Thursday, October 20, 2016

Today in Soap Opera History (October 20)

1930: Irna Phillips' soap opera Painted Dreams premiered.
1987: General Hospital's Duke and Anna were married.
1994: All My Children's Edmund faced the press.
1998: The Young and the Restless' Sharon was hit by a car.
"More and more, I tend to read history. I often find it more up to date than the daily newspapers."
― Joe Murray

"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...

1930: The soap opera was born! Irna Phillips’ radio soap Painted Dreams premiered on WGN Radio in Chicago. The show is widely recognized by broadcast historians as the very first soap opera. The show ran on WGN and later CBS Radio until July 1943.

Click here to read Rob Wargo's in-depth feature from the 80th anniversary of Painted Dreams in 2010.

1951: CBS debuted its eye logo. You can view photos of the Eye logos throughout the decades at CBS.com.

1971: On The Doctors, Adam Reynolds pleaded with Steve Aldrich (David O'Brien) to tell the complete truth to the grand jury, but Steve was afraid of hurting Carolee.



1978: On Another World, Jamie Frame (Tim Holcomb) married Blaine Ewing (Laura Malone) at Justice of the Peace Bellamy's living room in Ogden.

1980: Kin Shriner debuted as Jeb Hampton in Texas.

1981: On Another World, Rachel (Victoria Wyndham) told Mac (Douglass Watson) she didn't want Alice (Linda Borgeson) anywhere near her children.



1982: On The Edge of Night, Nora Fulton (Catherine Bruno) told Gunther Wagner (David Froman) she wanted to have the child she was carrying, and to marry him.



1983: On Knots Landing, the lawyers for Val (Joan Van Ark) and Gary (Ted Shackelford) argued heatedly over the divorce settlement when Val interrupted and told them she only wanted the house and the car, nothing more. William Devane made his first appearance as Greg Sumner in this episode.

1986: On Days of our Lives, Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston) drugged his son, Bo Brady (Peter Reckell), so he could get a look at the tattoo on his back.

1987: On General Hospital, Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan) and Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) were married in a traditional Scottish ceremony.



19889: Joe Marinelli debuted as Bunny Tagliatti on Santa Barbara.

1989: Vincent Irizarry aired for the final time as Scott Clark in Santa Barbara.

1994: On All My Children, the press wanted Edmund (John Callahan) to reveal why he got into an altercation and hit Del Henry (Winsor Harmon).



1995: Actor Christopher Stone died at age 53. He played Bill Horton on Days of our Lives and Dave Stratton in Dallas.

1999: On As the World Turns, the Synder family celebrated matriarch Emma's (Kathleen Widdoes) birthday. Emma was less than thrilled that Jack (Michael Park) brought Carly (Maura West) to dinner.



Barbara Berjer
2002: Actress Barbara Berjer, beloved for her work on many daytime soap operas, passed away at age 82. She had lived in her native Seattle for a year before she died of pneumonia while on a trip to New York City.

Berjer's daytime roles included Bridget Connell in Another World, Barbara Norris in Guiding Light, Claire Cassen on As the World Turns, Ms. Spence in All My Children, Irene Eagon Wheeler in The Edge of Night, and Lynn Franklin in From These Roots.

1998: On The Young and the Restless, having belatedly joined her husband, Nick (Joshua Morrow), on a business trip in Denver, Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) was shocked when she overheard him and Grace Turner (Jennifer Gareis) talking about their lovemaking session prior to Sharon's arrival. Emotionally distraught, Sharon exited the hotel, wandered the dark city streets, and was hit by a car.



Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

2003: On The Bold and the Beautiful, Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery) went to the foundry and wanted Nick Marone to explain to her what happened to her son, Ridge. Nick assured Stephanie that her son was a hero. Nick suggested that maybe Stephanie and Brooke Logan could help one another deal with their grief. Stephanie admitted that it took losing Ridge to realize how much Brooke loved him. Meanwhile, Brooke joyfully threw her arms around Ridge but wondered how he got out alive. Anna recounted how she rescued Ridge through a hatch at the bottom of the furnace. Brooke thanked Anna for saving Ridges life and her own, then Brooke and Ridge shared a kiss.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
William Christopher (ex-Father Tobias, Days of our Lives) - 84
Sandra Dickinson (ex-Debbie, Casualty) - 68
William Russ (ex-Tucker, The Young and the Restless; ex-Burt, Another World) - 66
David Henesy (ex-David, Dark Shadows; ex-Student, Another World) - 60
Viggo Mortensen (ex-Bragg, Search for Tomorrow) - 58
Yvette Nipar (ex-Sandy, General Hospital; ex-Sasha, Days of our Lives) - 52
Snoop Dogg (One Life to Live guest star, theme song singer) - 45
Dannii Minogue (ex-Emma, Home and Away) - 45
Gillian Jacobs (ex-Adele, The Book of Daniel) - 34
Rose McIver (Tinker Bell, Once Upon a Time; ex-Holly, Shortland Street) - 29
Cooper Guynes (ex-Kyle, The Young and the Restless) - 16
Oliver Guynes (ex-Kyle, The Young and the Restless) - 16

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a soap history entry for this date or a future date, email [email protected].

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