Today in Soap Opera History (August 31)

1960: Grace was still bitter on THE SECRET STORM. 1989: Josie
moved in with the Matthews family on ANOTHER WORLD.
1994: Erica was in a neckbrace on ALL MY CHILDREN.
2010: Oakdale said goodbye to Nancy Hughes on ATWT.

"If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree."
― Michael Crichton

"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...

1948: THE GUIDING LIGHT radio soap opera (still four years from making its way to television) introduced the character of Friedrich "Papa" Bauer.  Theodore von Eltz originated the role and was replaced by Theo Goetz a year later.  Goetz would remain with the show until his death in 1972.

1960: On THE SECRET STORM, Myra (June Graham) visited Grace (Marjorie Gateson), who had something to say about everyone.



1967: Regina Gleason debuted as Kitty Horton on DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

1984: On GUIDING LIGHT, returning from a trip to Tulsa, H.B. (Larry Gates) was thrilled to see Josh (Robert Newman) was now able to stand up.



1987: On SANTA BARBARA, Kelly (Robin Wright) was worried about Eden (Marcy Walker).



1989: On ANOTHER WORLD, Josie (Alexandra Wilson) moved into the Matthews home, much to Liz's (Irene Dailey) chagrin. Meanwhile, Vicky (Anne Heche) was not happy to see Jake (Tom Eplin) at Donna's (Anna Stuart) apartment.



1991: Gerry Davis, a writer who worked on CORONATION STREET and DOCTOR WHO, died at age 61.

1994: On ALL MY CHILDREN, Jackson (Walt Willey) helped Erica (Susan Lucci) file an accident report after "that maniac" Dimitri (Michael Nader) "rammed" into the front of her car.



1997: Princess Diana died at age 36.

2010: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, the Hughes family said goodbye to Nancy.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Anthony D. Call (ex-Herb, ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Fred, FOR RICHER FOR POORER; ex-Joe, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Colin, THE EDGE OF NIGHT) - 73

TEXAS hunk Randy Hamilton is 62

Lee Bryant (ex-Lyla, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 68
Randy Hamilton (ex-Rikki, TEXAS; ex-Ron, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 62
Kevin Bash (ex-Phillip, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 58
Jaime Gomez (ex-Sonny, GENERATIONS) - 48
Jonathan LaPaglia (ex-Bryan, BROTHERS & SISTERS) - 44
Sara Ramirez (Callie, GREY'S ANATOMY; ex-Hannah, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 38
Mike Erwin (ex-Nate, JACK & BOBBY) - 35
Chad Brannon (ex-Zander, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Lucas, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS; ex-Stan, UNDRESSED) - 34
Joshua Close (ex-Kurt, UNDRESSED) - 32
Ryan Kelley (ex-Ryan, SMALLVILLE) - 27

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].