Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Today in Soap Opera History (August 7)


On this date in...

1974: Douglass Watson made his first appearance as Mackenzie Cory on ANOTHER WORLD. Robert Emhardt, who played the role for just over a year, had left the show in June. Watson's first scene was with Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) and Louise. He earned three Emmy nominations for his work at AW during his 15-year run, winning twice (1980, 1981). He also won a Daytime Emmy in 1978 for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Religious Programming.

In our 2010 interview with Nicolas Coster, Watson's AW co-star had this to say: "We all know Douglass was the prince of daytime. The crowned prince, the king, one of the grandest people I have ever known, ever. He ranks up there with Gregory Peck and Robert Redford. He was a fantastic actor and a wonderful human being. Enough good cannot be said of Douglass Watson. And everyone else says it, I have never heard an ill word against Douglass."

1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Logan told April that "Kirk Michaels" did not exist.



1983: Actor David Ford passed away in his sleep at age 58. He played Sam Evans in DARK SHADOWS, and also appeared in LOVING, THE EDGE OF NIGHT and LOVE OF LIFE.

1984: On GUIDING LIGHT, Darcy held Beth (Judi Evans) hostage.



1985: Actress Grayson Hall died at age 62. Her soap roles included Dr. Julia Hoffman in DARK SHADOWS, Marge Grey on ALL MY CHILDREN, and Euphemia Ralston in ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

1986: On SANTA BARBARA, at Santana's (Gina Gallego) at her hearing, Keith testified he could prove he was not in the car on the night in question.



2001: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Cass Winthrop (Stephen Schnetzer) decided not to cross examine Barbara.

2001: On THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, Ridge (Ronn Moss) continued to resist Brooke's attempts to start up their relationship again.

2006: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Carly (Laura Wright) told Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) to do everyone everyone a favor and "drop dead."



2008: The final episode of PASSIONS (#2,231) aired on DirecTV's The 101.



2009: On THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, Adam (Michael Muhney) had to admit to Heather he was with Rafe but one time only. Elsewhere, Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) told Victor he was the only man she had ever truly loved.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
John Glover (Jared, THE GOOD WIFE; ex-Billy, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW) - 69
David Rasche (ex-Cal, UGLY BETTY; ex-Robert, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Wes, RYAN'S HOPE) - 69
Wayne Knight (ex-Brian, TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY) - 58
David Duchovny (ex-Agent Dennis/Denise, TWIN PEAKS) - 53
Maggie Wheeler (Trinette, ARCHER) - 52
DeLane Matthews (ex-Janine, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Amber, GUIDING LIGHT) - 51
Harold Perrineau (ex-Michael, LOST) - 50
Sydney Penny (ex-Julia, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Samantha, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; ex-Meg, SUNSET BEACH; ex-BJ, SANTA BARBARA) - 42
Rachel York (ex-Rita, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 42
Michael Shannon (Nelson, BOARDWALK EMPIRE) - 39
Luca Calvani (ex-Dante, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 39
Eric Johnson (ex-Whitney, SMALLVILLE) - 34
Randy Wayne (Justin, THE LYING GAME) - 32
Liam James (Jack, THE KILLING) - 17

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].

6 comments:

  1. Another World was considered religious programming?

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    1. He got three noms (two wins) for AW. His 1978 Daytime Emmy 2in was for a different project.

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  2. No, that had to be for something else. His only other AW nomination was in 1989. Douglass didn't win for AW before 1980.

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  3. 'Continuing Creation' was a documentary produced by the NBC Television Religious Programs Unit in association with the National Council of Churches. One of the themes was how religion and science, in different ways, try to answer the same questions like What are we? Where did we come from? etc, etc. Doug was the narrator.

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  4. Knowing what is going to happen when Nadine arrives in Monticello and what will occur at the Unicorn in a few months does not spoil the pleasure of viewing this episode from 33 years ago today. Henry Slesar was a master of misdirection, setting up his psychotic killers in a way that you never would guess who the murderer is until the ultimate revelation. The Edge of Night was, quite simply, the very best soap opera on television for most of its run and is sorely missed. JMHO

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  5. There are not many top-drawer, class-act princes who are also fine actors like the fabulously wonderful Douglass Watson.

    Are his widow & youngest daughter still alive & well, Roger? I know that his namesake son & older daughter passed away several years ago?

    Brian :-)

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