Today in Soap Opera History (March 29)

1962: Search for Tomorrow's Marge was upset when adoption
plans fell through. 1982: SFT made its NBC debut.
1982: The first daytime episode of Capitol aired on CBS.
2004: All My Children's Kendall told Bianca her baby was dead.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"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...

1962: On Search for Tomorrow, Marge Bergman (Melba Rae) reeled from Monica's (Barbara Baxley) decision to not give Jimmy up for adoption. She later went to friends Joanne (Mary Stuart) and Arthur Tate (Terry O'Sullivan) for solace.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 26)

1973: Barbara looked for her husband on the first episode of The Young and the Restless.
1982: Capitol premiered in a primetime special on CBS.
1990: General Hospital's Casey met Robin.
1997: The City's Ally learned truth about Carla's baby.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"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...

1967: On Another World, Ada (Constance Ford) mentioned having been married to “Lou”, which was probably the original name for the character of Gerald Davis, Rachel's father.

1968: The first episode of Dark Shadows that was directed by Dan Curtis aired. Nathan told Naomi that Barnabas was the Strangler.

1973: The Young and the Restless, created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, premiered on CBS.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 20)

1953: Love of Life's Vanessa waited for news about Beanie.
1987: ATWT's John pulled Lucinda into a hot tub, then married her.
1987: CBS aired the final episode of Capitol.
1990: General Hospital's Lucy resigned from the hospital.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"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...

1942: NBC's Blue Network aired the final episode of radio soap opera John's Other Wife, after a five and a half year run.

1953: On Love of Life, with Beaning (Dennis Parnell) missing, a tense Meg Harper (Jean McBride) complained that her sister, Vanessa Dale (Peggy McCay), was snapping at her "like a snotty little puppy."

Julie Adams Dead at 92

Julie Adams, best known for her role as Kay Lawrence in the beloved 1954 monster movie Creature from the Black Lagoon, passed away on February 3. She was 92. Adams' son Mitchell Danton revealed that the actress died early Sunday morning in Los Angeles.

Her many other credits included the Elvis Presley-starring Tickle Me (1965) , Dennis Hopper's film The Last Movie (1971), the TV show Murder, She Wrote (1987-1993), and the Oliver Stone-directed World Trade Center (2006).

Adams' soap opera roles included Paula Denning on Capitol (1982-1987), Arlene Beevis in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1993) and Mrs. Damarrs on Melrose Place (1999).

Those who have paid tribute to Adams include Patton Oswalt and director Guillermo del Toro, whose Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water was clearly influenced by Creature from the Black Lagoon.

"I mourn Julie Adams passing," wrote del Toro on Twitter. "It hurts in a place deep in me, where monsters swim."

"Julie Adams has returned to the Black Lagoon," wrote Oswalt. "The scene of you swimming while The Creature mirrored your moves underwater is every awkward heart yearning for someone in the sunshine to reach down and just see them. Iconic forever."

Bettina Bradbury Dead at 64

Former daytime soap opera writer Bettina F. Bradbury died on January 13. She was 64.

Her son, Danny Karapetian, shared the news on Facebook.

"It is my very sad duty to report that my Mom Bettina passed away this morning," he wrote. "She was an indefatigable force of nature, a talented and decorated writer, and a loving mother, sister, and friend to everyone she knew. Remember her for her humor, her hugs, and the eternal optimism she endowed in her family, colleagues, friends, fans, and children. She will be missed, and her absence is already deeply felt. Love you Mom, forever."

Daughter of famed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, known mostly for his stunning novel Fahrenheit 451, and Marguerite McClure, Bradbury proved that the writing gene can be passed down. She studied Film/History at USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Bradbury worked at The Young and the Restless as executive producer John Conboy's assistant. She went on to write for Capitol, Santa Barbara, All My Children, One Life to Live and Days of our Lives. She earned three Daytime Emmys and seven Writers Guild of America Awards for her work in daytime television.

More recently, she had been working on a a memoir, "Growing Up Bradbury: Life With A Saturday Father."

"I am writing a memoir about the great life and times of growing up in the sixties in the company of child/parent Ray Bradbury," she revealed online.

Today in Soap Opera History (January 12)

1981: Primetime soap Dynasty premiered on ABC.
1993: Maureen Bauer died on Guiding Light.
2009: As the World Turns Luke and Noah made love for the first time.
2012: One Life to Live's Viki gave a speech for the ages about beloved canceled soap Fraternity Row.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"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...

1967: The character of Hope Bauer, who crossed over from The Guiding Light, appeared on Another World for the final time. Elissa Leeds played the role on both shows.

1976: Days of our Lives stars Bill Hayes (Doug) and Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie) appeared on the cover of TIME magazine. Read the article here.

