‘Loving’ Turns 40: 10 Famous Cast Members From the Soap Opera
After Agnes Nixon created One Life to Live and All My Children, she and Douglas Marland collaborated to create another daytime soap opera for ABC, a half-hour drama titled Loving, which premiered 40 years ago, on June 26, 1983.
There was plenty of Loving to go around the fictional town of Corinth — between the Aldens, the Forbeses, and the Donovans, for starters — but viewers and critics didn’t share the love. Loving was the lowest-rated network soap during most of its run, according to The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television, and it eventually became known as “The Little Show That Couldn’t,” per the Los Angeles Times.
ABC canceled the show in 1995, and the writers ended Loving with a serial killer plot that killed off half the cast of characters. The survivors of that bloodbath decamped to a Morgan Fairchild-led, NYC-set spinoff called The City, but even that show ended after two seasons.
On the bright side, Loving advanced the careers of TV stars and not just daytime faves like Genie Francis, Debbi Morgan, Laura Wright, Amelia Heinle, and Roger Howarth. Scroll down to see ten other TV stars who have Loving in their filmographies.
Julie Bowen
More than a decade ahead of her Modern Family fame, Bowen played a character named Steffy on Loving in 1992, and a clip of her appearance is on YouTube.
Bryan Cranston
A New York Times review of Loving describes Cranston’s character, Douglas Donovan, as the “boy next door who is a model of innocent goodness,” a far cry from the actor’s career-defining role as Breaking Bad’s Walter White.
Edie Falco
Before her Emmy-winning run on Nurse Jackie — and a few years before The Sopranos, even — Falco played another nurse, Nurse Becker, on Loving.
Daisy Fuentes
Now a model, an entrepreneur, and a former MTV VJ, Fuentes joined Loving in 1992 as a character named Tess (not to be confused with Catherine Hickland’s Tess Wilder, who popped up the following year).
Meta Golding
Before her roles in film’s Hunger Games series and TV’s Rabbit Hole, Golding played Briana Hawkins on Loving in 1995.
Elizabeth Mitchell
Mitchell, an alum of Lost, the V reboot, and Revolution, replaced Jessica Collins in the role of Dinah Lee Mayberry on Loving in 1994.
Luke Perry
Perry, the late Beverly Hills, 90210, and Riverdale actor, landed his first named screen role when he started playing Ned Bates on Loving in 1987.
Teri Polo
Long before her starring roles in the Meet the Parents film trilogy and the TV series The Fosters, Polo played Kirsten Larsen on Loving in 1986.
John Schneider
Between his longtime jobs on The Dukes of Hazzard and Smallville, Schneider played Larry Lamont on Loving in 1992.
Isaiah Washington
Even before he scrubbed in for Grey’s Anatomy, Washington was a TV doctor: He played Dr. Ron Turner on Loving in 1992.
Nancy Addison-Altman
Alimi Ballard
Noelle Beck
Philip Brown
Geoffrey C. Ewing
Meta Golding
Amelia Heinle
Catherine Hickland
Jean LeClerc
Randolph Mantooth
Elizabeth Mitchell
Debbi Morgan
Corey Page
Lisa Peluso
Nada Rowand
Maggie Rush
Carina Finn
Paul Anthony Stewart
Lauren-Marie Taylor
Christine L. Tudor
Robert Tyler
Michael Weatherly
Laura Wright
Bernie Barrow
James Carroll
⨁Full Cast & CrewConversation5 Comments
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K
You forgot Randy Mantooth (Emergency!). I think his character was named Clay. (I'm not a soap opera fan, but I do like Randy.)
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C
He played Alex Masters
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C
I remember Randy on there too, he was also on GH & a couple other Soaps!! Loved him on Emergency!!
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O
This is, to be sure, a matter of arguing nuanced semantics, however, it's hard for me to accept the accuracy of the phrase "Loving Turns 40" when Loving, in fact, never made it past the age of 12. 😝 It would be far more appropriate to call this "the 40th anniversary of Loving's premiere," or something like that. But then, it is a lot harder to fit that precise meaning into a small number of succinct words - such as your original title's three.
Nevertheless, thanks for this article! I don't remember several of these actors/actresses ever being on the show, as their stints most likely took place before I ever started watching it - such as Bryan Cranston and Roger Howarth, to name the two best-looking men (IMO). 😁 I also enjoyed Randolph Mantooth on the show - thanks to fellow commenter Kelle for pointing out his omission. And speaking of omissions, did you not also forget Michael Weatherly of NCIS fame, who (if I'm not mistaken about his character name) played Clay Alden for a few years on the show in the early '90s? I believe he was also married in real life for a short time to Amelia Heinle - a much less famous soap actress who, nevertheless, unfathomably beat Weatherly out for a mention here. Mind-boggling.
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C
did the blonde Eddie on blue bloods act on suits with meghan markle??