In 1985, General Hospital‘s Tania Roscov Jones (Hilary Edson) and her husband, Tony Jones (Brad Maule), surprised each other with good news. Tony shared with Tania that he had been offered a permanent position as a physician at General Hospital, while Tania revealed that she was pregnant. Tania would go on to give birth to a daughter, who was named Barbara Jean after Bobbie Spencer and nicknamed BJ. Tania was tragically killed in a hit-and-run early in BJ’s life, but Tony wound up getting married to Bobbie, who adopted the little girl. The precious child was sadly killed herself, when a school bus crash left her brain-dead. However, her heart was transplanted into her cousin, Maxie Jones, who was gravely ill from Kawasaki syndrome.
In 1990, Patsy Pease (pictured with Charles Shaughnessy as Shane Donovan) ended her original, six-year run as Kimberly Brady Donovan on Days of Our Lives. Anne Howard was ultimately tapped as a recast for the character until Pease returned to DAYS in 1992. The actress opened up about the personal turmoil that led to her exit in a 1992 cover story with Soap Opera Digest, revealing that she had had a psychotic break as the result of childhood trauma. On set one day, Pease recounted, “I was in makeup having my hair done for the show. They had asked me to put paper around my face, so they could spray my hair. And I had a flashback.” Ultimately, she left the show to seek treatment, noting, “It was up to me to go find a safe professional environment to deal with [this].”
In 2004, Linda Dano ended her One Life to Live run as Gretel “Rae” Cummings. The actress had originally appeared on the show from 1978-80 before beginning her Daytime Emmy-winning stint on Another World, where she played Felicia Gallant from 1983-99, when AW went off the air. She was signed to an innovative contract with ABC after AW’s cancellation, which saw her appearing as Rae on All My Children, General Hospital, Port Charles and OLTL beginning in 2000. Dano confirmed her departure in a statement, saying, “I will not be at ABC after my contract expires in June.” A spokesperson for ABC Daytime commented, “Linda Dano is an extraordinary actress whose contributions to the industry are unrivaled,” the network stated. “Storyline dictates her departure from the ABC Daytime lineup in early 2004. We wish her the very best in all of her future endeavors.”
In 2012 on General Hospital, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) was about to leave the courtroom after his arraignment — he’d been arrested for causing the car accident that killed Cole and Hope Thornhart — when he was confronted by Todd Manning (Roger Howarth), Hope’s grieving grandfather. When Todd identified himself, Sonny told him that he didn’t kill Cole and Hope. “My daughter, Starr, says that you did,” Todd retorted. He ranted that Sonny was used to not being held accountable for his actions and said that was about to change. He brandished a gun and pointed it at Sonny.
Photo credit: ABC/Rick Rowell
In 2014, Chloe Mitchell (Elizabeth Hendrickson) remarried Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart) on Young and Restless. Chloe had been arrested for kidnapping Connor Newman, and was in danger of being sent to a mental institution. Impulsively, Kevin said, “Please, Chloe? Will you be my lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold and for me to take legal responsibility of you. For better or worse, but mostly so you don’t have to go to Fairview. Please say you will.” After some coaxing, Chloe agreed, a judge was summoned, and the couple swapped vows in front of Kevin’s brother, Michael Baldwin, and Michael’s wife, Lauren Fenmore Baldwin.
Photo credit: JOHN PASCHAL/JPI
