Today in Soap Opera History (January 25)

THE GUIDING LIGHT premiered on NBC radio on January 25, 1937.
  The show ended its run on CBS TV on September 18, 2009.

"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...

1937: Irna Phillips' THE GUIDING LIGHT premiered on NBC Radio. The show ran on radio (NBC then CBS) until 1956. In 1952, the series transitioned to CBS-TV, airing both on TV and radio until 1956. The show ran on TV until September 18, 2009, making it the longest running scripted series in broadcast history (18,262 episodes on TV and radio).

DAYS' Maggie Simmons (Suzanne Rogers) married her true
love, Mickey Horton.

1972: On ANOTHER WORLD, a distressed Pat (Beverly Penberthy) filled Mary (Virginia Dwyer) and Alice (Jacqueline Courtney) in on Walter's disappearance.

1974: On DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Maggie Simmons (Suzanne Rogers) married Marty Hansen (aka Mickey Horton with amnesia played by John Clarke).

1980: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Barbara (Colleen Zenk) confessed to Tom (Tom Tammi) that she had a baby boy three years earlier.



1988: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, a hospitalized Robin (Kimberly McCullough) had a panic attack when she saw a man that looked like Grant Putnam.



1990: Actress Ava Gardner, who played Ruth Galveston in KNOTS LANDING, died at age 67.

GENERATIONS ended 23 years ago today.

1991: NBC aired the final episode daytime soap opera GENERATIONS. Sally Sussman created GENERATIONS, serving as both its executive producer and head writer.

Describing the serial in 1989, as it was about to go on, NBC said that it was "a contemporary daytime drama set in Chicago" and that it centered "on the relationships of two families -- one white, the Whitmores; one black, the Marshalls -- whose lives have been linked for generations."



1991: Kassie Wesley (now Kassie DePaiva) aired for the final time as Chelsea Reardon on GUIDING LIGHT.



Thanks to Enrique for sending in the item above.

2005: On ALL MY CHILDREN, Jonathan (Jeff Branson) asked Maggie (Elizabeth Hendrickson) to marry him.



2007: GUIDING LIGHT recreated its early years in a special 70th anniversary episode with Beth Ehlers (Harley) playing Irna Phillips.



2012: The death of actor Nick Santino made national headlines after he committed suicide on his 47th birthday following euthanizing his dog, Rocco.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Jack Axelrod (ex-Victor, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 84
Leigh Taylor-Young (ex-Katherine, PASSIONS; ex-Elaine, SUNSET BEACH; ex-Rachel, PEYTON PLACE) - 69
Scott Palmer (ex-Tim, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-Joshua, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Farley, DALLAS; ex-Dr. Cannon, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL) - 61
Kevin O'Rourke (ex-Stan, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 58
George Alvarez (ex-Ray, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Enrique, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; ex-Alex, GENERAL HOSPITAL/PORT CHARLES) - 54
Ana Ortiz (Marisol, DEVIOUS MAIDS; ex-Hilda, UGLY BETTY) - 43
Mia Kirshner (ex-Isobel, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES; ex-Sherry, THE L WORD) - 39
Paul Taylor (ex-Isaac, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 38
Michael Trevino (Tyler, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES) - 29
Natalie Hall (ex-Colby, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 26

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].