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Agnes Nixon, the creator of classic soap operas such as One Life to Live and All My Children, has passed away at the age of 88, Deadline reports.
In addition to creating some of the longest-running soaps in TV history, Nixon worked as a writer for As the World Turns and Guiding Light.
Born in 1927, Nixon got her start writing for soaps after graduating from Northwestern University. She began her career working for Irna Phillips, the creator of several radio and TV soaps, including Guiding Light, As The World Turns, and Another World.
From there, Nixon became head writer for Search for Tomorrow, Guiding Light, and Another World. During her time as head writer in the 1960s, she broke ground for women, writing about pap smears and cervical cancer at a time when such issues were not discussed on television.
In 1968, she created One Life to Live, which ran on ABC until 2012. The show is credited as one of the first daytime dramas to feature diverse characters with real, socioeconomic concerns. Two years later, Nixon created All My Children.
The soap was set in a fictional suburb of Philadelphia and featured a broad array of characters, including the popular Erica Kane played by Susan Lucci. All My Children ran for 41 years on ABC before ending in 2011. Nixon was a lead writer and executive producer for many of those years.
In the ’80s and ’90s, Nixon created two more, short-lived soaps—Loving and The City.
What do you think? Are you a fan of Nixon’s work? What’s your favorite soap opera that she worked on?
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