Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Today in Soap Opera History (July 24)

On this date in...

1933: THE ROMANCE OF HELEN TRENT first went on the air in Chicago. It was the forerunner of many daily, 15-minute soap operas. The program lasted until June 24, 1960. During its 27-year run, three actresses played Helen--Virginia Clark and Betty Ruth Smith in Chicago, and later Julie Stevens in New York. HELEN had a following so intense that at the height of its popularity the show received 1,000 letters a week offering advice on her many problems.

1939: Radio soap opera THUNDER OVER PARADISE premiered on the Blue Radio Network. Laurette Fillbrandt starred.

1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Larry lured "Kirk" out to Playland



1986: On SANTA BARBARA, Eden had words with Santana.



1987: Josh Taylor aired for the last time on DAYS OF OUR LIVES as Chris Kositchek.  He returned in 1997 as a recast of Roman Brady.

1989: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Julie told Duke she was pregnant.



1992: Reba McEntire guest starred on ONE LIFE TO LIVE (she also appeared on July 27).

1996: Former soap opera actress Catherine Ann Christiansen (ALL MY CHILDREN; ONE LIFE TO LIVE) was arrested and charged with plotting to have her husband killed. She would later be sentenced to a year in prison.

1997: On ONE LIFE TO LIVE, Maggie told Max to quit while he was ahead.



2009: On THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, Phillip tried to get to know Chance.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Jacqueline Brookes (ex-Beatrice, ANOTHER WORLD; ex-Flora, A FLAME IN THE WIND; ex-Miss Thompson, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Sister Mary Joel, RYAN'S HOPE; ex-Ursula, THE SECRET STORM) - 82
John Aniston (Victor, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Martin, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW; ex-Eddie, LOVE OF LIFE) - 79
Maeve McGuire (ex-Judith, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Beverly, ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Selena, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Kate, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW; ex-Elena, ANOTHER WORLD; ex-Nicole, THE EDGE OF NIGHT) - 75
Chris Sarandon (ex-Tom, GUIDING LIGHT) -70
Sam Behrens (ex-Maxwell, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-Gregory, SUNSET BEACH; ex-Jake, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Adam, RYAN'S HOPE) - 62
James Goodwin (ex-Kevin, ANOTHER WORLD; ex-Johnny, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Jerry, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 51
Laura Leighton (Ashley, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS; ex-Sydney, MELROSE PLACE) - 44
Kristin Chenoweth (ex-Carlene, GCB; ex-April, GLEE) - 44
Elisabeth Moss (Peggy, MAD MEN; ex-Zoey, THE WEST WING) -30
Anna Paquin (Sookie, TRUE BLOOD) - 30
Tala Ashe (R.J., SMASH; ex-Ameera, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 28
Megan Park (Grace, THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER) - 26
Mara Wilson (ex-Nikki, MELROSE PLACE) - 25

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].

1 comment:

  1. Maeve McGuire was the original Nicole, she did not play Nancy on Edge.

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