5 Soap Stars Whose Real-Life Diagnoses Inspired Storylines

Days of our Lives is incorporating James Reynolds‘ Parkinson’s diagnosis into his storyline as Abe Carver. Here’s a look back at other soap characters who shared a medical condition with the actor or actress who portrayed them, including General Hospital‘s Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and DAYS‘s Maggie Horton (Suzanne Rogers).

In 1983, complications from a blood clot forced Charita Bauer, who played Bauer matriarch Bert on Guiding Light, to have her leg amputated. The following year, the show dramatized the loss of Bert's limb and her post-amputation adjustment to a prosthetic leg and the use of a wheelchair.

PAUL SKIPPER/JPI

Daytime Emmy winner Suzanne Rogers, who has played Maggie Horton on Days of our Lives since 1973, was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disorder, in 1984, and she granted the show permission to write her disease into Maggie's storyline — on one condition. Rogers explained to Soap Opera Digest in 2020 that she told producers, “‘Please, if we’re going to do this, let’s make sure it has a good ending, because I intend to get well. I intend to beat this.’ That was a wonderful storyline.”The actress went into remission in 1995.

ABC

Guiding Light wrote out Michael Zaslow, the Daytime Emmy winning actor who portrayed Roger Thorpe, when he began experiencing difficulty speaking. The actor was eventually diagnosed with ALS, and in 1998, One Life to Live invited him to reprise the role of David Renaldi, who he had originally played in the early 1980s. In the storyline, David was also diagnosed with ALS and used a computerized device to communicate with those around him, including ex Dorian (Robin Strasser, left.) and daughter Cassie (Laura Koffman).

ADAM LARKEY/ABC

Daytime Emmy winner Maurice Benard was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 22. In 2005, 13 years into his General Hospital career as mobster Sonny Corinthos and six years after Benard went public with his diagnosis to help lessen the stigma around bipolar disorder, the show launched a story about Sonny's mental health issues that resulted in the character's bipolar diagnosis in 2006. “That was a personal achievement of mine,” he told Soap Opera Digest in 2010.

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Veteran As the World Turns star Colleen Zenk was diagnosed with stage 2 oral cancer in 2007 and underwent radiation, multiple surgeries and the reconstruction of her tongue. In 2008, the actress and the show partnered with the Oral Cancer Foundation to craft a storyline in which Zenk's character, Barbara Ryan, also battled the disease.

Colleen Zenk Maurice Benard Suzanne Rogers Days of Our Lives General Hospital

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