50 Greatest Soap Couples: #39 Nick & Althea From THE DOCTORS

COUPLE: Nick Bellini & Althea Davis
SHOW: THE DOCTORS
RANK: 39
PLAYED BY:
Nick: Gerald Gordon
Althea: Elizabeth Hubbard (replaced briefly by Virginia Vestoff in 1969–1970)
YEARS: 1966-1976

STORY:
Nick was a brilliant but rough-around-the-edges surgeon from Chicago and Althea was a sophisticated physician brought up in the finest New England schools.  Both doctors were hotheaded and passionate and had instant and undeniable chemistry.   The couple married in 1968 but both had such volatile personalities the marriage was short-lived.  The two remained close with fans always wondering "will they or won't they" finally reconcile.

IMPACT:
Nick and Althea were the most passionate couple in THE DOCTORS' history.  Gordon and Hubbard were on the cover of various magazines constantly and their relationship helped establish the show which surged in the ratings in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Gordon's Dr. Bellini was the type of anti-hero leading man that is everywhere on television these days but was groundbreaking in Daytime TV in the 1960s.

Hubbard told us in a 2010 interview that people still ask her about Nick and Althea to this day.  She won as Best Actress in Daytime Drama at the 1st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in 1974.

Gordon died in 2001 at age 67.

CLASSIC CLIPS:
Sadly there are no Nick-Althea clips on YouTube (if you know of any, please let us know) but some are saved at museums like the Paley Center.  Here are some other Althea/Elizabeth Hubbard/THE DOCTORS highlights:
- Years after Nick, Althea gets cozy with French plastic surgeon Dr. Jean-Marc Gauthier (1982)
- WE LOVE SOAPS TV Interview Archive: Elizabeth Hubbard
- TOMORROW Soap Opera Segment From 1975 (Producer Joseph Stuart talks about Gerald Gordon leaving THE DOCTORS)

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