Today in Soap Opera History (May 13)

1993: CBS aired the final episodes of Knots Landing. 1994: GH's
Miguel pulled an injured BJ out of a bus crash.  2010: Emmerdale's
Aaron revealed he was gay on the witness stand. 2011: Roger
Howarth returned to One Life to Live. 

"The whole past is the procession of the present."
- Thomas Carlyle

"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...

1964: On Another World, Pat (Susan Trustman) told Mary (Virginia Dwyer) that Russ resented Alice for being a honor student when he will be forced to go to summer school.

1980: On The Edge of Night, "Kirk" (Tony Craig) and Emily arrived in Monticello and checked into the same hotel Raven was staying in.



1985: A two-hour movie update of primetime soap opera Peyton Place, titled Peyton Place: The Next Generation, aired on NBC. Nine of the original cast members returned including Dorothy Malone, Christopher Connelly, Barbara Perkins and Ed Nelson.



1985: Tricia Cast debuted on Santa Barbara as Christy Duvall.

1988: On Guiding Light, Phillip (Grant Aleksander) locked Chelsea (Kassie DePaiva) in the lighthouse to keep her from interrupting his plan to take over Spaulding Enterprises.



1993: CBS aired the series finale of Knots Landing after 14 seasons on the air.





1994: On General Hospital, B.J. Jones (Brighton Hertford) and her classmates went on a field trip but their bus crashed. Miguel (Ricky Martin) pulled B.J. out of the rubble, and she was rushed to the emergency room.



Thanks to Enrique for sending in the item above.

1998: On The Young and the Restless, a conniving Phyllis (played by Sandra Nelson at this point) worked to make sure that Danny (Michael Damian) discovered that it was Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc) who stepped up to be his anonymous kidney donor to save his life.



Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

2000: Actor Robert Burr died at age 78. His soap roles included Tom Donnelly on Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Paul Raven in Love of Life, and Luke MacKenzie on Somerset.

2010: Radio soap opera organist Rosa Rio died at age 107.

2010: On Emmerdale, Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller) was on trial for what appeared to be his homophobic assault of Jackson Walsh (Marc Silcock). Aaron's emotional courtroom testimony and personal admission as to what really prompted the attack became one of the dramatic scenes that won Miller the British Soap Award for Best Actor in 2011. He went on to win again in 2012. (Emmerdale has announced that Miller will be returning to the role of Aaron later this year.)



Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

2011: Roger Howarth returned to One Life to Live .  Trevor St. John was already playing Howarth's former character, Todd Manning, so viewers began to speculate about which man was the real Todd.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Beverley Owen (ex-Paula, Another World; ex-Linda, As the World Turns) - 76
Armistead Maupin (Writer/Producer, Tales of the City) - 70
Sam Anderson (ex-David, Dallas; ex-Bernard, Lost; ex-Paul, Pasadena) - 69
Steve Blackwood (ex-Bart, Days of our Lives) - 58
Alan Ball (Executive Producer, True Blood; Six Feet Under)  - 57
Susan Floyd (ex-Christine, One Life to Live) - 46
Neil Hopkins (ex-Liam, Lost) -37
Natalie Cassidy (ex-Sonia, EastEnders) - 30

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].