Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Today in Soap Opera History (May 6)

1985: Nancy Lee Grahn debuted on Santa Barbara. 1985L GH's
Rick began to suspect Derrick was Mike's biological father.
1987: Dynasty's Alexis drove her car off a bridge. 1999: AMC's
Erica made her first public appearance since being disfigured.
"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...

1965: On Peyton Place, Claire (Mariette Hartley) stunned her mother, Grace (Edith Atwater), with the news that Dr. Vincent Markham (Leslie Nielsen) was actually Claire's husband. After learning Michael Rossi (Ed Nelson) knew Constance (Dorothy Malone) as an orderly in the hospital where 4she was born, Allison (Mia Farrow) decided to return home and ask Connie point-blank if Connie wanted her when she discovered she was pregnant. Connie removed her "wedding band" from "Mr. MacKenzie." Rodney (Ryan O'Neal) was unable to tell Norman (Christopher Connelly) the truth about their mother. Paul (Richard Evans) was angry that Matt (Warner Anderson) published a story that cleared Leslie of murdering Elizabeth. Norman read Matt's story and told Rodney never to mention their mother's name again when Rodney insisted she was mentally unbalanced.

1985: On Santa Barbara, Augusta (Louise Sorel) realized she was blind and called her sister Julia in Phoenix. This was the first appearance of Nancy Lee Grahn as Julia Wainwright.



1985: On General Hospital, Rick (Chris Robinson) started to suspect Derrick (Mark Goddard) was Mike's (David Mendenhall) biological father.



1987: On the season finale of Dynasty, Alexis' (Joan Collins) car plunged off a bridge.



1992: On Another World, Carl Hutchins (Charles Keating) lurked outside Cass (Stephen Schnetzer) and Frankie's (Alice Barrett) party.



1994: Kristian Alfonso returned to Days of our Lives after a four year absence.

1997: Regional UK soap opera Quayside aired its final episode after only four months on the air. The show aired on Tyne Tees Television in the North East England and Yorkshire Television in Yorkshire.

1999: On All My Children, at the opening of SOS, Erica Kane's (Susan Lucci) arrival brought Opal's (Jill Larson) conga line to a halt. Later, reporter Jerry Reeves (Graham Winton) ripped off Erica's scarf to show her masked face.



2005: On Passions, Edna Wallace (Kathleen) had an epic battle at the Crane mansion in order to get to Beth (Kelli McCarty) and Alistair (John Reilly) before they made love. Edna revealed that Alistair Crane was Beth's long, lost daddy.



2006: Actor Lyle Sudrow, The Guiding Light's original Bill Bauer, died at age 85. He original the role of Bill when the show aired only on the radio.

2012: Actor Yale Summers died at age 78. He played Rodney Harrington on Return to Peyton Place and Dr. Bob Ayres in the first year of General Hospital.

2013: Casey Moss debuted as J.J. Deveraux on Days of our Lives.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Ben Masters (ex-Julian, Passions; ex-Vic, Another World) - 67
Bill Tatum (ex-Arthur, As the World Turns) - 67
Alan Dale (ex-King George/Albert, Once Upon a Time; ex-Charles, Lost; ex-Bradford, Ugly Betty; ex-Jim, Neighbours) - 67
Kate Collins (ex-Janet/Natalie, All My Children) - 56
Roma Downey (ex-Lady Johanna, One Life to Live) - 54
Julianne Phillips (ex-Frankie, Sisters) - 54
George Clooney (ex-James, Sisters; ex-Doug, ER) - 53
Cynthia J. Popp (Producer/Director, The Bold and the Beautiful) - 52
Leslie Hope (ex-Tess, The River; ex-Linda, Knots Landing) - 49
Marshall Hilliard (Officer Marshall, General Hospital; Dylan, Days of our Lives; ex-Officer George, The Young and the Restless; ex-Hart, Guiding Light) - 43
Gregori J. Martin (Creator/Producer, The Bay) - 36
Stacey Oristano (ex-Truly, Bunheads; ex-Mindy, Friday Night Lights) - 34
Adrianne Palicki (ex-Tyra, Friday Night Lights) - 31
Gabourey Sidibe (ex-Queenie, American Horror Story) - 31
Tyler Hynes (Joshua, Warehouse 13) - 28

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].

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