Today in Soap Opera History (July 30)

On this date in...

1968: On DARK SHADOWS, after trying and failing to kill Barnabas (Jonathan Frid), Cassandra (Lara Parker) continued to age rapidly, thanks to Nicholas.

1984: NBC soap opera SANTA BARBARA, created by Bridget and Jerome Dobson, premiered. Joe Perkins, who had always claimed his innocence, was released from prison after spending five years in jail for the murder of Channing Capwell, Jr.; Joe headed toward Santa Barbara with the intention of clearing his name; Kelly, Joe's former girlfriend, celebrated her engagement to Peter; a mystery woman tried to keep Joe from reaching his home town; Minx Lockridge attempted to have C.C. Capwell arrested on bogus charges; Ted brought Laken to his sister's party; and Santana wanted revenge against Joe.



1984: On GUIDING LIGHT, fed up with Josh's (Robert Newman) treatment of her, Reva (Kim Zimmer) declared herself "The Slut of Springfield" in one of the most unforgettable scenes in daytime television history. The video below is from GL's 50th anniversary in 1987 when Zimmer and Newman looked back on the historic moment.



1986: On SANTA BARBARA, Santana (Gina Gallego) was about to confess to Cruz (A Martinez) that she ran over Eden with her car, until she realized her front light had been fixed.



1990: Actor Karl Weber, who played Arthur Tate in SEARCH FOR TOMORROW in the 1950s, died at age 74.

1991: On ANOTHER WORLD, Cass (Stephen Schnetzer) and Kathleen (Julie Osburn) wanted Ryan' (Paul Michael Valley) and Frankie (Alice Barrett) to give up their Signet investigation.



1992: On THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, a teenaged Victoria Newman (Heather Tom) had gone to Chicago to secretly marry older man, Ryan McNeil (Scott Reeves). With the wedding over, she thank her loyal friend, Brandon Collins, for helping her with the ruse to fool her parents as to what she was really doing there. But before exiting, Brandon (a very young Paul Walker) had something to say to the newlyweds.



Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in this item.

1996: The Chieftains appeared on ONE LIFE TO LIVE.



1997: On ANOTHER WORLD, Jake (Tom Eplin) postponed his answer to Vicky's (Jensen Buchanan) proposal, and Cass (Stephen Schnetzer) got Toni (Rhonda Ross) to admit on the witness stand that she could be wrong about Nick (Mark Mortimer).



2001: On THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) begged Thorne (Winsor Harmon) for another chance.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
William Wintersole (ex-Mitchell, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-Ted, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 82
Ilene Kristen (ex-Liza, THE BAY; ex-Roxy, ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Delia, RYAN'S HOPE; ex-Norma, LOVING; ex-Madeline, ANOTHER WORLD) - 61
Victor Slezak (ex-Andy, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Silas, AS THE WORLD TURNS - 56
Richard Burgi (Henri, DEVIOUS MAIDS; ex-Chad, ANOTHER WORLD; ex-Karl, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES; ex-Philip, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Glenn, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Randy, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 55
Laurence Fishburne (ex-Josh, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 52
Vivica A. Fox (ex-Maya; GENERATIONS; ex-Carmen, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 49
Terry Crews (Lonny, THE NEWSROOM) - 45
Lilly Melgar (Janice, THE BAY; ex-Lily, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Claudia, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL) - 44
Simon Baker (ex-James, HOME AND AWAY; ex-Sam, E STREET) - 44
Ben Jorgensen (ex-Chris, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Kevin, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 44
Victor Alfieri (ex-Giovanni, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; ex-Gianni, PASSIONS; ex-Franco, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 42
Christine Taylor (ex-Margaret, DALLAS) - 42
Hilary Swank (ex-Carly, BEVERLY HILLS, 90210) - 39

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].