Friday, January 17, 2014

Today in Soap Opera History (January 17)

1968: DS' Barnabas kept Angelique's secret. 1980: ATWT's Dee
and Ian arrived in Italy. 1988: Australian soap HOME AND
AWAY premiered. 2007: GH's Elizabeth made a confession.
"Maybe if people started to listen, history would stop repeating itself."
- Lily Tomlin

"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...

1958: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Mike (John Larkin) called Willy and asked him to put two investigators on Toni for protection.

1966: Charles Baxter debuted as attorney Fred Douglas on ANOTHER WORLD.

1968: On DARK SHADOWS, Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) promised Angelique (Lara Parker) he would not to tell Josette about the witch.. Later, Josette (Kathryn Leigh Scott) read the biography accompanying the photo of her in the book she found in Victoria's room which said she "died by her own hand in the winter of that same year, 1795."



1980: Actress Barbara Britton died at age 60. She began playing Fran Craig Gordon on ONE LIFE TO LIVE in 1979 but was soon diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

1980: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Dee (Jacqueline Schultz) and Ian (Peter Simon) arrived in Italy.



1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, April (Terry Davis) told Draper (Tony Craig) about the dream she had the night before.



1988: Australian soap opera HOME AND AWAY premiered. The show is set in the fictional town of Summer Bay, a coastal town in New South Wales.



1997: On SUNSET BEACH, Casey (Timothy Adams) explained to Meg (Susan Ward) that he was not "S.B."



2007: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) went to church and confessed to Father Ruiz she may never get the chance to tell Jason the baby was his.



2007: During the Television Critics Association winter press tour, NBC Universal Television president Jeff Zucker remarked that DAYS OF OUR LIVES would most likely not "continue past 2009." New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd reported in 2010 that an unnamed "honcho at another network" stated that "Zucker is a case study in the most destructive media executive ever to exist... You’d have to tell me who else has taken a once-great network and literally destroyed it."

2012: Krys Meyer debuted as the original Thomas "TJ" Ashford, Jr. on GENERAL HOSPITAL.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Betty White (ex-Ann, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; ex-Brenda, ANOTHER WORLD; ex-SANTA BARBARA; ex-DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 92
James Earl Jones (ex-Jim, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Jery, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 83
Curt May (ex-Bryan, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 69
Jane Elliot (Tracy, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Tracy, THE CITY; ex-Carrie, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Angelica, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Cynthia, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Madge, A NEW DAY IN EDEN; ex-Linda, A FLAME IN THE WIND) - 67
Chris Whitesell (Writer, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; DAYS OF OUR LIVES; AS THE WORLD TURNS; SUNSET BEACH; GENERAL HOSPITAL; ANOTHER WORLD; GUIDING LIGHT) - 57
Joseph C. Phillips (ex-Justus, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Jed, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 52
Denis O'Hare (Spalding/Larry, AMERICAN HORROR STORY; Charles, THE GOOD WIFE; ex-Travis, BROTHERS & SISTERS) - 52
Joshua Malina (David, SCANDAL; ex-Will, THE WEST WING) - 48
Naveen Andrews (ex-Sayid, LOST) - 45
Freddy Rodríguez (ex-Gio, UGLY BETTY; ex-Rico, SIX FEET UNDER) - 39
Diogo Morgado (ex-João, LACOS DE SANGUE; ex-Eduardo, SOL DE INVERNO) - 33

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].

4 comments:

  1. Denis O'Hare also played Russell Edgington on "True Blood"!

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  2. Happy Birthday to the incredible Jane Elliot. One of the true DIVAS (best sense of the word) of daytime.

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  3. I LOVE Home & Away! Esp the classic early years!

    Also: Happy Birthday Betty White! What a lovely lovely lady!!!

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  4. It's also Sam Strike's birthday, Johnny Carter of the new Carter family on EastEnders! Sam just turned 20!

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