Four actors associated with the the "stars" and space began their careers as soap opera actors on "Days of Our Lives," "General Hospital, and Ryan’s Hope." Name the actors and the major TV shows or films in which they starred. See the answers at the end of the article.
Some of the best actors in show business exercised their talent on daytime television in soap operas. These soaps helped to launch the careers of many favorite stars who have won film, TV and/or theater awards.
Some of them began their careers in soaps, progressed to films, TV series, made-for-TV movies, and theater, and then returned to daytime soaps later in life. Others have not achieved star status, but have been steadily working in the industry since their soap beginnings.
Emmy winner Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer") starred on "Another World."Eva Longoria Parker ("Deperate Housewives") stared on "The Young and the Restless."Julian McMahon, the sexy, plastic surgeon on "Nip/Tuck," began his career on "Another World."
Although a number of celebrities have soap operas on their resumes, some had their careers rolling well before they appeared in the soap opera world. This article primarily identifies people who were in soaps during the early stages of their careers.
Here are the soaps, the networks, and the years they began (and ended no longer on the air).
All My Children (ABC, 1970-Present)
Another World (NBC, 1964-1999)
As The World Turns (CBS, 1956-Present)
Capital (CBS, 1982-1987)
Days of Our Lives (NBC, 1965)
General Hospital (ABC, 1970-Present)
Guiding Light (CBS, 1952-Present)
Love Is A Many Splendored Thing (CBS, 1967-1973)
Love of Life (CBS, 1951-1980)
Loving (ABC, 1983-1995)
One Life to Live (ABC, 1968-Present)
Passions (NBC, 1999-2007)
Port Charles (ABC, 1997-2003)
Ryan’s Hope (ABC, 1975-1989)
Rituals (NBC, 1984-1985)
Santa Barbara (NBC, 1984-1993)
Search for Tomorow (CBS, 1951-1986)
Secret Storm (CBS, 1954-1974)
The Bold & the Beautiful (CBS, 1987-Present)
The Doctors (NBC, 1963-1982)
The Edge of Night (CBS, 1956-1984)
The Young & the Restless (CBS, 1973-Present)
-A-
RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON, Dr. Jeff Webber (General Hospital, 1976-81)
ARMAND ASSANTE, Dr. Mike Powers (The Doctors, 1975-77)
-B-
KEVIN BACON, Tod Adamson (Search for Tomorrow, 1979)
ALEC BALDWIN, Billy Allison Aldrich (The Doctors, 1980-82)
CHRISTINE BARANSKI, Beverly Tucker (Another World, 1983)
ANGELA BASSETT, Leonie Peach (Ryan’s Hope, 1987)
KATHY BATES, Belle Bodelle (All My Children, 1984) and Phyllis (The Doctors, 1977)
BONNIE BEDELIA, Sandy Porter (Love of Life, 1961-67)
CORBIN BERNSEN, Ken Graham (Ryan’s Hope, 1984-85)
-C-
AMY CARLSON, Josephine ‘Josie’ Watts (Matthews) Sinclair (Another World, 1992-98)
TIA CARRARE, Jade Soong Chung, R.N (General Hospital, 1985-87)
JACK COLEMAN, Jake Kositchek (Days of Our Lives, 1981-82)
MARGARET COLIN, Margo Montgomery Hughes (As the World Turns, 1981-83)
