The Guiding Light (GL) (known since 1975 as Guiding Light) is a long-running American television soap opera. In the 1960s, it became the first daytime television series to discuss contemporary social issues, starting in 1961 with a storyline about uterine cancer. __TOC__

Show development As part of her "relevance" campaign, Agnes Nixon wanted to see social issues worked into the plot, and set the tone for much of the material used during the 1960s. One story, which involved Bert's battle with uterine cancer gave many female viewers the incentive to see their gynecologists.

In 1965, Nixon became the headwriter of NBC's Another World, at the behest of her mentor, Irna Phillips, who created both GL and AW, but remained at GL for another year.

On March 13, 1967, the show was first broadcast in color. On September 9, 1968, the show expanded from 15 to 30 minutes as did CBS' then other 15 minute daytime drama, Search for Tomorrow. Following the industry trend, the show also switched from broadcasting live to pre-taping in 1968.

Major characters

The Bauers Papa Bauer (Theo Goetz until end of decade)

Meta Bauer Banning (Ellen Demming until June 16, 1966 and December 25, 1967 to January 2, 1968 and July 22, 1969 to end of decade)

Bill Bauer (Ed Bryce until September 28, 1962, and then February 23, 1965 until July 16, 1969; Eugene H. Smith, October 19, 1964 to January 27, 1965), character presumed deceased.

Bert Bauer (Charita Bauer until end of decade)

Mike Bauer (Michael Allen until October 2, 1961; Paul Prokop, December 22, 1961 to March 13, 1963; Gary Francis Pillar (later Carpenter), March 27, 1963 to October 1, 1965, Pilar also appeared on Another World as Mike Bauer from February 7, 1966, to February 2, 1967; Robert Pickering, April 18, 1968, to November 29, 1968; Don Stewart, December 11, 1968, until end of decade), character SORASed.

Dr. William Edward "Ed" Bauer Jr. (Pat Collins until June 15, 1960; Donald Briscoe, November 16, 1965 to November 30, 1965; Robert Gentry, December 17, 1965, to May 30, 1969; Mart Hulswit, June 06, 1969, until end of decade), character SORASed.

Dr. Bruce Banning (Lester "Les" Damon until October 14, 1960; Barnard Hughes, November 21, 1960 to June 13, 1966; Sydney Walker, November 26, 1969 to end of decade)

Julie Conrad Bauer (Sandra Smith, December 14, 1961 to March 31, 1965), Mike's first legal wife, character committed suicide, off-camera, in January 1966.)

Hope Bauer (Jennifer Kirschner, October 2, 1963, to October 5, 1965; Elisa Leeds played Hope on Another World from March 25, 1966, to June 30, 1966, and then again from August 16, 1968 until end of decade; Paula Schwartz, March 18, 1968 to July 5, 1968), Mike and Julie's daughter, character born on screen on October 2, 1963.

Leslie Jackson Bauer (Lynne Adams, March 16, 1966 until end of decade), Ed's first wife.

The Fletchers, Benedicts and Scotts Dr. Paul Fletcher (Bernard Grant until end of decade)

Anne Benedict Fletcher (Joan Gray until October 19, 1961; Elizabeth Hubbard, November 8, 1961 to October 23, 1962), Paul's first wife, character killed off.

Henry Benedict (John Boruff, June 14, 1961 to December 29, 1965; Lester Rawlins, May 26, 1966 to June 14, 1966; Paul McGrath, March 23 to April 20, 1967), Anne's father, character written out.

Helene Benedict (Kay Campbell, June 12, 1961 to November 25, 1964), Anne's mother, character killed off, off-screen in July 1965.

Dr. John "Johnny" Fletcher (Sheldon Golomb, December 25, 1962 to June 25, 1963; Donald Melvin, August 8, 1963 to September 18, 1964; Daniel Fortas, May 21, 1965, to June 18, 1965; Don Scardino, October 7, 1965 to June 5, 1967; Erik Howell, June 12, 1967 until end of decade), Paul and Anne's SORASed son.

Jane Fletcher Hayes (Pamela King, April 6, 1962 to May 14, 1963; Hilda Brawner, June 3, 1963 to October 1, 1963; Chase Crosley, October 8, 1963 to February 5, 1968), Paul's younger half-sister; character written out.

