Today in Soap Opera History (April 14)

On this date in...

1955: On HAWKINS FALLS, Millie visited Gary in the hospital and returned his wallet. Although Gary wanted to get to know Millie better, Millie was reluctant to begin a relationship with him. Meanwhile, Lona suspected that something was wrong with her husband's health and attempted to get him to go to bed early. Mr. Kratz talked to Dr. Corey (Maurice Copeland) about making adjustments in life.

1958: CBS daytime soap opera LOVE OF LIFE expanded from 15 to 30 minutes after seven years on the air.

1970: On ANOTHER WORLD, Steve (George Reinholt) woke up after brain surgery and asked Alice why she wasn't wearing her engagement ring. It would later be revealed that Steve didn't remember anything that happened after the summer of 1969.

1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Dr. Wellman's suggested "Kirk" (Tony Craig) undergo narcosynthesis (drug therapy + hypnosis) to help recall his past.



1983: Kristian Alfonso debuted as Hope Williams in DAYS OF OUR LIVES, a role she had turned down two years earlier. Read our 30th anniversary interview with Alfonso here.

1997: Michael Stroka, who played a number of characters on the original DARK SHADOWS series, died at age 58. He also starred as Dr. Quentin Henderson on THE EDGE OF NIGHT.

2009: On GUIDING LIGHT, Olivia (Crystal Chappell) bared her soul at Gus Aitoro's grave.



2011: ABC canceled ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Brian Frons, President, Daytime, Disney ABC/Television Group, said in a statement that day: "We are taking this bold step to expand our business because viewers are looking for different types of programming these days. They are telling us there is room for informative, authentic and fun shows that are relatable, offer a wide variety of opinions and focus on 'real life' takeaways." Frons was fired from ABC on December 2, 2011, before THE REVOLUTION premiered to dead-on-arrival ratings. THE REVOLUTION was canceled on April 10, 2012.  ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE return April 29 on The OnLineNetwork via Hulu, HuluPlus and iTunes.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
John Clarke (ex-Mickey, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 82
Arlene Martel (ex-Mavis, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 77
Robert Carlyle (Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold, ONCE UPON A TIME) - 52
Catherine Dent (ex-Janice, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 48
Sarah Michelle Gellar (ex-Bridget/Siobhan, RINGER; ex-Kendall, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Sydney, SWANS CROSSING; ex-Buffy, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) - 36
Paul O'Brien (ex-Jack, HOME AND AWAY) - 35
Claire Coffee (ex-Nadine, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 33
Nick Choksi (Vimal, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 32
Christian Alexander (Thayer, THE LYING GAME; ex-Keifer, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 23
Nick Krause (Adam, HOLLYWOOD HEIGHTS; ex-Landry, GCB) - 21
Graham Phillips (Zach, THE GOOD WIFE) - 20
Skyler Samuels (ex-Andie, THE GATES; ex-Chloe, THE NINE LIVES OF CHLOE KING) - 19

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].