Five Things That Happened On May 13 In Soap History

In 1977, Stuart Damon debuted on General Hospital as Alan Quartermaine, a role for which he won a Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Supporting Actor in 1999. He remained a series regular until Alan's death was scripted in 2007, generating much outcry from the audience. In 2013, the late star told Soap Opera Digest of his long run on the show, "What was the most fun for me was just being with the other six or seven Quartermaines, because we were like a repertory company. It was fabulous for us to be with each other because we knew what the next person was going to say before they even said it. We trusted each other as actors and you never had to worry. You knew if you ever made a misstep, somebody would pick you up. That’s quite a feeling. You don’t get that very often.”

In 1993, Knots Landing aired its series finale on CBS. The show had premiered on December 27, 1979. Created by David Jacobs, the show was technically a spin-off of Dallas, but was actually conceived of first. KL centered around a group of friends and foes who lived in and around a California cul-de- sac and peaked in the prime-time ratings in the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons, finishing in ninth place each season. KL won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Prime-time Soap in 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992. When the series wrapped in 1993, Val (Joan Van Ark, far l.) returned from the dead and reunited with Gary (Ted Shackelford, far l.) and their twins; Greg (William Devane, far r.) and Paige reconciled; Mack (Kevin Dobson, seated) and Karen (Michele Lee, far r.) kissed and made up after a major fight; and Abby (Donna Mills) moved back to the neighborhood.

In 1994 on All My Children, Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight) and Dixie Cooney (Cady McClain) married for the second time. Their previous ceremony had taken place in 1989. When they reunited following Tad's presumed death for wedding number two, they pledged their troth in the gazebo in the garden at Cortlandt Manor. The bride opted for a nontraditional dress, which was a column of gold pleated mesh beneath an olive green crocheted lace overlay. Among those who gathered to celebrate the union were the groom's parents, Ruth and Joe Martin, his birth mother, Opal Cortlandt, and her bridesmaids, which included Maria Santos Grey and Hayley Vaughan.

In 2011, Roger Howarth returned to his Daytime Emmy-winning One Life to Live role Todd Manning, in which he had last appeared in 2003. After exiting Llanview, Howarth had gone over to As the World Turns to play Paul Ryan, a role he held until that show went off the air late in 2010. What made his OLTL comeback unusual is that the show had recast Todd with Trevor St. John, who was still playing Todd! Howarth's comeback kicked off OLTL's infamous "tale of two Todds," and eventually, it was determined that Howarth's Todd was the "real" Todd Manning; St. John's character was actually Victor Lord, Jr., Todd's previously unknown twin brother.

In 2019, Mark Grossman (pictured with Sharon Case as Sharon Newman) assumed the role of Adam Newman on Young and Restless. In his first interview with Soap Opera Digest, Grossman shared that he initially didn't know what character he was in the running for, but after he did his screen test, "About two hours later, my manager and agent called me on a conference call and told me I got it. I was speechless. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I had to go outside and walk around to process it. Then I was beyond thrilled, so it was an amazing feeling... When I found out exactly who I was playing, I was like, ‘Time to go to work!’ ”