Kelly Monaco Made Her Daytime Debut On Port Charles And Other Events From July 7 In Soap History

In 1975, Ryan's Hope debuted on ABC. Created by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer, the series told the story of Johnny and Maeve Ryan. Played by Bernard Barrow and Helen Gallagher, Johnny and Maeve were a working-class Irish-American couple with five children who ran a bar in New York City that was located across from a hospital. While it was never a ratings powerhouse, the soap was critically acclaimed for its emotionally rich, topical themes and poignant dialogue. The soap was named Outstanding Daytime Drama at the Daytime Emmys in 1977 and 1979 and netted Outstanding Writing honors in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983 and 1984. The show was ultimately canceled in 1989.

In 1992, Patrick Muldoon made his first appearance as Austin Reed on Days of Our Lives. “It was a big cattle call,” he recalled to Soap Opera Digest in 2015 of landing the role. “For me, it was simply another audition. I screen-tested with Tracy Middendorf, who was playing Carrie. The main thing I remember is that after we got done, I saw Fran [De Simone], who was our stage manager, mouthing to someone else, ‘No. 4.’ I was No. 4, so I felt really good about that.”

In 2000, Kelly Monaco made her Port Charles debut as Livvie Locke, the surprise daughter of Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom). This marked the actress's first appearance on a soap; she became a breakout star and remained with the series through its 2003 cancellation. When the show was canceled, she was quickly snapped up to begin her 2003-24 run on GH as Samantha McCall.

In 2003, Roger Howarth made his As The World Turns debut as the oft-recast Paul Ryan, succeeding the character's most recent portrayer, Scott Holroyd. He became the longest-running actor in the role, remaining with the show through its cancellation in 2010. Howarth's move to ATWT drew massive headlines, as he had recently exited his Daytime Emmy-winning One Life To Live role, Todd Manning. In 2014, his on-again, off-again Oakdale leading lady, Kelley Menighan (Emily), shared with Soap Opera Digest that when Howarth first joined the ATWT ranks, "in a matter of months, he became absolutely, positively, one of my favorite people there. You spend a lot of time with someone when you are married to them or sleeping with them on TV and we had a very open, communicative relationship. I always felt like Roger was someone that I knew for a long time before I actually knew him, my comfort level with him was so high."

In 2006, Bold and Beautiful's Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Nick (Jack Wagner) wed. Though the pair had openly discussed their doubts about going through with the ceremony, they decided to forge ahead and exchanged sweet, personalized vows, with Brooke telling her groom, "I never imagined loving anybody this way. And I never imagined anyone loving me the way that you do." The union ended in divorce the following year.