News

Karen Read is facing a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the brother of her late husband, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.

Paul O’Keefe filed the suit on behalf of his family, accusing Read of drunkenly running over John with her SUV and leaving him to die outside during a snowstorm in Jan. 2022. The lawsuit also named as co-defendants the two bars in Canton, Massachusetts, where Read and John were drinking before John’s death, the Waterfall Bar & Grille and C.F. McCarthy’s; both establishments are accused of “negligently serv[ing] alcohol to an intoxicated person,...

1983: Ryan's Hope's Pat bonded with Faith.

1984: Guiding Light's Alan attempted to escape from San Rios.

1990: Hope Brady returned on Days of our Lives.

2011: One Life to Live's Viki battled with her alters."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1961: On The Edge of Night, Mike Karr (John Larkin) spared with District Attorney Austin Johnson (Larry Weber) at Judith Marceau's (Joan Harvey) murder trial.

Patty Duke, best known as Helen Keller in the 1962 film The Miracle Worker, has died at the age of 69. After surviving the dark side of child stardom, Duke sat down with People in 1999 to open up about her battle with manic depression and reveal how she turned her life around. Read the profile below:

It's feeding time at the 40-acre northern Idaho farm that actress Patty Duke calls home. Clad in faded overalls and work boots, Duke ignores three donkeys braying for their breakfast in favor of Tommy, her pet tortoise, to whom she proffers a banana. But while Duke...

Patty Duke, best known as Helen Keller in the 1962 film The Miracle Worker, has died at the age of 69. After surviving the dark side of child stardom, Duke sat down with People in 1999 to open up about her battle with manic depression and reveal how she turned her life around. Read the profile below:It's feeding time at the 40-acre northern Idaho farm that actress Patty Duke calls home. Clad in faded overalls and work boots, Duke ignores three donkeys braying for their breakfast in favor of Tommy, her pet tortoise, to whom she proffers a banana. But while Duke tries...

Patty Duke, best known as Helen Keller in the 1962 film The Miracle Worker, has died at the age of 69. After surviving the dark side of child stardom, Duke sat down with People in 1999 to open up about her battle with manic depression and reveal how she turned her life around. Read the profile below:It's feeding time at the 40-acre northern Idaho farm that actress Patty Duke calls home. Clad in faded overalls and work boots, Duke ignores three donkeys braying for their breakfast in favor of Tommy, her pet tortoise, to whom she proffers a banana. But while Duke tries...

A popular TV series in the '60s, The Patty Duke Show revolves around identical cousins (what are the chances of that?). Patty Duke plays both parts; world traveler Cathy and typical Brooklyn Heights teenager Patty. Cathy comes to live with her cousin and her family to attend school while her father works as a world correspondent overseas. Others in the cast include William Schallert, Jean Byron, Paul O'Keefe, and Eddie Applegate.

The sitcom lasted for 104 episodes and three seasons on ABC, from 1963 until 1966. Though the series was still fairly popular, the network decided against a fourth season because it would have been expensive to start filming it in color.

The show didn't get a true series finale but the cast reprised their characters in 1999 for a CBS reunion movie, The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' In Brooklyn Heights. Cathy...

Identical cousins is not something you see on television everyday (and, okay, with good reason), but the odd duo played by Patty Duke won over audiences in a big way. Created by Sidney Sheldon and William Asher (who would go on to direct Bewitched, Gidget, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and more), The Patty Duke Show managed a fairly impressive run and was a lot of fun. The complete first season release, which may be worth it to some for the pilot alone, is really a nice treatment considering the relative obscurity of the show today. On 6 discs, the episodes look surprisingly good considering when they were filmed and the fact that the show isn't going to get a major restoration effort. The set also includes brand-new interviews with Patty Duke, William Schallert, Paul O'Keefe, and Eddie Applegate.