There’s nowhere like daytime to hone your thespian craft, as these A-list actors’ careers prove. Did you know these four were one soap stars?
Soap Springboard
Many household acting and music names can claim their career beginnings on soaps. There are too many to include each one here, so we’ll focus on four: Alec Baldwin, Julianne Moore, Lori Loughlin and John Stamos. Three of the soaps that featured these talents–The Doctors, As the World Turns and The Edge of Night–are gone but definitely not forgotten, and one, General Hospital, is still very much on the air. We at Soap Cities took a journey back to when these luminaries were burning up the screen in the afternoon!
Quadruple Threat!
A soap, movies, primetime and the Broadway stage, Alec Baldwin’s done it all and put his own unique stamp on his broad body of work. His first foray into the public eye was on NBC’s classic soap, The Doctors, in the role of Billy Aldrich. He played Billy from 1980-82. (Ironically, it made its debut on April 1, the very same day as another soap called General Hospital!)
Unfortunately, Billy met his demise the same year the show met its end. However, Baldwin’s star rose, and he went on to win Golden Globe and Emmy Awards for his performance in the hit series, 30 Rock. It’s been reported that he will be among the cast of the 2018 live television production of A Few Good Men next year. He will portray Col. Nathan Jessup, whom Jack Nicholson played in the 1992 film. We know that he’s more than up to the task!
Moore, Please!
Baldwin’s co-star in the dramatic movie, Still Alice (for which she won the coveted Oscar for Best Actress in 2015), is none other than Julianne Moore, another soap vet who hasn’t done so badly herself since her turn as Frannie Hughes (and also played her half-sister, Sabrina) on As the World Turns from 1985–1988. Moore even returned to her soap roots to play the role for a brief appearance in 2010 – the year the show went off the air – for her screen father and stepmother’s wedding anniversary, delighting fans. The role rewarded Moore with a Daytime Emmy in 1988 for Outstanding Ingénue in a Drama Series, a precursor for awards to come. She has also, in addition to that and the Oscar, garnered a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe, among others. Moore has also appeared on Broadway.
However, she has never forgotten her soap roots. She said in part, on the TV show The View in 2009 on the soap’s cancellation, “It’s really upsetting. I loved that show and loved the people on it.” Humble and grateful words from a world renowned actress giving a heartfelt shout out to her soap!
Soap Stars to Co-Stars!
Two stars who ended up starring opposite one another on a popular primetime television show–and its reboot–got their start on soaps. Who are they? Why, Lori Loughlin (ex-Jody, The Edge of Night) and John Stamos (ex-Blackie Parish, General Hospital). The primetime show, of course, was Full House and the rebooted Fuller House, where they reprised their roles as husband and wife Becky and Jesse Katsopolis. But, back to their soap days. Loughlin, then a teenager, played her EON role from 1980-83; Stamos, his GH role from 1983-84. Both have gone on to notable careers encompassing film, stage, and screen. Stamos, an accomplished drummer, even sits in with the Beach Boys on occasion!
Check back with Soap Cities for more on A-listers who got their start in daytime!
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