Today in Soap Opera History (July 21)

On this date in...

1962: Actor Les Damon died at age 54. His soap roles included Ed Palmerlee in THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Jim Lowell in AS THE WORLD TURNS, and Bruce Banning on THE GUIDING LIGHT.

1966: On DARK SHADOWS, Carolyn found out about Roger's accident but refused to believe Burke was involved.

1972: Victoria Wyndham made her first appearance as Rachel in ANOTHER WORLD. She replaced Robin Strasser in the role (Margie Impert had replaced Strasser originally but didn't work out so Strasser returned for a few months.) In Rachel's story, Strasser's Rachel was torn between Steve and Ted so she decided to take Jamie out of town for a week. In Wyndham's debut, Steve came to Washington to see Jamie. Rachel returned to Bay City a few days later. Wydham would play the role until NBC aired the final episode of the show on June 25, 1999.

Charles Durning debuted on the same day as Wyndham as a recast Gil McGowan. He played the role four months before Dolph Sweet took over.

1978: Rita Lloyd debuted as Lucille Wexler in GUIDING LIGHT.

1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, "Kirk" (Tony Craig) and Emily were in danger at Playland Amusement Park.



1980: TEXAS actor Jerry Lanning debuted on ANOTHER WORLD as Justin Marshall. Stephen D. Newman aired for the final time as Mike Marshall. Mike called his children before he shot himself. He was only able to reach Paige's answering machine (Paige's voice was the first appearance by TEXAS actress Lisby Larson in the show).

1986: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Frannie (Julianne Moore) broke down over Chris's death.



1987: James Acheson debuted Jack Deveraux in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.  He lasted three months in the role.

1989: Sherry Stringfield debuted as Blake Lindsey in GUIDING LIGHT.



1997: On DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Laura (Jaime Lyn Bauer) tried to convince Marlena (Deidre Hall) that the man with Kristen was not Roman.



2008: On ONE LIFE TO LIVE, Clint and Rex found themselves in 1968.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Patricia Elliott (ex-Renee, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 71
Jordan Clarke (Colonel, VENICE; ex-Billy/Tim, GUIDING LIGHT) - 63
John Martin (ex-Bill, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Hank, SUNSET BEACH; ex-Frederick, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-Jon, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 62
Jack Stehlin (ex-Davis, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 47
Ali Landry (ex-Amur, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; ex-Kenzie, SUNSET BEACH) - 40
Chrishell Stause (DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Amanda, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 32

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a piece of soap opera history for this daily column, please email it to editor@welovesoaps.com.