A couple of days ago my fellow Denial Islander SoapWikiJohn posted clips of Memorable Soap Deaths from EastEnders and Hollyoaks. I loved the clips so much I thought I’d post some more classic soap deaths, this time giving some love to US soaps.
Here are three soap deaths that I’ll never forget: The first ranks as one of the most notorious soaps deaths of all time, the second was recommend by a reader (imgoodbackup) and rips my heart out every time I watch it, and the third harkens back to old-school Hollywood romance-tragedies. Get your tissues out (at least for the last two, lol)!
1. Mary is Crushed by a “C”, Santa Barbara
Some loved it, others hated it. I watched this when it originally aired in 1986 and my 12 year old mind didn’t know what to make of it. The climax to this very dramatic story was absurd, shocking and well…darkly humorous. But that was Santa Barbara! Love it or hate it, people still talk about this death 24 years later.
In this clip, ex-nun Mary (Harley Jane Kozak) confronts her husband/rapist Mark (Jon Lindstrom) on a rooftop as Julia (Nancy Lee Grahn) attempts to play referee. Meanwhile a Giant “C” looms menacingly in the background. Also featured in the clip: Mason (Lane Davies) and CC (Jed Allan)
2. Sam’s Baby Dies, General Hospital
In the first Memorable Soap Deaths blog, reader imgoodbackup posted a comment noting deaths that affected her. She mentioned the death of Sam’s baby, Lila, on General Hospital, writing, “I don't recall other soaps that have let a mother carry a baby first of all actually almost a real 9 months let alone then kill that baby off? The audience grew to love and hope for Sam's baby girl and when she died the impact was devastating.” I couldn’t agree more. I remember crying hysterically when I watched this (at the time, I didn’t read spoilers and had stopped reading soap mags, so I had no idea it was coming!) It was like a knife in my heart. Here’s the clip, featuring wonderful performances from Kelly Monaco (Sam), Steve Burton (Jason), Maurice Benard (Sonny) and Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis), from 2004:
3. Megan Dies in Jake’s Arms, One Life to Live
This is an unusual pick for me, since I didn’t see it when it aired in 1992. I watched the clip years later and was blown away. It was so touching, so beautifully written and just so tragic! I remember talking about this scene with my friend Danielle and recalling how much it reminded me of classic romantic tragedies like Wuthering Heights and Camille: Lovely, fragile woman dying in the arms of the man who loves her *sniff* In Two Parts, here are Jessica Tuck (Megan) and Joe Lando (Jake):
Part 1:
Part 2:
***********************As always, thanks for reading (and watching). Tell me some of your favorite and/or most memorable soap deaths (there are so many!)
-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover1938
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ReplyDeleteGreat blog Mel...
ReplyDeleteGH's Sam's baby death was really hard to see , I was in tears, everyone did amazing job at that S/L I remember when Jason was holding the baby and than Sonny comes and he just falls apart and he and Jason are crying how many times we see two men cry together???
there was another death on GH that was heartbreaking BJ 's death with Maxi heart transplant that was very sad...
Y&R had me in tears were cassie died, That was very sad..
Wow. I'd forgotten about Mary's death on SB. How could I forget that? It was such a crazy soap death.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention & video post of my most memorable GH soap death. You know I had to watch it again, and yes, still gets to me. Also very interesting to watch NLG from SB to GH. Never compared clips of her in those 2 soaps before, though I loved her in both.
The OLTL scenes were surprising. Missed that as well. Thanks for posting.
Totally agree, INBAL, Cassie's death on Y&R was another VERY sad soap death. Loved Cassie. Such a sweet character & young actress. Actors playing Sharon, Nik, Nikki, & Victor all gave amazing performances as well.
Inbal/GH Lover: Yes, BJ's death was soooo sad! That's another one that still gets me everytime I see the clips. And Cassie's death on Y&R was so sad and so shocking!! I would have never expected them to kill her off.
ReplyDeleteimgoodbackup: Do you know what I'd forgotten about Mary's death on SB? That Jon Lindstrom played Mark. How could I have forgotten that?? lol.
Cassie's Death Trivia: Sara Bibel used to write for Y&R and she now writes a soap blog (Deep Soap). I know she wrote about Cassie's death on her blog (can't find the post now) and as I recall she said TPTB decided to kill the character because they felt having a teenaged daughter would age Nick and Sharon too much... I don't know if it was the best decision, but boy did it make for some great drama.
Roger Thorpe's death when he was running from Ed and Mike in Santo Domingo on GL is the most memorable for me. He went over the cliff and Ed held on to him for dear life, but Roger slipped anyway. And Holly's reaction when she saw him falling was classic!
ReplyDeleteReva's dive off the bridge in Florida was classic. I wanted to dive in the water with Josh to find her.
John Abbott's death just pissed me off. There was no reason to kill him off. This is one death I would like to be undone and wouldn't worry about the excuse. I'll forgive anything to get him back on Y&R.
Cassie's death on Y&R was classic. It's always bad when the children die. The only thing about it that I didn't like about it was Nick and Phyllis hooking up.
Oh, and I forgot about Bert Bauer. Even though her death was offscreen, it didn't make the hurt any less. It was like my own grandmother died.
ReplyDeleteHillary Bauer's death was my first major ugly cry over a tv show. My father just happened to be home that day and he thought something was wrong with me. LOL
I knew you'd give us the GL perspective Pam! Unfortunately I missed all of those deaths :( I wish I'd started watching GL before 1993 (when Justin Deas joined the show), because I missed some good stuff. I'll try and find the deaths you mentioned on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteAnd ITA with you about John Abbott's death on Y&R. I couldn't believe they killed him off. It was effective, but I think in the long term it was a bad decision (just like Cassie's death).
Then again, I've always said that if I wrote a soap, I'd probably never have the heart to kill anyone off, lol
Thanks for reading and commenting Pam!! :)
Megan's death and the death of Sam's baby will always be 2 of my most memorable. I would also include the death of Phoebe and Myrtle on AMC, Asa on OLTL and Lila on GH because those deaths were the result of the actors passing. For silliness, I have to add the death of Jeremy Hunter on Loving - not every day that you see a guy drown in plaster. I also liked the way they killed off Gwyn at the end - very said and such an amazing performance by Christine Tudor. Would love to see her back on television again. I would also have to say the "death" of Tina was a good one when she went over the falls. And of course the deaths of BJ and Tony on GH.
ReplyDelete-Erica's Evil Twin