Goodbye Alice. Let’s reflect and remember Frances Reid bringing the character of Alice Grayson Horton to our television sets for over 40 years and who passed away on February 3. Reid’s portrayal of the Horton matriarch Alice was the cornerstone of Days of our Lives, the pillar of the Horton family and the face of Salem.

On a personal level, I was saddened to hear the news when it broke across the daytime industry. I was overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of loss, a piece of my very own personal memory from my favourite soap on television now gone. Alice’s early life in 1965 Salem revolved around her five children, Addie (who in 1974 was killed), Mickey, Bill, Marie (who became a nun) and Tommy (who had been presumed dead in Vietnam). Alice was our donut queen, the beloved grandmother to many, including Hope Williams, Jennifer, Mike and Melissa Horton. Alice also shared a special bond with Addie’s two daughters, Hope and Julie and Mickey’s widow, Maggie Simmons Horton. READ MORE

Feb. 3 marks a sad day for the soap industry as Days of Our Lives legend Frances Reid (Alice Horton) has passed away at the age of 95. Word of the actresses passing first surfaced on Twitter via Soaptown USA and BuzzWorthy Radio, and was later confirmed by Days of Our Lives actresses Alison Sweeney and Nadia Bjorlin. Below are Sweeney and Bjorlin's tweets on Reid's passing.

Alison Sweeney:

Ali_Sweeney I'm so sad to hear the news about Frances Reid. She was a truly talented actress & and we are all lucky & proud to have known her. RIP

Nadia Bjorlin:

RealNadiaB Rest in peace Frances Reid (Alice Horton). She was a great lady whom I feel honored to have known..the heart and soul of Days of our Lives.

READ MORE

Legendary CBS News reporter and anchorman Walter Cronkite passed away on Friday, July 17 at 92 years old. If you are wondering why Cronkite's passing merits mention on a site dedicated to daytime soap operas, the connection will become abundandtly clear.

The first is a footnote to one of the most shattering events in modern American history: at 12:40PM Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, Cronkite interrupted the top-rated As the World Turns — with a then-regular daily viewership of 12 million viewers — to be the first to officially break the stunning news to the nation that President John F. Kennedy had been shot. It would be a few short minutes later at 1PM  that Cronkite would announce that Kennedy was dead. READ MORE

We have sad news to report. On the heels of the passing of One Life to Live's Clint Ritchie (ex-Clint) comes confirmation that Phil Carey (ex-Asa) has also died. He was 83.

 

Hollywood star couple John Travolta and Kelly Preston (ex-Gillian, Capitol) are mourning the loss of their 16-year-old son Jett tonight. According to TMZ and Pop Eater, Jett suffered from a seizure while the family was vacationing in the Bahamas and banged his head on a bathtub. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Preston-Travoltas.

Just a reminder for anyone who ever watched All My Children. The soap will air it's tribute to the late Eileen Herlie on Friday, December 19. Herlie played the much loved Myrtle Fargate from 1976 until her death on October 8.

Even The Great Victor Newman can't prevent this.

The Young and the Restless has just released a promo for its July storylines. Let's just say the drama is seriously about to pick up in Genoa City.

Giving the Devil his due. In honor of Beverlee McKinsey’s memory I searched through countless You Tube clips to find one that best summarized her tremendous strength as an actress. This clip is famous for Guiding Light fans, as it is where Springfield's grand dame Alexandra Spaulding makes a mockery of her cheating, thieving husband Roger Thorpe played with equal brilliance by the late Michael Zaslow. Alex also makes amends to her loved ones for believing in Roger over them. 

The clip is almost painful to watch as it evokes memories of Guiding Light and the daytime soap opera at its best. One thing that amazes me is that most of the actors in this storyline, Alex, Roger, Fletcher (Jay Hammer), Holly (Maureen Garrett), Vanessa (Maeve Kinkead), Ross (Jerry ver Dorn), Henry (William Roerick, Ed (Peter Simon) and Maureen (Ellen Parker) were over 40.  READ MORE

Daytime mourns the loss of one of its most legendary names, Beverlee McKinsey, who died May 2, 2008 from complications of a kidney transplant. She was 72. McKinsey shot to fame as the original Iris Cory Carrington Wheeler on Another World  and later the short-lived AW spinoff Texas. After her wildly successful decade's long run as Iris (1970-79 on AW, 1980-81 on Texas) McKinsey joined another Procter and Gamble soap, Guiding Light and created a role that would compete with Iris as the performance of her career, Alexandra Spaulding.  McKinsey starred on that soap from 1984-1992. She briefly returned to the soap world in 1994 when she appeared as Myrna Slaughter on General Hospital.

"For my money, Beverlee McKinsey is the greatest actress ever to grace daytime drama." -TV Guide's Michael Logan.