COURTENEY COX, Bunny (As the World Turns, 1984)
-D-
WANDA DE JESUS, Gomez (Another World, 1986) and Santana Andrade (Santa Barbara, 1991-92)
DANA DELANY, Amy Russell (Love of Life, 1979-80) and Halley Wilson Hollister (As the World Turns, 1981)
MICHAEL DORN , Jimmy (Days of Our Lives, 1986-87)
JULIA DUFFY, Gerry Braylee (Love of Life, 1972) and Penny Davis (The Doctors, 1973-77)
OLYMPIA DUKAKIS, Dr. Barbara Moreno (Search for Tomorrow, 1983)
KIRSTEN DUNST, Young Child (Loving, 1990-91)
CHARLES DURNING, Police Chief Gil McGowan (Another World, 1972)
-E-
CHRISTINE EBERSOLE, Maxie McDermott (One Life To Live, 1983-85) and Lily Darnell (Ryan’s Hope, 1980)
GIANCARLO ESPOSITO, Clay Tynan (The Guiding Light, 1982-83)
-F-
JEFF FAHEY, Gary Corelli (One Life To Live, 1982-85)
MORGAN FAIRCHILD, Jennifer Pace (Search for Tomorrow, 1973-77) and Sydney Chase (General Hospital, 1996)
LAURENCE FISHBURNE, Dr. Joshua "Josh" Hall (One Life To Live, 1973-76)
FRANCES FISHER, Detective Deborah "Red" Saxon (The Edge of Night, 1976-81)
MICHELLE FORBES, Dr. Sonni Wells y Carrera (The Guiding Light, 1987-89)
FAITH FORD, Julia Shearer (Another World, 1983-84) and Muffy Critchlow (One Life To Live, 1983)
VIVICA A. FOX, Carmen Silva (Days of Our Lives, 1988)
JONATHAN FRAKES, Tom Carroll (The Doctors, 1977-78) and Jared McAllister (Days of Our Lives, 1986)
MORGAN FREEMAN, Dr. Roy Bingham (Another World, 1982-84)
-G-
SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR, Kendall Hart Lang (All My Children, 1993-95)
THOMAS GIBSON, Derek Mason (As the World Turns, 1988-90) and Peter Latham (The Guiding Light, 1987)
KELSEY GRAMMER, Dr. Carnard (Another World, 1983-84)
-H-
LARRY HAGMAN, Ed Gibson (The Edge of Night, 1961-63)
MARK HAMIL, Kent Murray (General Hospital, 1972-73)
TERI HATCHER, Angelica Clegg (Capital, 1986-87)
ANNE HECHE, Victoria ‘Vicky’ Hudson Frame Harrison McKinnon (Another World, 1987-91)
LAUREN HOLLY , Julie Rand Chandler (All My Children, 1986-88)
-I- NONE
-J-
JAMES EARL JONES, Dr. Jerry Turner (As the World Turns, 1966)
TOMMY LEE JONES, Dr. Mark Toland (One Life To Live, 1971-75)
-K-
MELINA KANAKAREDES, Eleni Andros (The Guiding Light, 1991-95)
JANE KRAKOWSKI, Theresa Kendall (Search for Tomorrow, 1984-86 and Tonya (Another World, 1989)
SWOOSIE KURTZ, Elie Bradley (As the World Turns, 1971)
-L-
EVA LA RUE, Margot Collins (Santa Barbara, 1988) and Dr. Maria Santos Grey (All My Children, 1994-2007)
DAN LAURIA, Gus Thompson (One Life To Live, 1984)
JUDITH LIGHT, Karen Wolek (One Life To Live, 1977-83)
RAY LIOTTA, Joey Perrini (Another World, 1978-81)
NIA LONG, Katherine ‘Kat’ Speakes (The Guiding Light, 1991-93)
DOROTHY LYMAN, Gwen Parrish Frame (Another World, 1976-80, 1989) and Opal Sue Gardner Purdy Courtlandt (All My Children, 1981-83)
-M-
WILLIAM H. MACY, Frank Fisk (Another World, 1982)
VANESSA MARCIL, Brenda Barrett (General Hospital, 1996)
RUE MCCLANAHAN, Caroline Johnson (Another World, 1970-71)
