Friday, April 13, 2012

Today in Soap Opera History (April 13)

On this date in...

1939: On radio soap opera BACKSTAGE WIFE, Mary received a call from a gossip columnist who questioned her about her separation from Larry. Katharine Monroe criticized Peter Dillon for being interested in Sandra Page, and Dillon exited enraged. Mary and Larry discussed their separation.

1950: Terry Lester (Jack, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; Mason, SANTA BARBARA; Royce, AS THE WORLD TURNS) was born. He died in 2003 at age 53.

1955: On HAWKINS FALLS, Lona worried about her husband's health and later convinced Millie to visit Gary Minden at the hospital; Millie described what she wanted from a relationship; Mitch debated with Virgil about the layout for a candy ad; and Mitch informed Dr. Corey that he had been turned down for additional life insurance. Dr. Corey admitted that he needed to change his lifestyle for the sake of his health, but he refused to do it and insisted that Lona not be informed about his health problem.

1973: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Adam explained to Liz that Jessup wanted her dead.

1979: On ANOTHER WORLD, Rachel admired Larry's dedication to Blaine and agreed to host their wedding.

1987: Genie Francis debuted as Diana Colville on DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

1993: On ALL MY CHILDREN, Kendall questioned Erica's choice of Bianca for maid of honor at her wedding.



2005: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Ric and Jason compared notes on Reese's car bombing.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Tony Dow (ex-Ross, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 67
Ron Perlman (ex-Bernie, RYAN'S HOPE) - 62
Erick Avari (ex-Omar, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 60
Saundra Santiago (ex-Carlotta, ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Carmen, GUIDING LIGHT) - 55
Caroline Rhea (ex-Noleta, SORDID LIVES) - 48
Kelli Giddish (ex-Di, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 32
Fernanda EspĂ­ndola (Francesa, BLOOMERS)

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a piece of soap opera history for this daily column, please email it to [email protected].

2 comments:

  1. Although Peter Bergman does an incredible job in the role of Jack Abbott (or at least the last time I watched) but Terry Lester was not only the Jack of my childhood, he was the very embodiment of Ole Smilin' Jack and if you remembered that smile, you'd remember why the nicknamed was coined.
    He is still very much missed. Gone way too soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. An interesting bit of trivia about Terry Lester is that he originally went in to Y&R to audition for the role of Dr. Snapper Foster when William Gray Espy left the role (ca. 1975). He thought he had the part, and when it went to David Hasselhoff, he was angry that he didn't get it. He said, because of that, he let everyone know that, "I didn't want to do a soap opera anyway,'' and "for years after that every time they called for an audition, I refused" - jokingly referring to himself as ''Mr. Maturity'' in retrospect. He finally accepted the role of Jack Abbott five years later.

    Source: Soap Stars: America's 31 Favorite Daytime Actors Speak for Themselves, by Dianna Whitely and Ray Manzella. 1985.

    ReplyDelete