Thursday, November 22, 2012

Today in Soap Opera History (November 22)

On this date in...

1958: Soap star and writer Ann Flood married TV executive Herbert A. Granath. She was working as an NBC tour guide at Radio City Music Hall when they met.

1963: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The clip below features Walter Cronkite breaking into the live broadcast of AS THE WORLD TURNS at 1:40 p.m. to deliver the news shots had been fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in Dallas and that first reports indicated the president was seriously wounded.

Dan Rather reported at 2:28 p.m. (on audio from Dallas) that the president was dead. The official confirmation of death was reported by Cronkite at 2:38 p.m. CBS News broadcast 54 hours and 53 minutes of uninterrupted coverage of the event and its aftermath beginning at 2:00 p.m. on November 22 and concluding at 11:37 p.m. on November 25.



1966: Susan Flannery debuted as Laura Horton in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

1968: Stage actress Betsy Durkin made her first appearance in DARK SHADOWS as governess Victoria Winters. When Alexandra Moltke abruptly left the show due to pregnancy, her pivotal character was in the midst of a major storyline and could not be written out. In Durkin's tenth episode, Victoria literally vanished, fading away, presumably returning to the 1700s, where she had met the love of her life during another journey through time.  Carolyn Groves played the character for a few episodes when they wrapped up her story for good.

1977: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Mike (Forrest Compton) was sentenced for the murder of Beau Richardson.

1979: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Owen (Bruce Gray) read Eddie's letter which revealed he was Brian's father.



1982: Scott Palmer aired for the final time as Joshua Fallon in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

1982: Christopher Goutman aired for the final time as George St. John in TEXAS.  He had previously played Dr. Kirkland on the show in 1981.

1983: Gregg Marx aired for the final time as David Banning in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

1994: On ALL MY CHILDREN, Gloria (Teresa Blake) sang "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" to her baby girl, Anna, as she died in her arms after being removed from the ventilator.



1994: Actress Norma Donaldson died at age 66.  She played Dr. Pauline Ravelle in GENERAL HOSPITAL and Lillie Belle Barber in THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.  Watch a clip of her work in Y&R below:



1995: On ONE LIFE TO LIVE, after being shot in the previous episode things looked dire for Todd (Roger Howarth).  Howarth's first run as Todd ended with the character famously opening his eyed to reveal he was still alive.



1996: Legendary actress Mary Stuart debuted as Meta Bauer on GUIDING LIGHT.

1996: Actor Mark Lenard died at age 72.  The STARK TREK actors soap roles included Richard Ludwig in DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Peter Goodwin in SOMERSET, and Dr. Ernest Gregory in ANOTHER WORLD.

1998: Actor Keith Amos died at age 36.  He played Eric Nash in GENERAL HOSPITAL.

1999: Longtime soap director Leonard Valenta died at age 75.

2010: On ALL MY CHILDREN, a much alive David (Vincent Irizarry) entered the courtroom during Greenlee's trial (for which she was just sentenced to life in prison for his murder).



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Michael Callan (ex-Jack, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 78
Richard Bergman (ex-Brett, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 62
Dani Minnick (ex-Rebecca, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 52
Mariel Hemingway (ex-Stephanie, CENTRAL PARK WEST) - 51
Winsor Harmon (Thorne, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; ex-Del, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 49
Max Tapper (ex-Theo, ONE LIFE TO LIVE)

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].

3 comments:

  1. Norma Donaldson also played the memorable Lille Belle Barber on Y&R.

    Here's the amazing and unforgettable scene where Drucilla (Victoria Rowell) finally let's her mother (Donaldson) have it. Classic Winters.

    http://youtu.be/RckGDGmCcD8

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  2. Thanks, Fox. Added that clip in. So good!

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  3. How I miss seeing Ann Flood on TV! What a talent! I don't think she gets enough credit for being a daytime icon. Wish there was a way I could write to her. Thanks for posting Roger.

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