Today in Soap Opera History (November 20)

1978: Anthony Geary debuted as Luke Spencer on General Hospital.
1978: Rita Stapleton and Ed Bauer were married on Guiding Light.
1980: Donna Mills debuted as Abby Fairgate on Knots Landing.
2012: Edward Quartermaine passed away on General Hospital.

"Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years."
― Will Durant

"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...

1929: Radio serial The Rise of the Goldbergs premiered on the NBC Blue network.

1944: The Frank and Anne Hummert soap opera The Strange Romance of Evelyn Winters premiered on CBS Radio.

1964: On General Hospital, Steve asked Audrey to marry him.

1964: On Another World, in her jail cell Pat (Susan Trustman) wondered if she was there because she had killed (aborted) her baby.

1967: Dark Shadows introduced time travel to the show when Victoria Winters (Alexandra Moltke) disappeared from a séance and went back in time.

1978: Anthony Geary debuted as Luke Spencer on General Hospital.  Geary has since won 7 Daytime Emmy Awards for his work in the role, and finished at #1 in the 50 Greatest Soap Actors of All-Time countdown.



1978: On Guiding Light, Rita Stapleton (Lenore Kasdorf) married Ed Bauer (Mart Hulswit) at Bert Bauer's house.

Thanks to Scott for sending in the item above.

1979: On As the World Turns, Ian (Peter Simon) lashed out at Dee (Jacqueline Schultz) after she filed his notes away then immediately apologized and pulled her into an embrace.



1980: On the Season 2 premiere of Knots Landing, Donna Mills made her first appearance as Abby Cunningham.



1984: On Search for Tomorrow, Jo (Mary Stuart) told Suzi about her plans for a murder with merriment party. TR was disappointed by the adoption judge's decision. Warren paid another visit to Wendy (Lisa Peluso), who tried very hard to reject his advances.

1985: Dynasty spin-off The Colbys premiered. Miles (Maxwell Caulfield) brought "Randall" aka Fallon (Emma Samms) home to meet the family.



1987: On The Young and the Restless, Janet (Maureen McDonnell) held a gun on Farren/Michelle (Colleen Casey) while Evan (John Shearin) tried to talk her down.



1995: ABC aired the 7,000th episode of One Life to Live, which featured a new opening sequence.



2007: On General Hospital, Jason (Steve Burton) and Skye (Robin Christopher) told Edward and Monica about Emily's death.



Thanks to Enrique for sending in the item above.

2009: Chuck Pratt was fired as head writer of All My Children. Pratt was recently named new head writer of The Young and the Restless.

2010: Actress Geraldine Court died at age 68. Her soap roles included Jennifer Richards in Guiding Light, Jennifer Sullivan Ryan in As the World Turns, Ann Larimer in The Doctors and Mary Georgia in All My Children.

2012: On General Hospital, Tracy (Jane Eliot) did not want to believe it when Monica (Leslie Charleson) told her that Edward had died.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Mark Miller (ex-Randy, General Hospital) - 88
Robert Lipton (ex-Jeff, As the World Turns) - 70
Bo Derek (ex-Maria, Fashion House) - 57
Sean Young (ex-Meggie, The Young and the Restless) - 54
Ming-Na Wen (Melinda, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D; ex-Lien, As the World Turns; ex-Another World) - 50
Callie Thorne (ex-Dani, Necessary Roughness; ex-Elena, The Wire) - 44
Jason Thompson (Patrick, General Hospital; ex-Patrick, General Hospital: Nightshift; ex-Miles, Undressed) - 37
Nadine Velazquez (ex-Didi, Hart of Dixie; ex-Anna, The Bold and the Beautiful) - 35
Jeremy Jordan (ex-Jimmy, Smash) - 29
Ashley Fink (ex-Lauren, Glee) - 27
Rhys Wakefield (ex-Lucas, Home and Away) - 25

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a soap history entry for this date or a future date, email [email protected].