Today in Soap Opera History (June 10)

1981: General Hospital's Luke went to church. 1991: The
final episode of Twin Peaks. 2009: Guiding Light's Josh
and Olivia shared a kiss. 2010: Amanda and Jake were
married on All My Children.

"History never looks like history when you are living through it."
― John W. Gardner

"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...

1941: On NBC radio soap opera The Guiding Light, Myrna returned to San Francisco in a depression and tried to bury her grief by returning to her broadcasting career. Martin Kane thought she was sad because her ex-husband, Ned Holden (Ed Prentiss), was marrying Mary Rutledge (Sarajane Wells) but Myrna told him that wasn't the case. She confessed that she met a man on the East Coast and fell in love with him. Myrna refused to give details, but said that the relationship ended. Martin said that she may have misinterpreted the entire affair and that he'll wait for her.



1970: On Another World, Russ (Sam Groom) was fed up with Rachel's (Robin Strasser) attitude, and asked Dru (Geoffrey Lumb) about starting divorce proceedings.

1980: On The Edge of Night, Logan (Joe Lambie) asked April (Terry Davis) to testify for him at the custody hearing.



1981: On General Hospital, Luke (Anthony Geary) underwent a makeover and headed to the Mission Church of the Blinding Light.



1985: Actor John Devlin died at age 48. Among his soap roles was Jason Maxwell on All My Children and Dr. Nathaniel Fuller in A World Apart.

1991: On Santa Barbara, Cruz (A Martinez) and Flame (Roberta Bizeau Weiss) decided to work together.



1991: ABC aired the final two episodes of primetime soap opera Twin Peaks. The series totaled 30 episodes after a two season run.  Note: An updated version of Twin Peaks will premiere on Showtime next year.



1991: Dame Judith Anderson (ex-Minx, Santa Barbara) was awarded the A.C. (Companion of the Order of Australia) for her services to drama.

2009: On Guiding Light, Olivia (Crystal Chappell) and Josh (Robert Newman) shared a kiss.



2010: On All My Children, Jake (Ricky Paull Goldin) and Amanda (Chrishell Stause) were married. Musician Dave Barnes performed at the reception.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Lee Phillip Bell (Co-Creator, The Bold and the Beautiful; Co-Creator, The Young and the Restless) - 87
Robert Clohessy (ex-Doug, All My Children; ex-Gil, Guiding Light) - 58
Carolyn Hennesy (Diane, General Hospital; ex-Rosalyn, True Blood) - 53
Gina Gershon (ex-Ellen, Melrose Place) - 53
Elizabeth Hurley (ex-Diana, Gossip Girl) - 50
Susan Haskell (ex-Marty, One Life to Live; ex-Granya, Port Charles) - 47
Alan White (ex-Chris, As the World Turns)
Shane West (ex-Michael, Nikita) - 37
Jonathan Bennett (ex-J.R., All My Children) - 34
Toby Levins (ex-Brett, Home and Away) - 34
Catherine Gardner (ex-Rosa, All My Children) - 33
Nick Adams (ex-Tony, As the World Turns) - 32
Shanna Collins (ex-Laurie, Swingtown) - 32
Andrew Lees (ex-Nathan, Home and Away) - 30

In honor of her birthday, check out a fascinating 1991 interview with talk show legend and Y&R/B&B co-creator Lee Phillip Bell.



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