Today in Soap Opera History (January 9)

1984: One Life to Live's Estelle was full of herself.
1985: Cruz found Eden unconscious and tried to save her on Santa Barbara.
1986: Days of our Lives' Mike met Robin Jacobs.
1989: Delia and Roger were married on Ryan's Hope.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"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...

1958: On The Edge of Night, Virginia (Cathleen Cordell) bumped into John H. Phillips (House Jameson) and identified him as "Mr. X". Phillips told Virginia he wanted to keep his identity confidential to avoid making enemies with any of his clients. He wanted to remain politically neutral in their eyes.

1968: On Another World, Rachel Matthews (Robin Strasser) told Walter Curtin (Val Dufour) she no longer had plans for Hollywood.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 21)

1981: GH's Laura was offered the "Miss Star Eyes" job.
1982: Barrington and Burgess plotted on Capitol.
1987: Guiding Light's Johnny Bauer saw it snow.
2007: A dollhouse came to life on As the World Turns.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"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...

1966: On Dark Shadows, Sam Evans (David Ford) called Roger Collins (Louis Edmonds) and told him to meet him at the Blue Whale because "the worst possible thing that could happen, has happened." At the Inn, Sam gleefully announced that Laura, Roger's wife, had come home.

1966: On Peyton Place, Rodney Harrington (Ryan O'Neal) had a hard time processing the revelation Hannah Cord made on the witness stand revealing that Rodney's mother had given away two illegitimate children. Martin Peyton (George Macready) did his best to explain to Rodney what the situation was like at the time.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 20)

1982: The Doctors' Kit and Mike were stranded during a snow storm.
1985: Lujack's spirit visited Beth on Guiding Light.
1996: All My Children's Adam and Liza were married.
2007: General Hospital's Dillon returned and found out about Georgie's death.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"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...

1957: On The Edge of Night, Bebe Spode (Renne Jarrett) came back home and told her father, Martin Spode (Eric Dressler), how much she loved him.

1965: On Peyton Place, Betty Anderson (Barbara Parkins) met Martin Peyton (George Macready).

Today in Soap Opera History (December 7)

1979: EON's "Mrs. Corey" kept an eye on Deborah's condition.
1979: ATWT's Lisa & Bob danced while Bennett fumed.
1984: Days' Salem mourned Roman at his wake.
1998: GH's Alan found Tammy next to his dead drug dealer.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"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 The Story of Mary Marlin, Davey's intended destination was exposed further. An NBC News bulletin, one of the first known casualty reports to come from Pearl Harbor, arrived just before the day's episode of this popular radio soap opera.

1941: On Vic & Sade, Vic (Art Van Harvey), Rush (Bill Idelson), and Uncle Fletcher (Clarence Hartzell) arrive home all at once...just in time to handle a peculiar storage problem.

1941: On One Man's Family, everyone was keeping their feelings about Irene Franklin to themselves.

1956: On The Edge of Night, Larry (Bill Zuckert) attempted to murder Mike Karr (John Larkin).

Today in Soap Opera History (October 31)

1968: Joan Crawford aired for the final time on The Secret Storm.
1980: Edge of Night's Clown Puppet killer was lurking.
1985: Capitol's Leanne collapsed.
1985: Santa Barbara's C.C. remained on life support.

"The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron

"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...

1968: On Dark Shadows, Mrs. Johnson (Clarice Blackburn) walked in while Joe (Joel Crothers) was trying to kill Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) so Joe ran off. Elizabeth (Joan Bennett) and Roger (Louis Edmonds) found Joe in the Collins mausoleum and brought him back to Collinwood where he addmitted that he tried to kill Barnabas, and said he would try again.

1968: Joan Crawford finished a four-episode stint on The Secret Storm as Joan Borman Kane, substituting for her sick daughter, Christina Crawford.

Today in Soap Opera History (October 6)

1986: Capitol's Clarissa found a voodoo doll in her bed.
1994: GH's Bobbie & Tony mourned BJ on her birthday.
2010: The "Train Crash" episode of Emmerdale.
2011: One Life to Live's Cord & Tina revisited the past.

"The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron

"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...

1966: On Dark Shadows, Burke Devlin (Mitchell Ryan) told Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) that Roger Collins (Louis Edmonds) may have kept the expensive fountain pen for himself on the night Bill Malloy died.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 29)

1962: Search for Tomorrow's Marge was upset when adoption
plans fell through. 1982: SFT made its NBC debut.
1982: The first daytime episode of Capitol aired on CBS.
2004: All My Children's Kendall told Bianca her baby was dead.

"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...

1962: On Search for Tomorrow, Marge Bergman (Melba Rae) reeled from Monica's (Barbara Baxley) decision to not give Jimmy up for adoption. She later went to friends Joanne (Mary Stuart) and Arthur Tate (Terry O'Sullivan) for solace.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 26)

1973: Barbara looked for her husband on the first episode of
The Young and the Restless. 1982: Capitol premiered in a
primetime special. 1990: General Hospital's Casey met Robin.
1997: The City's Ally learned truth about Carla's baby.

