Five Things That Happened On April 18 In Soap History

In 1967, Jonathan Frid (l., pictured with David Selby as Quentin Collins) debuted as Barnabas Collins on Dark Shadows. The gothic soap's infamous character made the top 10 of TV Guide's list of the nastiest TV villains of all time in 2013.

In 1994, Days of Our Lives's Carrie Brady (Christie Clark) and Austin Reed (Patrick Muldoon) consummated their romance, making love for the first time at Green Mountain Lodge. "You don't have to worry about anything," Austin assured her. "I'm not worried about anything," she replied, before bashfully admitting that she was "a little nervous." Austin caressed her and said, "I've never loved anyone the way I love you."

In 1996, in a twist that would kick off the decades-long professional and personal connection between them, General Hospital's Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard, l.) offered Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) a job. Jason would go on to become a valued enforcer in Sonny's mob organization. Portrayer Burton noted that this was a major turning point in his own GH career in a 2023 interview with Soap Opera Digest, saying of Benard, "He and I started working together, and I think people saw me improving, and the seed was planted for this character change. And then they’re like, ‘Wow, you and Maurice work well together; let’s put you guys together and see what happens.’ And now I’ve spent almost every waking hour with him for years. That was a big change for me in my life, personally and professionally."

In 2005, Jennifer Bransford made her General Hospital debut in the role of Carly. She was the third actor to portray the character, succeeding Sarah Brown and Tamara Braun. Bransford worked on the show for five months before the powers-that-be at GH conceded that she wasn't the right fit for the part. GH parted ways with the actress and soon hired Laura Wright, who became the longest-running Carly.

In 2006, Patrick Duffy (pictured with Katherine Kelly Lang as Brooke Logan) made his Bold and Beautiful debut as Stephen Logan. He told Soap Opera Weekly in a 2006 interview about his new gig, "It's a lot of fun. It's a completely different education for me, that's for sure. I did more dialogue on the first day of The Bold and the Beautiful than I did during the whole first season of Dallas," where he played Bobby Ewing.