Sunday, August 18, 2013

Today in Soap Opera History (August 18)

1980: Lesley slapped Monica on GH. 1981: Morgan & Kelly
were married on GL. 1988: Hank came out on ATWT.
2012: Colleen Zenk officiated a wedding in Times Square.
History is not melodrama, even if it usually reads like that.
-Robert Penn Warren

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1899: Bess Flynn was born.  She was on the writing team of Irna Phillips' PAINTED DREAMS, the first ever daytime soap opera in 1930. Both Flynn and Phillips played the role of Mother Moynihan. Flynn went on to wrote for three other soaps: WE THE ABBOTTS, BACHELOR'S CHILDREN and MARTHA WEBSTER.She played the title role of Martha Webster and also portrayed Tilda the maid in THE GUMPS.

1980: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Rick (Chris Robinson) told Lesley (Denise Alexander) he was going to marry Monica (Leslie Charleson), Alan (Stuart Damon) announced he was the father of Monica's baby, and Lesley slapped Monica.



1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, "Kirk" (Tony Craig) saw a newspaper with a picture of himself and realized he was Draper Scott, and April was his wife.



1981: On GUIDING LIGHT, Kelly Nelson (John Wesley Shipp) married Morgan Richards (Kristen Vigard). Meanwhile, Nola Reardon (Lisa Brown) could not go through with her wedding to Floyd Parker (Tom Nielsen).



1984: On DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Bo (Peter Reckell) had a Civil War fantasy as he waited for Hope (Kristian Alfonso) at Oak Alley Plantation.



1988: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Hank Elliot (Brian Starcher) revealed to Iva Snyder (Lisa Brown) that he was gay. Hank was the first openly gay male character in daytime soap opera history.



1989: On ANOTHER WORLD, Rachel (Victoria Wyndham) received flowers for her anniversary with Mac.



1997: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Alan (Stuart Damon) and Monica (Leslie Charleson) celebrated their wedding anniversary. "I haven't tried to kill you in 15 years," joked Alan. "That's cause for celebration."



2004: On THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, Felicia (Colleen Dion) admitted to Nick (Jack Wagner) that she had cancer.

2010: The Paley Center in New York presented a "Farewell to AS THE WORLD TURNS." Ron Simon moderated a panel that included executive producer Christopher Goutman; head writer Jean Passanante; and cast members Van Hansis (Luke Snyder), Trent Dawson (Henry Coleman), Terri Colombino (Katie Peretti), Colleen Zenk (Barbara Ryan), Kathryn Hays (Kim Hughes), Don Hastings (Bob Hughes), and Eileen Fulton (Lisa Grimaldi).

2012: AS THE WORLD TURNS star Colleen Zenk (Barbara Ryan) officiated the wedding of We Love Soaps' Roger Newcomb and Kevin Mulcahy Jr. in Times Square after becoming an ordained minister.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Maureen Garrett
Martin Mull (ex-Barth/Garth, MARY HARTMAN MARY HARTMAN) - 70
Maureen Garrett (ex-Holly, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-EJ, RYAN'S HOPE) - 65
Candice Earley (ex-Donna, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 63
Taylor Miller (ex-Nina, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Sally, ANOTHER WORLD) - 59
Madeleine Stowe (Victoria, REVENGE) - 55
John Viscardi (ex-Tony, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 52
Craig Bierko (ex-Andy, LEAP YEAR; ex-Greg, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 49
Christian Slater (ex-DJ, RYAN'S HOPE) - 44
Daphnee Duplaix (ex-Rachel, ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Valerie, PASSIONS) - 37
Brian Presley (ex-Jack, PORT CHARLES) - 36
Josh Folan (ex-Josh, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 32
Maia Mitchell (Callie, THE FOSTERS) - 20
Max Charles (ex-Hunter, TRUE BLOOD) - 10

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].

16 comments:

  1. Many Happy Returns To Maureen Garrett!

    Brian :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brian Starcher played Hank on ATWT. I wonder what happened to him?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats on your one year anniversary!

    And just to mention - it's also Jorge Eduardo Garcia's birthday. This talented young actor turns 11-years old. He's like the go-to kid for Telemundo telenovelas .. lol!. I think he's been in more than a half-dozen already. Most famous as "Lalo" in UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN, he's currently appearing in Telemundo's SANTA DIABLA.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Here's a link to Morgan and Kelly's 1981 wedding on GL on youtube that's in slightly better quality that wasn't filmed on a tv with a video camera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9MiS4u1gyc And congrats on your first wedding anniversary, Roger!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Chris. I almost used that clip but one of the key aspects of that episode was the Nola non-wedding so I wanted to have that as well. I'm kicking myself for not getting a perfect quality version of this when SoapClassics was up and running.

      Delete
  5. Happy anniversary, Roger, and many more!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy Anniversary and many more Roger & Kevin!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I was just watching the wedding video. Because Ms. Zenk was officiating Kevin added that famous soap wedding line, something to the effect of... "If anyone has any just cause why these two should not be married..." Everyone laughed when we got to that point. And luckily no one objected. :)

      Delete
  7. Happy, Happy Anniversary Roger and Kevin! xo

    ReplyDelete
  8. As a 15 yr old watching Hank come out to Iva on ATWT was the best day of my life. I finally had a character I myself could look up to and it also ket mr know that I matter too, as all gay kids want. I know he didnt last long & I have always admired head writer douglas marland for having the courage to bring Hank to ATWTs Oakdale.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congradulations on your one yr anniversary. Hope it lasts for at least 50 more. For all the soap opera related stuff you do....thank you so very much.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Chris...thank you for this link

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9MiS4u1gyc

    I was thinking, "I don't remember looking like an alien!
    Hi, Roger...I sang YOU NEEDED ME a lot on GL,A ND EVEN ON THE PHIL DONAHUE SHOW. Are there any video clips of my singing from this period, other than SINCE YOU ASKED with Kristin (which I love having, even though poor Kristin had the Flu that day, although you wouldn't know it.)
    Thanks, guys

    ReplyDelete