Today in Soap Opera History (September 17)

On this date in...

1929: Future soap and Broadway actress Tresa Hughes (Emma, ANOTHER WORLD; Nurse Dumfrey, RYAN'S HOPE; Rose, FROM THESE ROOTS) was born. She died on July 24, 2011 at age 81.

1962: Rex Ingram became the first African American featured on a daytime soap opera in a contract role when he appeared as an ordained minister named Victor Graham in THE BRIGHTER DAY.  Sadly, the soap aired its final episode 11 days later on September 28.

1986: Camilla More debuted as Gillian Forrester in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

2001: At the end of its first aired episode since the 9/11 attack, the cast of DAYS OF OUR LIVES sang "America The Beautiful."



2007: PASSIONS made its DirecTV debut on The 101 Network.

2010: AS THE WORLD TURNS aired its final episode after 54 years on CBS.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Aaron Lustig (ex-Tim, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-Tim, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL) - 56
Kyle Chandler (ex-Eric, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS; ex-Dylan, GREY'S ANATOMY) - 47
Matthew Settle (Rufus, GOSSIP GIRL; ex-Jonathan, BROTHERS & SISTERS) - 43
Nate Berkus (DAYS OF OUR LIVES guest star) - 41
Erika Page (ex-Amber, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Roseanne, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 37
Constantine Maroulis (ex-Constantine, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL) - 37
Billy Miller (Billy, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-Richie, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 33
Sandra Vidal (ex-Sofia, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL)

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].