MARY MCDONNELL, Claudia Colfax (As the World Turns, 1980)
JULIAN MCMAHON, Ian Rain (Another World, 1992-94)
MING-NA, Lien Hughes (As the World Turns, 1988-91)
DEMI MOORE, Jackie Templeton (General Hospital, 1982-83)
JULIANNE MOORE, Carmen Engler (The Edge of Night, 1984) and Frannie Hughes Crawford (As the World Turns, 1985-88)
SHEMAR MOORE, Malcolm Winters (The Young & the Restless, 2000-05)
VIGGO MORTENSEN , Bragg (Search for Tomorrow, 1985)
KATE MULGREW, Mary Ryan (Ryan’s Hope, 1975-89)
-N-
LEONARD NIMOY, Bernie (General Hospital, 1963)
CHRIS NOTH, Dean Whitney (Another World, 1988)
-O- NONE
-P-
EVA LONGORIA PARKER, Isabella Brana (The Young & the Restless, 2001-03)
AMANDA PEET, Layle (One Life To Live, 1995)
NIA PEEPLES, Carla Escobar (General Hospital, 1983-94)
ROBIN WRIGHT PENN, Kelly Capwell Perkins Conrad (Santa Barbara, 1984-88)
LUKE PERRY, Kenny (Another World, 1988-89) and Ned Bates (Loving, 1987-88)
BRAD PIT, Chris (Another World, 1987)
-Q- NONE
-R-
PHYLICIA RASHAD, Courtney Wright (One Life To Live, 1983-84) and Felicia Dalton (Santa Barbara, 1985)
CHRISTOPHER REEVE (Deceased), Ben Harper (Love of Life, 1974-1976)
VING RHAMES, Czaja Carnek (Another World, 1986)
ERIC ROBERTS, Ted Bancroft (Another World, 1977)
ELISABETH ROHM, Dorothy Hayes (One Life To Live, 1997-98)
CHARLOTTE ROSS, Eve Baron Donavon (Days of Our Lives, 1987-91)
MEG RYAN, Betsy Stewart Montgomery Andropoulos (As the World Turns, 1982-84)
-S-
SUSAN SARANDON, Sarah Fairbanks (Search for Tomorrow, 1972)
ROY SCHEIDER, Jonas Falk (Love of Life, 1965-66) and Bob Hill (The Secret Storm, 1967)
JOHN SCHNEIDER, Larry Lamont (Loving, 1992)
KYRA SEDGWICK, Julia Shearer (Another World, 1964-83)
CHARLES SHAUGHNESSY, Shane Donovan (Days of Our Lives, 1989-2002)
MARTIN SHEEN, Roy Sanders (The Edge of Night, 1967)
JOHN WESLEY SHIPP, Kelly Nelson (The Guiding Light, 1980-84), Doug Cummings (As The World Turns, 1985-86), and Martin Ellis (Santa Barbara, 1987)
CHRISTIAN SLATER, D.J. LaSalle (Ryan’s Hope, 1985)
JOHN STAMOS, Blackie (General Hospital, 1982-84)
-T-
AMBER TAMBLYN, Emily Quartermaine (General Hospital, 1995-2001)
HOLLAND TAYLOR, Trish Wanamaker (Love is a Many Splendored Thing, 1967)
RICHARD THOMAS, Ben Schultz, Jr. (The Edge of Night, 1961) & Thomas Christopher Tommy (As the World Turns, 1966-67)
GINA TORRES, Magdalena (One Life To Live, 1995-96)
LORRAINE TOUSSAINT, Vera Williams (One Life To Live, 1988)
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG , Lily Benton Montgomery (All My Children, 1993-96 1993, 1999, 2004)
JESSICA TUCK, Megan Gordon Harrison (One Life To Live, 1988-92 )
TAMARA TUNIE, Jessica Griffin (As the World Turns, 1987-2007)
PAIGE TURCO, Dinah Morgan Marler (The Guiding Light, 1987-89)
JANINE TURNER, Laura Templeton (General Hospital, 1982-83)
KATHLEEN TURNER, Nola DAncy Aldrich (The Doctors, 1978-79)
-U-
BLAIR UNDERWOOD, Bobby Blue (One Life To Live, 1985-86)
-V-
MARIO VAN PEEBLES, Doc Gilmore (One Life To Live, 1982-83)
-W-