Sunday, October 27, 2013

Today in Soap Opera History (October 27)

1982: GH's Luke and Robert searched for Holly in Canada.
1988: GL's Rusty shot Will and tried to save Mindy.
1995: LOVING's Gwyneth was revealed to be the Corinth
Killer. 2009: ATWT's Brad died.
"The man for whom history is bunk is almost invariably as obtuse to the future as he is blind to the past."
― J. Frank Dobie

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1967: On DARK SHADOWS, Julia (Grayson Hall) felt guilty about telling Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) to bite Vicky. She instead offered to sacrifice herself to restore Barnabas's appearance. Though touched, he declined, noting that he needed her to continue as his doctor. In the meantime, Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) decided -- over David's (David Henesy) protests -- to go to the Old House and investigate his claims. She snuck into the seemingly deserted basement and discovered the coffin but found it empty. Her relief quickly turned to horror as she came face-to-face with her worst nightmare.



1967: On GUIDING LIGHT, Robin (Gillian Spencer) committed suicide by throwing herself in front of a moving truck.

1981: Tom Wiggin aired for the final time as Joe Foster in TEXAS.

1982: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Robert (Tristan Rogers) and Luke (Anthony Geary) searched for Holly (Emma Samms) in Canada.



1988: Carmen Duncan made her first appearance on ANOTHER WORLD as Iris Wheeler. The character of Iris, played by Beverlee McKinsey, was moved from ANOTHER WORLD to spin-off series TEXAS in 1980, and then written off that show in 1981.



1988: On the Season 10 premiere of KNOTS LANDING, Bobby and Betsy found Val (Joan Van Ark) unconscious after Jill forced her to overdose on pills.



1989: On GUIDING LIGHT, Rusty (Terrell Anthony) shot Will (Joseph Breen), who fell over the balcony and tried to take Mindy (Kimberly Simms) with him.



1995: On LOVING, Steffi (Amelia Heinle) found Tess (Catherine Hickland) slumped over her desk. When she turned on the lights she yelled at "Trisha" to stop before injecting Tess with poison, but it was Gwyneth Alden (Christine L. Tudor) that turned around, revealing herself to be the Corinth Killer.



1995: On ONE LIFE TO LIVE, Dorian (Robin Strasser) asked Blair (Kassie DePaiva) to sleep with David (Tuc Watkins). Blair replied, "God! Yuck!"



2009: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Katie (Terri Conn) returned to Brad's (Austin Peck) room with the baby, but he had already died.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Ruby Dee (ex-Martha, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Alma, PEYTON PLACE) - 89
Lara Parker (ex-Angelique, DARK SHADOWS) - 76
Edmund Genest (ex-Vincent, ONE LIFE TO LIVE)
Russ Anderson (ex-Christopher, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Steve, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 51
Deborah Moore (ex-Danielle, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 50
Bobby Eilbacher (ex-Mike, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 50
Tina Cesa Ward (Writer, PRODUCING JULIET; ANYONE BUT ME)
Marty West (ex-Shayne, GUIDING LIGHT) - 35
Alexis Zibolis (Lara, DEVANITY) - 34
Kelly Osbourne (ex-Deborah, LIFE AS WE KNOW IT) - 29
Bryan Craig (Morgan, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 22
Eddie Alderson (ex-Matthew, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 19

Longtime THE DOCTORS star James Pritchett would have turned 91 today.  He died in 2011 at age 88.  Former ANOTHER WORLD actor David Bailey would been 80 today.  He passed away in 2004 at age 71.

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].

1 comment:

  1. There's a clip of Ms. Ruby Dee talking about her impressions of working on Guiding Light:

    http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/shows/guiding-light#

    ReplyDelete