10 Stars Who Appeared on ‘One Life to Live,’ Which Ended 10 Years Ago
Going from the fictional town of Llanview to the stranger-than-fiction town of Hollywood, many TV stars got their start on One Life to Live, an ABC daytime drama that ended its linear run 10 years ago, on January 13, 2012.
One Life to Live aired more than 11,000 episodes over 44 seasons—if you don’t count the ill-fated online revival—making the show one of America’s longest-running soap operas. And as you’ll see in the gallery below, big names in showbiz owe the soap a debt of gratitude. Here are some of Llanview’s most notable former residents…
Marcia Cross
Cross, better known for her Melrose Place and Desperate Housewives roles, played archaeologist Kate Sanders on One Life to Live between 1986 and 1988.
Nathan Fillion
The lead of The Rookie played a teen version of photographer-turned-clergyman Joey Buchanan between 1994 and 1997, then returned to the part in 2007.
Laurence Fishburne
This star of The Matrix and Black-ish wasn’t even a teenager when he started playing troubled youth Josh Hall, a role he kept from 1973 to 1976.
Renée Elise Goldsberry
Tommy Lee Jones
This actor of Men in Black and The Fugitive fame spent the first half of the 1970s appearing on One Life to Live, playing Dr. Mark Toland.
Judith Light
Long before her days on Ugly Betty and Transparent, Light starred on OLTL as housewife Karen Wolek from 1977 to 1983, ultimately leaving the show for her famous role in Who’s the Boss?
Hayden Panettiere
Ryan Phillippe
The ’90s heartthrob, now starring on MacGruber, appeared on OLTL from 1992 to 1993, playing groundbreaking gay character Billy Douglas on the soap.
Tika Sumpter
This star of Mixed-ish and The Haves and the Have Nots appeared on the show from 2006 to 2011, playing fashionista and actress Layla Williamson.
Blair Underwood
From 1985 to 1986—just before he hit it big on L.A. Law—Underwood portrayed Bobby Blue on One Life to Live.
Melissa Archer
Kassie Wesley DePaiva
Josh Kelly
Florencia Lozano
Kelley Missal
Erika Slezak
Andrew Trischitta
Jerry ver Dorn
Robert S. Woods
Tuc Watkins
Robert Gorrie
Robin Strasser
Hillary B. Smith
Christine Ebersole
Brynn Thayer
Gerald Anthony
Judith Light
Michael Storm
Jennifer Harmon
Farley Granger
Shepperd Strudwick
Thom Christopher
Tonja Walker
Jessica Tuck
Anthony Call
Al Freeman
Uta Hagen
Scott Clifton
Brian Kerwin
Heather Tom
Renee Elise Goldsberry
Dan Gauthier
Ilene Kristen
Linda Dano
Timothy Gibbs
Erin Torpey
Nathan Fillion
David A. Gregory
Barret Helms
Roger Howarth
Ted King
John-Paul Lavoisier
Mark Lawson
Lenny Platt
Sean Ringgold
Nic Robuck
Gina Tognoni
Nafessa Williams
Kamar de los Reyes
Jason Tam
Forbes March
Brandon Buddy
John Brotherton
BethAnn Bonner
Kathy Brier
David Chisum
Catherine Hickland
Timothy D. Stickney
Tika Sumpter
Tobias Truvillion
Brittany Underwood
Andrea Evans
Susan Haskell
Eddie Alderson
Kristen Alderson
Trevor St. John
Bree Williamson
Terri Conn
Tom Degnan
Michael Easton
Shenell Edmonds
Farah Fath
David Fumero
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Geez, I miss OLTL. all these years later. Never should've been cancelled, especially not for a show called The Revolution.
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Tommy Lee Jones played Mark Toland, not Mark Boland.
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You should have mentioned CASTLE for Nathan Fillion. Please bring back OLTL! It's my favorite soap.
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Thank you I remember all of them
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I hear abc is talking about another try at a spin-off of GH. I'd rather see a return of AMC & OLTL, which were higher rates than GH when cancelled. But abc didn't want to make soaps anymore & gave Katie Couric the studio where these soaps were taped! There was never nor probably never will be a more innovative soap (unless you want to count Dark Shadows) than OLTL. ABC, do the right thing & bring back OLTL & AMC. I'll bet you won't regret it!!
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I agree!!! AMC and OLTL were beating the pants off of GH in the ratings at that time, and rightly so! I don't know how GH has been the one to survive. Never thought it was a good show, and my mom and I watched them all before settling on what we decided to watch daily, on all 3 major networks then! I've never understood how "Bold and the Beautiful" has stayed on, either. I know tons of people, plus my own family. I don't know ANYBODY that watches, ever watched, or even thinks about watching that show. Go figure.
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That was a bittersweet flashback for me. I loved that show. I had no idea all of those people were in it. I know some were children at the time. Now I am trying to remember any if I can🙂.
I was a viewer for many years, but there were some stretches of years that I missed.
That was a very good article.
I miss OLTL.
The soap operas are hanging in there.
Some do it better than others,
(obviously) 🤭🙂. A good daytime continuing story is hard to beat.
I would so enjoy if some network would pick up and air these old stories. Several years back one tried, I was all for it ; then things changed the network changed format and name. I was disappointed.
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Micheal B Jordan
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He was on All My Children. Jack raised him as Reggie.
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Which made him Erica Kane's stepson.
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O
He was on All My Children
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You missed Brian Cranston
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I thought that Brian Cranston was on Loving but I could be mistaken.
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You are correct. He was Doug Donovan on Loving.
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Morgan Freeman.
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From Another World, another soap cancelled at the peak of ITS popularity by idiots at NBC Daytime. Same folks whose poor decisions for directors and writers have ruined Days Of Our Lives and of which the show has yet to make a recovery, a fan comeback.
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O
Renee Elise Goldsberry started on OLTL in 2003, not 1999 as the article states.
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ABC made one of the biggest mistakes EVER in Daytime TV when they pulled AMC, a most beloved soap, and OLTL, their other fabulous soap running THE BEST STORYLINES it had ever had, in favor of "trendy, new programming" that was going to attract a "newer, younger, greater demographics" of viewers. What a laugh. It was "The Chew" and some other stupid crap that was lucky to last a season or so. Yet, here we are, more than a decade later, with AMC and OLTL fans STILL loyal and STILL VERY PISSED at ABC. Those two shows built longevity and history and connection to and with millions of view by coming into our homes via TV DAILY. And guess what, ABC? It was NOT just little old ladies watching those "outdated soaps." Fans and viewers reached across GENERATIONS, from grandparents to kids who were watching. Note every time there's something out there saying that there will be some sort of a revival or prime time version of these shows, the loyal, longing, hopeful fans/viewers go wild at the thought!!! I watched OLTL when all the people in this article were cast members. Yes, that is the caliber of all the cast, for the most part. These 10 just got offered outside roles that catapulted them further in the entertainment industry. Brynn Thayer left to co-star with Andy Griffith in Matlock. And there were others. Ryan Phillipe was heartbreaking and so realistic as a young and struggling gay teen and Judith Light as the disgraced doctor's prostitute wife: among the best scenes ever.
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What about Melissa Fumero from Brooklyn Nine-Nine? She played Adriana Cramer on OLTL.
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In addition to this great, good list, we also have Bree Williams, Susan Haskell and Brittany Underwood that star in many Lifetime Movies and other featured roles in several Hollywood movies. Jessica Tuck has also gone on to guest starring on numerous TV shows and series and Hollywood roles. And let's not forget Yasmine Bleeth, the beautiful, successful actress on all "stages" of the acting world: TV screen, silver screen and stage.