On this date in...1907: Actor Shepperd Strudwick was born. Strudwick's soap roles included Jim Matthews in ANOTHER WORLD and Victor Lord in ONE LIFE TO LIVE. He died in 1983 at age 75.
1955: On a controversial episode of UK radio soap opera THE ARCHERS, Grace died in the Brookfield stables. THE ARCHERS continues on to this day, and is currently the longest running soap in the world airing on BBC's Radio 4.
1972: On SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, Joanne Tate (Mary Stuart) married Dr. Tony Vincente (Anthony George).
1977: On DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Marlena (Deidre Hall) was trapped in the sanitarium, mistaken for her twin sister, Samantha.
1986: On SANTA BARBARA, Cruz (A Martinez) had a flashback to a memory of Katie Timmons on the beach.
1988: On GUIDING LIGHT, Harley (Beth Ehlers) and Alan-Michael (Carl T. Evans, formerly Carl Tye Evans) enjoyed the good life.
1994: NBC sitcom FRIENDS premiered. The show featured continuing story arcs including love triangles and cliffhangers which helped inspire many of the (somewhat) serialized sitcoms of today.
1997: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Brenda was left at the altar at her wedding to Sonny.
1999: THE WEST WING, starring Martin Sheen as the President, premiered on NBC.
2006: Jason Cook aired for the final time as Shawn Douglas Brady in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.
2011: Crystal Chappell aired for the last time as Carly Manning in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.
Celebrating a birthday today are:
Steven Williford (Director, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ALL MY CHILDREN; AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 56
Lynn Herring (ex-Audrey, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Lucy, GENERAL HOSPITAL/PORT CHARLES; Lisanne, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 54
Catherine Oxenberg (ex-Amanda, DYNASTY) - 51
Daniella Alonso (Nora, REVOLUTION; ex-Carlotta, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS; ex-Pilar, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 34
Michael Graziadei (Daniel, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 33
Chase Ellison (ex-Noah, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 19
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.
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