have done, was going to (sleep with old pal Sam) to give Bo a child (when Bo was supposedly sterile). She never would have done that. I kept saying “How is she gonna do that? She was have artificially inseminated herself with (Bo’s father) Asa’s sperm before she did that, because it still would have been a Buchanan. Phil Carey, who played Asa, was so touched that I came up with that. He was like “Yeah! That’s the way it should be! That would be a much better story.”