In the universe of soap operas, a limited handful of stars transcend the fight, drawing their names into the hearts of fans and the chronicles of TV history.
These entertainers have characterized the class as well as become inseparable from the actual embodiment of a daytime show.
From Salem’s scheming patriarchs to Genoa City’s darling female authorities, their journeys have been as engaging off-screen as they have been on it.
Go along with us as we honor seven soap opera legends who have left an enduring legacy, creating stories that have enchanted crowds for quite a long time and everlastingly changing the scene of daytime TV. Have a look.
John Aniston
Regarding former cast members of Days of Our Lives, one of the most adored actors who portrayed a character that was both hated and loved is the late John Aniston.
The well-known father of Friends star Jennifer Aniston began his Days career in 1970, having tried out for the part of Doug Williams as a minor character named Eric Richards.
Not until fifteen years later did Aniston make a comeback to Salem, this time in the character of the infamous patriarch Victor Kiriakis. The actor played the part for forty years until passing away in 2022.
December 26, 2022, was Aniston’s posthumous last airdate for the soap opera’s Christmas episode, which concluded with a memorial to the actor.
The show’s narratives center on the lives of middle-class and upper-class professionals in Salem, a town in middle America.
Michael Levin
Beloved soap star Michael Levin, best known for his roles in “As the World Turns” and “Ryan’s Hope,” passed away tragically on January 6, 2023. The reporters received confirmation of the heartbreaking news from his son Jason.
The latter disclosed that, while a patient at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York, his father had died of natural causes. On December 8, 1932, Michael Levin was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Michael Levin attended the University of Minnesota. He also spent two years as a member of the US Navy. Originally, Levin intended to pursue a career in journalism and writing.
Michel moved to New York and started performing in Lincoln Center Repertory Theatre productions after taking acting classes along the way.
Kate Linder
Actress Kate Linder has played Katherine Chancellor’s sassy but sweet maid Esther Valentine on Young and the Restless for more than 40 years, despite the character’s evolution from major to minor over time.
In 1982, Linder started working at Y&R in a position that was only meant to be temporary. However, her endearing interpretation of the legendary Esther has kept her on daytime television for 41 years and counting.
In 2008, the actress was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an accolade that is rarely bestowed upon actors merely for their work on a soap opera.
Valentine’s Day fell on February 14, 1976, and she was married to Dr. Ronald L. Linder for 41 years until his ALS death in 2017. Since his first marriage, she has had three stepchildren: Karyn, Jon, and Jay.
Linder received a BA in theater arts from San Francisco State University. Following graduation, Linder was able to secure television work, landing spots on shows like Bay City Blues and Archie Bunker’s Place.
Annie Wersching
TV viewers enjoyed watching actress Annie Wersching play “General Hospital”‘s Amelia Joffe in 2007. Regretfully, Annie—who also starred in Timeless, The Vampire Diaries, and 24—passed away on January 29, 2023, at the age of 45.
Since 2020, Wersching—who also provided Tess’s voice in the video game “The Last of Us”—has been fighting cancer covertly. In September 2009, Wersching wed comedian and actor Stephen Full at their Los Angeles residence.
They had three sons together. Midway through 2020, Wersching received a cancer diagnosis; however, she chose to remain silent about the news and carried on with her actions.
She passed away in Los Angeles, California.
Eric Braeden
Eric Braeden has starred in films such as Titanic and The Rat Patrol, but he is most known for his 42-year run as Young and the Restless’s patriarch Victor, for which he received a Daytime Emmy Award in 1998 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.
When Braeden moved to Genoa City in 1980, his persona forged a memorable romance with Nikki and a witty rivalry with Jack Abbott, two relationships that still serve as central themes for Victor’s soap opera narratives.
In his first 20 years in the United States, Braeden appeared in 120 guest roles on TV and in movies. All of his early credits were issued under Hans Gudegast, his birth name.
He portrayed German soldiers in multiple episodes of Combat!, the longest-running World War II drama on television, during the 1960s.
Jacklyn Zeman
On May 9, 2023, Jacklyn Zeman, 70, passed from this life shortly after receiving a cancer diagnosis. In Thousand Oaks, California, at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center, she breathed her last.
Zeman had a prosperous career in television, particularly as a regular cast member of soap operas.
Her most well-known roles were as Bobbie Spencer on “General Hospital” from 1977 to 2010 and again from 2013 to 2023 and as Lana McClain on “One Life to Live” from 1976 to 1977.
Her two Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, respectively, came from the latter part of the performance.
In made-for-television movies, she featured opposite Heather Locklear in Jury Duty: The Comedy (1990) and opposite Kellie Martin in Montana Crossroads (1993).
Among other off-Broadway musicals, she starred in Come Blow Your Horn, Barefoot in the Park and The Boy Friend.
Zeman’s recurring role as Sofia Madison on the streaming series The Bay earned her a nomination for a second Daytime Emmy in 2021.
Melody Thomas Scott
Melody Thomas Scott has had a lengthy and successful career in both film and television, fans of soap operas will always associate her with the role of Nikki Newman, the daytime darling of Young and the Restless, which she has played for more than 40 years.
When Scott joined the soap opera in 1979 to replace actress Erica Hope, she was a newcomer to daytime, and she had not left Genoa City in 43 years.
In 2023, Scott commemorated 44 years of working on the soap opera, and Y&R marked 50 years of daytime television.
To celebrate Scott’s 40 years with the show, The Young and the Restless had a stand-alone episode on February 19, 2019.
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