Five Things That Happened On April 19 In Soap History

In 1971, Patricia Barry (left, with Frances Reid as Alice, c., and Maree Cheatham as Marie) made her Days of Our Lives debut as Addie Horton, Tom and Alice's daughter and, eventually, Hope Williams's mother. The actress, who had already made a name for herself in films and prime-time television, would go on to work on several more soaps, playing Sally Gleason on Guiding Light, Isabelle Alden on Loving and Peg English on All My Children. She passed away in 2016.

In 1985, General Hospital's Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) was stunned when he came face to face with his ex-wife, Anna Devane (Finola Hughes). As the story unfolded, viewers would learn how the pair had met and fallen in love while working for the WSB, which frowned upon interpersonal relationships among its agents. Robert would go on to learn that Anna had secretly given birth to his daughter, Robin.

In 1990, Peter Reckell returned to Days of Our Lives as Bo Brady, who, along with wife Hope (Kristian Alfonso) and their son, Shawn-Douglas, had left Salem in 1987. Reckell began playing Bo in 1983. He remained with the show until 1992, then returned again from 1995-2012. He also came back in 2015, at which point Bo appeared to die from a brain tumor, but he was resurrected later, when Reckell reprised the role.

In 1996, original General Hospital cast member John Beradino (l., pictured with Emily McLaughlin as Jessie Brewer and Roy Thinnes as Phil Brewer), made his final appearance as Dr. Steve Hardy. The actor passed away on May 19, 1996. In 2023, Jon Lindstrom (Kevin) recalled of Beradino, "John was really an amazing guy. He had done a lot of things and seen a lot of things; I think he’d seen some pretty serious combat [during World War II]. But we were sitting in his dressing room one day, talking, and I noticed a ring on his finger. I said, ‘John, is that a World Series ring?’ ‘Oh, yeah, I got it when I played with the Cleveland Indians.’ I was like, ‘You played with the Cleveland Indians?!’ He took it off and let me wear it."

In 2001, Robin Christopher made her General Hospital debut as Skye Chandler, a role she had previously played on All My Children and One Life to Live. In 2013, she recalled her first day at work at GH to Soap Opera Digest, saying, "I'm afraid I was a little starstruck because I grew up watching ABC [soaps]. You think of GH as being the big king of shows and there I was with the Quartermaines! It was so lovely because everybody was so low-key and welcoming. I remember Amber [Tamblyn, ex-Emily] telling me, 'I don't think I've ever seen anybody fit in so quickly and so nicely.' That was such a nice compliment coming from her because she had been on the show for so long. I really felt like, 'I just kinda slipped in here.' I got along with everybody really well. I was very happy to be there."