"There is no present or future, only the past happening over and over again - now."- Eugene O'Neill
"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...
1942: The final episode of Frank and Anne Hummert's ORPHANS OF DIVORCE aired on the Blue Network.
1967: On DARK SHADOWS, Jason confronted Willie (John Karlen) about his suspicious interest in the Collins family history. Victoria told Elizabeth that she was uncomfortable having Willie at Collinwood. Elizabeth agreed, and told Jason she would give him money to get Willie out of town. Jason took the cash but then couldn't find Willie. As it turned out, Willie was in the Collins family crypt trying to open Naomi Collins's coffin. By accident, Willie found a secret room in the mausoleum. Venturing in, he saw a chained coffin. Willie opened it to investigate the contents, and discovered a horror that would change his life forever.
This was the first appearance of the character of Barnabas Collins. Jonathan Frid, the actor who portrayed Barnabas throughout the remainder of the series, did not appear until the next episode. All we saw of Barnabas was his left hand (portrayed by Tim Gordon).
1978: On RYAN'S HOPE, after figuring out that Delia had faked being blind, Pat (Malcolm Groome) told Delia (Ilene Kristen) that their trip was over and they were going home on the next flight. She tried to blame Faith but he said it was their marriage that was the problem.
1985: Jed Allan aired for the final time as Don Craig on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. In the episode, Don had forgotten to mail off his income tax returns and left to mail it (and never came back). When Allan debuted on indie soap THE BAY in 2011, his character (who hailed from Santa Barbara, an homage to his soap job after DAYS) walked into his daughter's house with a hand full of mail.
1985: John Wesley Shipp debuted on AS THE WORLD TURNS as Douglas Cummings.
1985: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Frisco (Jack Wagner) and Tania (Hilary Edson) were thrilled when Tony (Brad Maule) finally opened his eyes.
1990: On THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, Leanna Love prepared for her big television debut.
1997: On ANOTHER WORLD, Vicky's (Jensen Buchanan) curiosity about Bobby Reno's (Robert Kelker-Kelly) past continued to build.
2006: Longtime AS THE WORLD TURNS star Henderson Forsythe died at age 88. He starred as Dr. David Stewart in the series from 1960 to 1990. Before ATWT he played roles in FROM THESE ROOTS and THE EDGE OF NIGHT.
2009: On ONE LIFE TO LIVE Starr and Cole vowed to discover the cause of their daughter's "death". Roxy gave Stacy Morasco the infamous "Bag of Blood" that was needed to help cure Shane's leukemia. Mayor Lowell wanted Bo and Nora to arrest John McBain for the KAD murders after John's fingerprints were found on a knife used to attack Blair. Later, while patroling La Boulaie to protect Marty with Fish, Talia Sahid (BethAnn Bonner) was murdered by the KAD Killer.
Celebrating a birthday today are:
Michael Forest (ex-Nick, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Jim, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 85
Charles Frank (ex-Peter, FALCON CREST; ex-Jack, EMERALD POINT N.A.S.; ex-Jeff, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 67
Roddy Piper (WWE/WWF) - 60
Sean Bean (ex-Paul, MISSING; ex-Eddard, GAME OF THRONES) - 55
Joel Murray (ex-Fred, MAD MEN) - 51
William Mapother (ex-Ethan, LOST) - 49
Henry Ian Cusick (ex-Stephen, SCANDAL; ex-Desmond, LOST) - 47
Kimberly Elise (ex-Estella, SOUL FOOD) - 47
Choppy Guillotte (ex-Louie, SUNSET BEACH) - 47
Timothy Gibbs (ex-Kevin ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Gary, ANOTHER WORLD; ex-Dash, SANTA BARBARA) - 46
Jennifer Garner (ex-Sydney, ALIAS) - 42
Victoria Beckham (Herself, UGLY BETTY) - 40
Monet Mazur (ex-Brandee, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 38
Lindsay Hartley (ex-Cara, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Arianna, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Theresa, PASSIONS) - 36
Alaina Huffman (ex-Dinah, SMALLVILLE) - 34
Luke Mitchell (Romeo, HOME AND AWAY; ex-Chris, NEIGHBOURS) - 29
Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL) - 27
Tessa James (ex-Nicole, HOME AND AWAY; ex-Anne, NEIGHBOURS) - 23
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].
That one life to live episode brings back memories!
ReplyDeleteShouldn't it be ex-Romeo for Luke Mitchell since he's no longer on "Home and Away" and is now starring in "The Tomorrow People" on The CW, Roger?
ReplyDeleteDude why are you so obsessed with fixing a minor error like that?
DeleteGet a life. And sorry I am the admin in Memories of Guiding Light
so as long as you have me on block you are denied! lol
Seeing the 'last Jed Allan ep on Days' reference is still weird to me, even after coming across the same post a year ago. How could a character so prominent on a show like Days just go out one day and never come back? Did the writers think we were so fixed on the other characters and say 'Oh, it won't matter' when that prominent character isn't ever back for another scene? And Neil, just going down the hall at the hospital to make 'lots of rounds' yet never to have another on-screen patient? Both characters deserved better 'last scenes' than those they got.
ReplyDelete