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 (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 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...

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 (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.

"More and more, I tend to read history. I often find it more up to date than the daily newspapers."
― Joe Murray

"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 (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.

"The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect is already in the cause."
― Henri Louis Bergson

"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, arrives just before the day's episode of this popular 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 (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.

"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...

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, arrives just before the day's episode of this popular 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 (December 7)

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

"That is the supreme value of history. The study of it is the best guarantee against repeating it."
- John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir

"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, arrives just before the day's episode of this popular soap opera.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 7)

On this date in...

1956: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Larry (Bill Zuckert) attempted to murder Mike Karr (John Larkin).

1978: Leon Mirell, former executive producer of GENERAL HOSPITAL, died at age 55.

1979: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Steve found a barely conscious Deborah.

Today in Soap Opera History (February 17)

On this date in...

1961: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Sara Karr ran out of the house after her two-year-old daughter, Laurie Ann, had wandered into the street. This was a Friday episode that ended with the sound of screeching tires. On Monday, viewers learned Laurie was saved by Sara who had been hit by a speeding car. Sara would die two days later.

Fans were outraged (at least 2,500 protest letters) leading to Teal Ames (Sara) and John Larkin (Mike) doing an on-camera appeal to viewers the next day assuring them that the actress was fine and just wanted to leave the show.

"We could have done the usual thing--sent Sara away on a long trip (at least six weeks), and had another actress pick up the part," the ad agency for EDGE said at the time. "But this would not have been satisfactory. We decided to make it quick and clean, not one of those 17-week illnesses."

The video below is from Sara's death on February 22.