Irna Phillips (July 1, 1901 - December 22, 1973) wrote and created many of the first American soap operas. She is considered by many to be the mother of the genre, influencing modern matriarchs of the craft, like Agnes Nixon.

Phillips got her start in show business doing voice over and acting work for WGN radio in Chicago, her hometown. She started writing radio serials for WGN, which quickly spread across the country. Her most famous radio shows were Today's Children , The Brighter Day, and The Guiding Light.

She is best known for creating soap operas for television, like Guiding Light (1937-1955 on radio, and 1952-present on television), The Brighter Day (1948-1956 on radio and 1954-1962 on television), As the World Turns (1956-present), and Another World (1964-1999).

She also created Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967-1973), the short-lived Our Private World (1965), the radio version of Young Dr. Malone , and Days of Our Lives (1965-present). Irna was creative consultant of Peyton Place (1964-1969).

She is recognized as one of the most important pioneers in television history, and as the originator of the daytime TV drama (i.e. television soap opera). She was also the mentor to Agnes Nixon, the creator of All My Children and One Life to Live, and William J. Bell , the creator of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.

Her temperament

Rumors abound that Phillips was very hard to work with. Irna was quoted as calling up her serial, As the World Turns, after an episode had aired that she did not particularly like. The receptionist answered the phone: "As the World Turns." Irna responded, "Not today it didn't!" and hung up the receiver. She has also been rumored to have driven some of her stars, like Rosemary Prinz, to nervous breakdowns.

She left Love is a Many Splendored Thing abruptly when CBS censors refused to fully tell a love story involving an Amerasian woman and a white man. It was at this time that As the World Turns asked her to come back to write for them. The show, which had faltered in the ratings slightly, needed a boost to make sure that it could keep the #1 slot.

The ratings went back up, but over time, the stories failed to compete with rival soap Another World (which was created by Phillips), and in November 1971, As the World Turns fell out of first place for the first time since 1959. Irna introduced a number of characters to the show and integrated them with the core Hughes family. However, ATWT was now in competition with both Another World and General Hospital for the top slot, and Procter and Gamble, the show's sponsor, made it clear that Irna's days would be numbered if she did not succeed in driving the show's ratings up again. Angry, Irna wrote a key character out of the show, having her die due to a ruptured spleen as a result of falling up the stairs. P&G did not like the choices Irna was making with the serial, and fired her in early 1973. She retired from soaps completely and died later that year.

External link

• IMDb article

• http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/P/htmlP/phillipsirn/phillipsirn.htm