Today in Soap Opera History (July 26)

On this date in...

1938: YOUNG WIDDER BROWN, from Frank and Anne Hummert, premiered on NBC Radio. It told the story of young Ellen, a 30 year old mother, who struggled to raise her children without the small town mentality that came with living in Simpsonsville.  The popular radio soap opera ran until June 22, 1956.

1976: ONE LIFE TO LIVE and GENERAL HOSPITAL each expanded to 45 minutes. Up until this point, OLTL aired after GH, but moved to the timeslot before GH and remained there way until OLTL left ABC in 2013.

1976: On ANOTHER WORLD, Mac (Douglass Watson) accused Rachel (Victoria Wyndham) of neglecting Jamie (Bobby Doran).

1989: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Duke (Michael Louden) surprised Julie (Susan Marie Snyder) when he invited Dr. Samuels (Courtney Sherman) to her apartment.



1993: On DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Vivian (Louise Sorel) buried Carly (Crystal Chappell) alive.



1999: MTV soap opera UNDRESSED premiered. The series was created and executive produced by British director Roland Joffé.



2001: On THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, Colleen asked Brad (Don Diamont) to explain why he and Traci divorced.

2012: British soap star Mary Tamm died at age 62.

2012: Actress Lupe Ontiveros died at age 69.   Ontiveros was nominated for an Indie Soap Award in 2012 for her work in LOS AMERICANS.  She also memorably played Carlos’ mother, Mama Solis, in DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Robert Colbert (ex-Stuart, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 82
Kathryn Hays (ex-Kim, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Leslie, GUIDING LIGHT) - 80
Darlene Love (ex-Judy, ANOTHER WORLD) - 75
Nicholas Walker (ex-Frank, SANTA BARBARA; ex-Jimmy, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Jason, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-Max, ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Trey, CAPITOL) - 60
Nana Visitor (ex-Nancy, RYAN’S HOPE; ex-Darcy, THE DOCTORS; ex-Georgina, ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Georgina, THE COLBYS) - 56
Olivia Williams (ex-Adelle, DOLLHOUSE) - 45
Cress Williams (Lavon, HART OF DIXIE; ex-Ornette, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS; ex-Tucker, GREY’S ANATOMY; ex-D'Shawn, BEVERLY HILLS 90210) - 43
Monica Raymund (Dana, THE GOOD WIFE) - 27
Miriam McDonald (ex-Emma, DEGRASSI) - 26
Francia Raisa (ex-Adrian, THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER) - 25
Taylor Momsen (ex-Jenny, GOSSIP GIRL) - 20

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].