Robin Lang Holden Bowden Fletcher (Judy Robinson until October 19, 1960; Abigail Kellogg, October 31, 1960 to October 1961; Nancy Malone, October 1961 to May 30, 1963; Ellen Weston, July 24, 1963 to July 3, 1964; Gillian Spencer, July 27, 1964, to October 4, 1967), was married and her marriage annulled to Mike Bauer in 1961. In 1964, Robin became Paul Fletcher's second wife. The character was killed off in 1967.

Margaret "Maggie" Scott (June Graham, March 10, 1965, to March 22, 1968), Bill's secretary, character killed off.

Benjamin "Ben" Scott (Bernard Kates, June 2, 1965 to May 16, 1967), Maggie's husband, character killed off.

Peggy Scott Dillman Fletcher (Fran Myers, May 12, 1965 until end of decade), Johnny's wife, her second marriage, Maggie and Ben's daughter.

George Hayes (Phillip Sterling, February 28, 1961 to June 26, 1968), Jane's husband, character written out.

Other characters Dr. Richard "Dick" Grant Jr. (James Lipton until December 26, 1961), character written out. Marie Wallace Grant (Lynne Rogers until December 27, 1961), character written out. Mark Holden (Whitfield Connor until July 15, 1960), character written out. Ruth Jannings Holden (Virginia Dwyer until July 12, 1960), character written out. Karl Jannings (Richard Morse until July 6, 1960), character killed off. Joe Turino (Joseph Campanella until May 18, 1961), character written out. Amy Sinclair (in this decade: Connie Lembcke, July 21, 1960 to April 24, 1961), character written out. Phillip Collins Grant (Carson Woods, September 21, 1960 to September 22, 1961), character written out. Alexander "Alex" Bowden (Ernest Graves, November 9, 1960 to December 24, 1965), Robin's first legal husband and father of 1979 – 1981 character Carter Bowden, character written out. Lt. Carl Wyatt (Gerald Stuart O'Loughlin Jr., July 21, 1960 to February 26, 1963), Los Angeles police lieutenant, investigated Joe Turino's illegal activities and the accidental shooting death of Anne Benedict Fletcher, ceased appearing. Andrew Murray (Dana Elcar, January 1962 to February 26, 1963), replaced Richard Hanley as District Attorney of Los Angeles County, ceased appearing. Doris Crandall (Barbara Becker, March 6, 1961 to June 14, 1963), Alex's first wife and mother of 1979 – 1981 character Carter Bowden, character written out. Dr. Peter Nelson (Gene Rupert, October 24, 1962 – April 3, 1964), briefly dated and romanced Jane Fletcher before she married George Hayes, ceased appearing. Jason Weber (Marc O'Daniels, March 17 to October 15, 1965), dated Maggie Scott, character killed off in a car accident. Dr. Stephen Jackson (Stefan Schnabel, April 21, 1966 until end of decade), Leslie's father. Dr. James "Jim" Frazier (Billy Dee Williams, January 11 to September 9, 1966; James Earl Jones, October 5 to December 26, 1966), character written out. Martha Frazier (Cicely Tyson, July 28, 1966 to February 16, 1967; Ruby Dee, March 6 to September 26, 1967; Frances Foster, October 11, 1967 to February 13, 1968), Jim's wife, character written out. Dr. Joseph "Joe" Werner (Ben Hayes, May 16, 1966 to September 11, 1967; Ed Zimmerman, October 31, 1967, until end of decade) Jack Haskell (Paul Larson, May 5, 1966 to July 19, 1966), worked for the New York City office of the advertising agency, Carson & Associates, that Bill Bauer worked for in Springfield, acted as Bill's conscious when he visited Bill, ceased appearing. Dr. Sara McIntyre (Patricia Roe, March 15, 1967, until June 18, 1968; Jill Andre, July 19, 1968, to January 27, 1969; Millette Alexander, January 30, 1969, until end of decade) Charlotte Waring AKA Tracey Delmar (Victoria Wyndham, October 30, 1967, to end of decade; Felice Camargo, temporary replacement/body double, June 05, 1969 to June 12, 1969, 1969) Nurse Marion McHenry (Marion June Lauer Beniades, July 19, 1967 until end of decade) Martin "Marty" Dillman (Robert Lawson, January 11 to