Emily McLaughlin

Known to her generation as the "Queen of Daytime Soaps", Ms. McLaughlin's place in the history of the network soap opera cannot be overestimated. She was not only one of the founding cast members of General Hospital (1963) in 1963 (speaking the series' first line), but it was her negotiation with ABC-TV in the 1960s which won billing for actors on daytime serials for the first time. She was immensely popular with fans, and enjoyed telling the story of being with her movie actor husband, Jeffrey Hunter, only to have fans call her by her character's name ("Jessie Brewer") and not speak to him at all. Hunter's death in 1969 after just four months of marriage left her with a sense of loneliness, which was to follow her for the rest of her life. Still, she was for many years one of the biggest stars on daytime television. Though her role with the show diminished in the late 1980s, she stayed with the series until February 13, 1991, when she appeared for the last time. She died in April of t