"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...

1967: On Another World, Ada (Constance Ford) mentioned having been married to “Lou”, which was probably the original name for the character of Gerald Davis, Rachel's father.

1968: The first episode of Dark Shadows that was directed by Dan Curtis aired. Nathan told Naomi that Barnabas was the Strangler.

1973: The Young and the Restless, created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, premiered on CBS.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 20)

1953: Love of Life's Vaness waited for news about Beanie.
1987: ATWT's John pulled Lucinda into a hot tub, then married her.
1987: CBS aired the final episode of Capitol.
1990: General Hospital's Lucy resigned from the hospital.

"Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results."
― Machiavelli

"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...

1942: NBC's Blue Network aired the final episode of radio soap opera John's Other Wife, after a five and a half year run.

1953: On Love of Life, with Beaning (Dennis Parnell) missing, a tense Meg Harper (Jean McBride) complained that her sister, Vanessa Dale (Peggy McCay), was snapping at her "like a snotty little puppy."

John Conboy Dead at 83

John Conboy, an executive producer known for his work on soap operas The Young and the Restless, Santa Barbara, Guiding Light and Capitol, died Friday in Palm Desert, California. He was 83.

Conboy won four Daytime Emmy Awards for his work on the soap operas: his first for The ABC Afternoon Playbreak, two for The Young and the Restless and one for Santa Barbara.

After beginning his television career as an actor, he made the switch to producing in 1970 on Love is a Many Splendored Thing. He then moved to The Young and the Restless in 1973, winning Emmys in 1975 and 1983 for outstanding daytime drama. In 1982, he left the show to executive produce Capitol, which ran for five years.

Conboy went on to executive produce Santa Barbara, winning his fourth Emmy in 1990 for daytime drama. He returned to CBS to produce Guiding Light.

Today in Soap Opera History (January 12)

1981: Primetime soap Dynasty premiered on ABC.
1993: Maureen Bauer died on Guiding Light.
2009: As the World Turns Luke and Noah made love.
2012: One Life to Live's Viki gave a speech for the ages about
beloved canceled soap Fraternity Row.

"History is a vast early warning system."
― Norman Cousins

"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...

1967: The character of Hope Bauer, who crossed over from The Guiding Light, appeared on Another World for the final time. Elissa Leeds played the role on both shows.

1976: Days of our Lives stars Bill Hayes (Doug) and Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie) appeared on the cover of TIME magazine. Read the article here.

Today in Soap Opera History (January 9)

1984: One Life to Live's Estelle was full of herself. 1985: Cruz
found Eden unconscious and tried to save her on Santa Barbara.
1986: Days of our Lives' Mike met Robin Jacobs.
1989: Delia and Roger were married on Ryan's Hope.

"History is a vast early warning system."
― Norman Cousins

"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...

1958: On The Edge of Night, Virginia (Cathleen Cordell) bumped into John H. Phillips (House Jameson) and identified him as "Mr. X". Phillips told Virginia he wanted to keep his identity confidential to avoid making enemies with any of his clients. He wanted to remain politically neutral in their eyes.

1968: On Another World, Rachel Matthews (Robin Strasser) told Walter Curtin (Val Dufour) she no longer had plans for Hollywood.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 21)

1981: GH's Laura was offered the "Miss Star Eyes" job.
1982: Barrington and Burgess plotted on Capitol.
1987: GL's Johnny saw it snow.  2007: A dollhouse came
to life on ATWT.

"History is a vast early warning system."
― Norman Cousins

"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...

1966: On Dark Shadows, Sam Evans (David Ford) called Roger Collins (Louis Edmonds) and told him to meet him at the Blue Whale because "the worst possible thing that could happen, has happened." At the Inn, Sam gleefully announced that Laura, Roger's wife, had come home.

1966: On Peyton Place, Rodney Harrington (Ryan O'Neal) had a hard time processing the revelation Hannah Cord made on the witness stand revealing that Rodney's mother had given away two illegitimate children. Martin Peyton (George Macready) did his best to explain to Rodney what the situation was like at the time.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 20)

1982: The Doctors' Kit and Mike were stranded during a snow storm.
1985: Lujack's spirit visited Beth on Guiding Light. 1996: All
My Children's Adam and Liza were married. 2007: General
Hospital Dillon returned and found out about Georgie's death.

"History is a vast early warning system."
― Norman Cousins

"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...

1957: On The Edge of Night, Bebe Spode (Renne Jarrett) came back home and told her father, Martin Spode (Eric Dressler), how much she loved him.

1965: On Peyton Place, Betty Anderson (Barbara Parkins) met Martin Peyton (George Macready).