February 2, 1968; Christopher Wines, February 8 to December 16, 1968), Peggy Scott's first husband, character murdered by Flip Malone Cindy Gardner Brown (Darby Simpson, June 5, 1968 to December 26, 1968), a young widowed patient at Cedars treated by Dr. Joe Werner, who Joe had a brief affair with, written out. Flip Malone (Paul Carpinelli, February 5, 1968 to June 13, 1969), went to prison for murdering Marty Dillman. Claudia Dillman (Grace Matthews, January 18, 1968 to June 04, 1969), Marty's mother. Dr. Gavin Hamilton (Paul McGrath, September 13, 1968 to November 01, 1968), cardiologist involved in Bill Bauer's heart transplant, ceased appearing. Lee Gantry (Ray Fulmer, July 08, 1969 until end of decade), Sara McIntyre's first husband. Alice Rawlings, character talked about but not seen, killed off-camera by her husband Lee Gantry. Miss Mildred Foss (Jan Sterling Douglas, November 21, 1969 until end of decade), Lee Gantry's housekeeper. Margaret "Margie" Wexler (Margie Impert, October 22, 1969 to December 1969), character committed suicide. Peter Wexler (Leon Russom, February 20, 1969 to April 17, 1969; Michael Durrell, April 25, 1969 to end of decade), attorney working with Mike Bauer, Margie's husband. Lt. Pete Stassen (Karl Mitchell Light, December 16, 1968 to March 21, 1969), Springfield police lieutenant, ceased appearing. Lt. Wally Campbell (Alexander "Alex" Courtney, December 03, 1968 to January 08, 1969; Jack Ryland, January 14, 1969 to June 04, 1969;), Springfield police lieutenant, written out. Sgt. DeMarco (Michael Theodore Mikler, December 03, 1968 to December 18, 1968), Springfield police sergeant, written out. Ira Newton (Sorrell Booke, February 12, 1969 to June 05, 1969), District Attorney. Judge Evan Kruger (Hansford Rowe, May 09, 1969 to June 04, 1969), presided over the case of the state vs. Peggy Scott Dillman for the murder of Marty Dillman, ceased appearing. Judy Stassen (Ruth Manning, December 30, 1968 to February 11, 1969), Lt. Pete Stassen's wife and former love interest of Dr. Joe Werner, ceased appearing. Deborah (Olivia Cole, April 30, 1969 until end of decade) originally appeared with no last name. Tyler Meade (Paul Collins, September 16, 1969 until end of decade) Tom Halverson (Chris Sarandon, September 16, 1969 until end of decade) Janet Mason (Caroline McWilliams, April 30, 1969, until end of decade) Colonel Grove Mason (Vince O'Brien, June 09, 1969 until end of decade), the father of Janet. Ellen Mason (Jeanne Arnold, June 09, 1969 until end of decade), the mother of Janet and the wife of Grove. Dusty McGuire (James Donnelly, June 27, 1969 until end of decade)

Plot development Later in the decade, in 1966–1967, The Guiding Light was also the first show to regularly feature African American characters, Dr. Jim Frazier and his wife nurse Martha Frazier (played first by Billy Dee Williams and Cicely Tyson and then by James Earl Jones and Ruby Dee).

Meta Roberts marries Bruce Banning at the beginning of the decade, while the show focuses on Bill and Bert's children, Mike and Ed, in the mid-1960s. Robin Lang Holden is also a popular character during this time. By winter 1960, Mike and Robin, both seniors in high school, become closer romantically. Robin's stepbrother, Karl Jannings, also a senior, has feelings for her, but Robin's heart is set on Mike. Mike proposes to Robin in the spring of 1960, and they elope in May, much to the disapproval of their families. Karl finds out and gets into fights with Mike, escalating into a tragedy on July 4 when a drunken Karl falls and lands on his head, causing him to go into a coma. Mike is arrested but eventually acquitted of attempted murder. He feels guilty and leaves for New York City to attend Columbia University in January 1961. Meanwhile, Robin marries art dealer Alex Bowden in November 1960, but they later divorce after losing their child in a miscarriage.