Today in Soap Opera History (June 14)

1967: Dark Shadows' Maggie remained frustrated locked in a cell.
1983: General Hospital faced a hostage crisis.
1993: As the World Turns' Hal and Barbara were remarried.
1996: All My Children's Hayley and Brian wanted to relive their prom.

"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 Dark Shadows, locked in a cell in the Old House basement, Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) opened the music box when she heard Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) coming, pretending that she had been listening to it. He didn't believe her and left Maggie frustrated in the cell.

Today in Soap Opera History (June 14)

1967: Dark Shadows' Maggie remained frustrated locked in a cell.
1983: General Hospital faced a hostage crisis.
1993: As the World Turns' Hal and Barbara were remarried.
1996: All My Children's Hayley and Brian wanted to relive their prom.

"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 Dark Shadows, locked in a cell in the Old House basement, Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) opened the music box when she heard Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) coming, pretending that she had been listening to it. He didn't believe her and left Maggie frustrated in the cell.

Today in Soap Opera History (June 14)

1967: Dark Shadows' Maggie remained frustrated locked in a cell.
1983: General Hospital faced a hostage crisis.
1993: As the World Turns' Hal and Barbara were remarried.
1996: All My Children's Hayley and Brian wanted to relive their prom.

"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: On Dark Shadows, locked in a cell in the Old House basement, Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) opened the music box when she heard Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) coming, pretending that she had been listening to it. He didn't believe her and left Maggie frustrated in the cell.

Today in Soap Opera History (June 14)

1967: Dark Shadows' Maggie remained frustrated locked in a cell.
1983: General Hospital faced a hostage crisis.  1993: As the World
Turns' Hal and Barbara were remarried. 1996: All My Children's
Hayley and Brian wanted to relive their prom.

"History never looks like history when you are living through it."
― John W. Gardner

"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 Dark Shadows, locked in a cell in the Old House basement, Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) opened the music box when she heard Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) coming, pretending that she had been listening to it. He didn't believe her and left Maggie frustrated in the cell.

Today in Soap Opera History (June 14)

1967: Dark Shadows' Maggie remained frustrated locked in a cell.
1983: General Hospital faced a hostage crisis.  1993: As the World
Turns' Hal and Barbara were remarried. 1996: All My Children's
Hayley and Brian wanted to relive their prom.

"History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies."
- Alexis de Tocqueville

"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 Dark Shadows, locked in a cell in the Old House basement, Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) opened the music box when she heard Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) coming, pretending that she had been listening to it. He didn't believe her and left Maggie frustrated in the cell.



1976: On Another World, Pat (Beverly Penberthy) admitted to Marianne (Ariane Muenker) she was in love with Dave (David Ackroyd).

1983: On General Hospital, Monica (Leslie Charleson) and Bobbie (Jacklyn Zeman) were held hostage at the hospital.



1984: On Guiding Light, Mike Bauer (Don Stewart) toasted to the future at a dinner party, while Beth (Judi Evans) and Lujack (Vincent Irizarry) roasted hotdogs on the beach.

Today in Soap Opera History (June 14)

On this date in...

1976: On ANOTHER WORLD, Pat (Beverly Penberthy) admitted to Marianne ((Ariane Muenker, now Ariana Chase)) she was in love with Dave (David Ackroyd).

1984: On GUIDING LIGHT, Mike Bauer (Don Stewart) toasted to the future at a dinner party, while Beth (Judi Evans) and Lujack (Vincent Irizarry) roasted hotdogs on the beach.

Jennifer Richards Trial: New GUIDING LIGHT DVD On Sale Now

A new 10-episode GUIDING LIGHT DVD was released today at Amazon.com, "The Jennifer Richards Trial." Featuring two weeks of episodes from January 1981, this explosive trial was pre-empted during a critical moment thanks to a news interruption about the release of the Iranian hostages.

This was Jennifer's (Geraldine Court) second trial for the murder of Lucille Wexler.

Most of the cast from that era are featured in this collection including Court, Kathleen Cullen, Stephen Yates, Tom O’Rourke, Don Stewart, Lezlie Dalton, Christopher Bernau, Elvera Roussel, Stefan Schnabel, Charita Bauer, Mart Hulswit, John Wesley Shipp, Lenore Kasdorf and many more.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow - In Honor Of SeptemBeard!

"Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow"
by Nelson Aspen

In honor of "SeptemBeard" --a witty celebration of facial hair intended to help raise awareness and donations in the fight against a leading killer of men, prostate cancer-- I am going razor-free for the next month.  I wrote a blog article about Hollywood's hottest hirsute heartthrobs (including Jake Gyllenhaal, Gerard Butler, Hugh Jackman...  You can read it here.) but I realized how woefully lacking the Daytime TV genre has always been in the Beard Department (that includes Talk & Game shows, too).  Does the female demographic the Sponsors covet really prefer baby-faced heroes with shiny, plucked chests and androgynous good looks?  Or might there be some viewers out there waiting to "Woof!" at the sight of some Au Naturel guys with some fuzz not only on their hands and feet, but right up there on their chiseled cheekbones or square cut jaw lines?

World AIDS Day Tribute: Christopher Bernau (1940-1989) -- 'Dark Shadows,' 'Guiding Light'

On World AIDS Day we pay tribute to some of the actors from the soap opera community who lost their lives to the disease.

Christopher Bernau was born in Santa Barbara on June 2, 1940. He died of a heart attack brought on by complications from AIDS on June 14, 1989 in New York City at age 49.

Bernau grew up in Santa Barbara, the only child of a physiotherapist. After some high school plays, he earned a drama degree at UC Santa Barbara.

His big break came with a role in New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "Antony and Cleopatra" in 1962. He continued in that role until 1964, when he toured nationally in the production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Bernau was a consummate stage actor whose Broadway work included "The Boys in the Band."

His first soap role was as Philip Todd on Dark Shadows in 1969. Philip and his wife, Megan (Marie Wallace) owned a spooky antique shop in Collinsport and served as foster parents to the Leviathan child who grew up to be Jeb Hawkes. Chris left the show in 1970.

FLASHBACK: Chris Bernau 1981

Where's the Beef?

As the World Turns, So Do the Ladykilling Louses Who Are Beefing Up the Soaps

By Mandy Uhry, Rebecca Bricker
People
March 9, 1981

Chris Bernau: kissing well is the best revenge

Cast as megamillionaire Alan Spaulding in GUIDING LIGHT, Christopher Bernau is indisputably the Cadillac of daytime cads. "Spaulding is aggressive, manipulative, clever and amoral—all vices of the middle class and all virtues of industrial America," Chris laughs. "He's also very successful, on all fronts."

50 Greatest Soap Actors: #19 Christopher Bernau

NAME: Christopher Bernau
RANK: 19
SOAP ROLES: Alan Spaulding, GUIDING LIGHT (1977-1984, 1986-1988); Philip Todd, DARK SHADOWS (1969-1970)

COMMENTS FROM THE PANEL:
Connie Passalacqua Hayman (Marlena De Lacroix): As the original Alan Spaulding on GUIDING LIGHT, this actor was mesmerizing: powerful, mostly malevolent and sexy in an authoritarian way. Remember his seduction of Ed's wife Rita under the falls in Jamaica? Just amazing in conflict scenes with a young Grant Aleksander and (the now mostly forgotten) Don Stewart who played Mike Bauer.

Nelson Aspen: Chris created the most complex, dynamic villain of his day, with a complete style of his own that was never replicated by either of his recasts. It was never hard to understand why the women fell for Alan Spaulding. Rather than play the archetype, he offered up charm and seduction with every scene. Frankly, I dont feel that any patriarchal bad guy has ever come close. Terry Lester could have if he'd had the opportunity.

CLASSIC GL PHOTOS OF THE DAY: Alan Spaulding

The We Love Soaps classic photo tribute to GUIDING LIGHT continues with a look at the original Alan Spaulding, played by the late Christopher Bernau who died in 1989. Bernau debuted on GUIDING LIGHT in 1977 and instantly became the center of many stories, the impact of which is still be played out today (with Ron Raines in the role). When Bernau became too ill to work in the late 1980s, Daniel Pilon subbed until he could return. After Bernau's death, Pilon continued in the role. In the photo above, Bernau is pictured with Elvera Roussel who played Hope Bauer Spaulding.