Today in Soap Opera History (January 19)

On this date in...

1956: Actor Charles Dingle died at age 68.  He played Conrad Overton in THE ROAD OF LIFE.

1981: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Molly fell to her death down a flight of stairs while attempting to kill April.

1989: Actor Martin Blaine died at 75. He played Lionel Steele in YOUNG DOCTOR MALONE and Judge Clinton Bridges in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

1989: The final EDGE OF NIGHT rerun aired on USA Network.

1995: On GUIDING LIGHT, Alan-Michael (Rick Hearst) became president of Spaulding Enterprises.

2000: Actor Alan North died at age 79. He played Jack Bauer in GUIDING LIGHT and Capt. Sean Delaney in ANOTHER WORLD.

2007: Austin Peck debuted as Brad Snyder in AS THE WORLD TURNS.

2009: On GUIDING LIGHT, Emma gave a speech about her two mommies. Later, Olivia (Crystal Chappell) pulled Natalia (Jessica Leccia) into a kiss.



2010: Eric Sheffer Stevens debuted as Reid Oliver on AS THE WORLD TURNS.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Fritz Weaver (ex-Hugo, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 87
Tippi Hedren (ex-Helen, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; ex-Doris, FASHION HOUSE) - 83
Richard Van Vleet (ex-Chuck, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Ed, GUIDING LIGHT) - 71
Karen Lewis (Former daytime writer, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ALL MY CHILDREN) - 60
Katey Sagal (ex-Helen, LOST) - 59
Christine Tucci (ex-Amanda, ANOTHER WORLD) - 46
Wendy Moniz (ex-Kathleen, ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Dinah, GUIDING LIGHT) - 44
Drea de Matteo (ex-Angie, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) - 41
Marsha Thomason (ex-Gillian, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 37
Erin Sanders (ex-Eden, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 22
Logan Lerman (ex-Bobby, JACK & BOBBY) - 21

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a piece of soap opera history for this daily column, please email it to editor@welovesoaps.com.