Today in Soap Opera History (May 5)

On this date in...

1948: On radio soap opera CLAUDIA, Claudia and David got a new maid.

Geraldine Fitzgerald & Eileen Fulton are in the foreground. Also shown are
Robert Drivas, Julienne Marie, Nicolas Coster, David O'Brien and Sam Groom.

1965: OUR PRIVATE WORLD, the primetime AS THE WORLD TURNS spinoff, debuted on CBS. AS THE WORLD TURNS contributed one of its leading characters, Lisa Hughes (Eileen Fulton), as the nucleus of OUR PRIVATE WORLD. In overlapping story lines, Lisa left her home town of Oakdale, the setting of the daytime show, and went to Chicago, setting of the evening serial, to forget all her sorrow and problems. The twice-a-week series was the first attempt by a competing network to capture some of the popularity of PEYTON PLACE, a primetime soap opera on ABC which was itself an attempt to copy the success of another show, the UK's CORONATION STREET.

1984: Doris Hursley, who co-created daytime soap operas GENERAL HOSPITAL and BRIGHT PROMISE with her husband (Frank Hursley), died at age 85. Their daughter, Bridget Dobson, also wrote for daytime soaps and co-created SANTA BARBARA.

1987: Alison Sweeney made her first appearance in DAYS OF OUR LIVES, playing Young Adrienne in a flashback scene. Sweeney came back to the show in January 1993 as Sami Brady, a role she has played for over 20 years now.



1988: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Charlene (Maree Cheatham) accused Colton (Scott Thompson Baker) of trying to cut and run.



1992: On ANOTHER WORLD, John (David Forsyth) and Donna (Anna Stuart) shared a kiss.



2003: On THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, Michael Baldwin was about to fulfill his quest to marry Christine, but now wanted to wipe the slate clean by confessing his involvement with Isabella to her. In doing so, he got a not-so-friendly visit from his alter-ego "Bad Michael" - who noticeably still sported the scruffy beard and wife-beater just like he did when he obsessively dug his way through the apartment wall and attempted to rape Christine back in 1993.





Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in this item.

2004: On THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, Jill (Jess Walton), Arthur (David Hedison), and Kay (Jeanne Cooper) had a family dinner at the GCAC restaurant. When Gina took their drink order, Jill became furious when Kay ordered a vodka martini.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
John S. Ragin (ex-Grant, SANTA BARBARA; ex-Admiral Lovell, EMERALD POINT N.A.S) - 84
Frankie Michaels (ex-Tom, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Tom, OUR PRIVATE WORLD) - 58
Kurt Sutter (Showrunner, SONS OF ANARCHY) - 53
Darrin Dewitt Henson (ex-Ruben, LINCOLN HEIGHTS; ex-Lem, SOUL FOOD) - 41
Glen Wallace (David, DOCTORS; ex-Andy, HOLBY CITY; ex-Malachy, HOLLYOAKS; ex-Malachy, HOLLYOAKS LATER) - 37
Vincent Kartheiser (Pete, MAD MEN) - 34
Ian Virgo (ex-Phil, DOCTORS) - 32
Henry Cavill (ex-Charles, THE TUDORS) - 30
Clark Duke (ex-Dale, GREEK) - 28
Adele (Herself, UGLY BETTY) - 25
Taylor-Ann Hasselhoff (ex-Nurse, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 23
Danielle Parker (ex-Emma, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 11