Five Things That Happened On April 3 In Soap History

In 1974, DAYS introduced Mary Frann as Amanda Howard. The actress exited the show in 1979 and went on to become a prime-time star for her role as Joanna on Newhart. The actress passed away in 1998 from a heart attack. In 2015, DAYS co-star Suzanne Rogers (Maggie) told Soap Opera Digest, "Mary Frann was the classiest woman I think I’ve ever met. She was always so sweet and she dressed impeccably and she was my friend. We both were Catholic and had that whole thing that we grew up with. I miss her a lot. She was a lovely person and a wonderful actress.”

In 1992, Roger Howarth made his Loving debut as Kent Winslow. The actor had previously had a short-term recurring role on Guiding Light as Jory. As a guest on Soap Opera Digest's podcast, Dishing With Digest, Howarth said in 2021, "Actually watching what I did as an actor on Loving, now I can honestly [say] there is no part of me that is surprised that they fired me. I'd only been out of drama school for, like, months, and [there] was a spin on the ball that was genuinely unwatchable.... I can't say enough unkind things about it, but I learned a lot." Later that year, the actor was cast in his Daytime Emmy-winning role of Todd Manning on One Life to Live.

In 2009, Billy Abbott (Billy Miller) and Chloe Mitchell (Elizabeth Hendrickson) tied the knot on Young and Restless. Billy's motivation: to bolster the fight against Cane for custody of Delia. The night before the ceremony, Billy slept with another woman — Sharon Newman, who agreed to serve as Chloe's maid of honor. Guilt-ridden, Sharon suddenly claimed that she didn't feel well and bolted from the ceremony; Colleen stepped in for her. Billy was surprised and touched by the heartfelt words Chloe spoke as she said her vows. Just after the duo was pronounced husband and wife, the groom was in for a huge shock: his ex, Mackenzie, returned to town and showed up at the wedding!

In 2013 on General Hospital, Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers) was poised to shoot Laura Spencer in front of Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary), then decided that instead, Laura should shoot Luke's son Ethan Lovett — or else Helena would kill Luke and Laura's daughter, Lulu Falconeri. Laura refused, so Helena offered up that she could kill Luke instead. Luke encouraged Laura to do so, then lunged for the gun and grabbed it. He then shot Helena in the chest ("Say good-bye, old woman!"). Helena crumpled to the ground. Luke checked her pulse. Finding none, he declared, "Ding-dong, the witch is dead." And she was — until she returned from the dead in 2014.

In 2014, Will Horton (Guy Wilson, l.) and Sonny Kiriakis (Freddie Smith) said, “I do” on Days of Our Lives. The ceremony, which was the first same-sex male wedding on daytime, was officiated by Will's grandmother, Marlena (Deidre Hall). The grooms were escorted by their mothers, Sami and Adrienne, as they made their way down the aisle. Smith told Soap Opera Digest that the wedding was "very sweet. You see how much they genuinely love each other. This is all Sonny has ever wanted, to be married. It's a moment that he's been looking forward to his entire life. It means more to him than anything else in the world. It's his big dream and it's coming true."