Today in Soap Opera History (April 29)

1980: Edge of Night's Raven finally arrived to see her sick son.
2009: Days of our Lives' Mia met Will's friend, Tad.
2013: The online versions of All My Children and One Life to Live
premiered on Hulu.

"All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"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...

1932: Radio soap opera One Man's Family premiered on Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco stations. The popular series went nationwide a year later and ran until 1959.

1940: Young Doctor Malone aired for the first time on CBS Radio, having moved from the Blue Network.

1974: Radio soap opera Sounds of the City premiered. Quaker Oats sponsored Sounds of the City, and was so happy with the initial three-month cycle of five-times a week 15-minute episodes, it ordered more. By September, the show aired on 27 stations in the largest markets in the United States via the Mutual Black Network. Sounds of the City was created by Byron Lewis and Raymond League of Uniworld Group, Inc. Lewis was inspired by his mother's love for the old radio soap Stella Dallas. Writer and Shaunneille Perry served as writer and director. Sounds of the City ran for a total of 39 weeks, and starred Robert Guillaume and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs in the story of a southern black family that had moved to a northern city and faced the typical urban problems of unemployment, drugs, and crime. Ruby Dee, Robert hooks and other famous players made occasional guest appearances.

1980: On The Edge of Night, Raven (Sharon Gabet) finally arrived at the hospital to see Jamey.



1981: On General Hospital, Alan Quartermaine exchanged threats with his cousin, Alex.



1983: Kathy Bates debuted on All My Children as Belle Bodelle, a prisoner who beat up Erica Kane.

1983: On Guiding Light, Mona Enright aka Rebecca Cartwright (Leslie O'Hara) held Amanda captive during a confrontation with Quinton (Michael Tylo) and Samuel aka Mark Evans (Mark Pinter). Mark fell off the cliff to his death then Rebecca jumped off the cliff herself. Shortly after, Quint and Nola (Lisa Brown) became engaged.





1986: John Allen Nelson aired for the final time as Warren Lockridge on Santa Barbara.

1999: On Another World, Rachel (Victoria Wyndham) fell while climbing the clock tower.



2003: Actor Larry Weber died at age 84. His soap opera roles included Clarence Bailey on Guiding Light, Burton Canfield in Texas, Barney Dancy on The Doctors, Tony Vincente in Search for Tomorrow, Peter Ames on The Secret Storm, Austin Johnson in The Edge of Night, Eliot Clark on The Brighter Day, Chris Kendall in Valiant Lady and Richard Rollins on Love of Life.

William J. Bell

2005: Legendary writer and producer William J. Bell died at age 78 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. Bell began his soap opera writing career working at Irna Phillips' show The Guiding Light earning $75 a week. He then moved over to As the World Turns, and later co-created Another World in 1964 and Our Private World in 1965. In 1966 he became head writer at Days of our Lives, and remained in that position until 1975. He co-created The Young and the Restless with his wife, Lee Phillip Bell. The show, which premiered in 1973, eventually made it to number one in the ratings in 1988 and has remained there ever since. The Bells would also create The Bold and the Beautiful, which debuted in 1987.

2009: Brendan Coughlin debuted on Days of our Lives as Tad.

2013: Prospect Park's All My Children premiered via The OnLine Network on Hulu, HuluPlus and iTunes. The web series of AMC ran for 43 episodes before Prospect Park suspended production.



2013: Prospect Park's One Life to Live premiered via The OnLine Network on Hulu, HuluPlus and iTunes. The web series of OLTL ran for 40 episodes before Prospect Park suspended production.



Celebrating a birthday today are:

Kate Mulgrew

Joseph R. Sicari (ex-Freddy, General Hospital) - 79
Richard Kline (ex-Mark, The Bold and the Beautiful) - 74
Gavan O'Herlihy (ex-Preston, Twin Peaks) - 64
Kate Mulgrew (ex-Mary, Ryan's Hope) - 63
Leslie Jordan (ex-Brother Boy, Sordid Lives) - 63
Susan Pratt (ex-Claire, Guiding Light; ex-Barbara, All My Children; ex-Charlotte, As the World Turns; ex-Elizabeth, Loving; ex-Annie, General Hospital) - 62
Eve Plumb (ex-Dora, Days of our Lives; ex-June, All My Children; ex-Jan, The Bradys) - 60
Jack Armstrong (ex-Carson, Days of our Lives; ex-Wally, Guiding Light; ex-Chad, The Bold and the Beautiful; ex-B.D., Eden; ex-Kevin, One Life to Live; ex-Greg, All My Children) - 60
Paula Cwikly (Writer, The Young and the Restless; Days of our Lives; As the World Turns; Sunset Beach) - 57
Uma Thurman (ex-Rebecca, Smash) - 48
Tyler Labine (ex-Dave, Invasion) - 40
Bre Blair (ex-Elena, Undressed) - 38
Michael May (ex-Chuck, One Tree Hill) - 19

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