Agnes Nixon

Agnes Nixon (born Agnes Eckhardt on December 27, 1927) is a Daytime Emmy award-winning writer and producer. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Agnes Nixon, in a screenshot from All My Children. ... Agnes Nixon, in a screenshot from All My Children. ... December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (362nd in leap years). ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... A Television producer oversees the making of television penis programs. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ...

She attended Northwestern University where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority. Northwestern University is a private, coeducational, non-sectarian research university, located in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, U.S.. Northwesterns main campus is a 240-acre (970,000 m²) parcel in Evanston, along the shore of Lake Michigan. ... Alpha Chi Omega (ΑΧΩ) is a womens fraternity founded on October 15, 1885. ...

She is best known as the creator of soap operas such as One Life to Live and All My Children. Having a key role in the production of these programs, she was either executive producer or consulting producer for both shows for many years: on One Life to Live from 1968 to 1975, and All My Children from 1970 to 1981. She continued to write the program with Wisner Washam until 1983, and again with him from 1988 to 1992, continuing on as a consultant in recurring capacities until 2000. From 1970 until 1992 every episode of All My Children was written by either Agnes Nixon or her protege Wisner Washam (her role with One Life To Live was more limited once she surrendered the day-to-day aspects of the show in 1975). The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... One Life to Live is an American soap opera which has been broadcast on the ABC television network since July 15, 1968. ... All My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wisner Washam is an American soap opera writer, best known as the head writer of All My Children in the early 80s. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Wisner Washam is an American soap opera writer, best known as the head writer of All My Children in the early 80s. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Because of her long career and the number of successful shows she has created or been a part of, she is often termed the "Queen" of the modern soap opera. Her creations and her writing has had the most effect on modern audiences, second only to her mentor Phillips.

Writing legacy

Procter and Gamble

She began her career in soaps working for Irna Phillips. Phillips' other protegee around that time was William J. Bell, who also went on to become a noted writer in his own right. Irna Phillips (July 1, 1901 - December 22, 1973) wrote and created many of the first American soap operas. ... William Joseph Bell (March 6, 1927-April 29, 2005) was the creator and executive producer of the extremely successful soap operas The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful. ...

Under Phillips' tutelage, she was a writer on As the World Turns, and was head writer for Search for Tomorrow, Guiding Light and, notably, on Another World, where she created the character of Rachel, an early prototype of one of her more lasting creations, Erica Kane. As the World Turns (ATWT) is the second longest-running American television soap opera, airing each weekday on CBS. It debuted on Monday, April 2, 1956 at 1:30 in the afternoon. ... Search for Tomorrow was a soap opera which started airing on Monday, September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS, its original broadcaster, on Friday, March 26, 1982, with NBC picking it up on the following Monday, March 29, 1982. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This AW logo was used between 1987 and 1989. ... Erica Kane, from a picture first seen in All My Childrens opening credits in January 1990. ...

During her time on Guiding Light' 'Nixon is believed to have written the first medical related storyline on a soap opera. A friend of Nixon's had died from cervical cancer, and Nixon wanted to do something to educate women about getting a Pap smear. She wrote it into Guiding Light by having the lead character, Bert Bauer, encounter a cancer scare. This storyline aired in 1962; Nixon had to work around some difficulties of getting this storyline to air, as she could not make use of the words “cancer,” “uterus,” and “Pap test”. However, after this storyline the number of women who took a Pap smear surged dramatically . In 2002 she received a special Sentinel for Health "pioneer award" for her work on Guiding Light. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

When she left "Another World", she left the tutelage of Phillips (and the restrictions of sponsor Procter & Gamble) to create her own shows. Another World (AW) (sometimes called Another World: Bay City to distinguish it from its spinoffs in the 1970s and 1980s) was a Daytime Emmy-winning American soap opera which ran on the NBC television network (CTV in Canada) from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. ... Procter & Gamble Co. ...

One Life To Live

By the mid 1960s, Nixon had created the bible for what would become All My Children. ABC executives passed on the program, but asked her to create a show that would reflect a more "contemporary" tone. That creation was One Life to Live, which began airing in 1968. The show initially reflected changing social structures and attitudes. The first few years of the show were rich in issue stories and characters including Jewish characters, Polish-American families, and the first African-American leads, Carla Gray (Ellen Holly), and Ed Hall (Al Freeman, Jr.). Gray's story, for example, had her develop from a character who was passing as white to one who embodied black pride, with white and black loves along the way, to antagonize racists. The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... All My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... One Life to Live is an American soap opera which has been broadcast on the ABC television network since July 15, 1968. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Ellen Holly (born January 16, 1931) is an American actress. ... Al Freeman, Jr. ...

All My Children

With the success of One Life to Live, Nixon was given the greenlight for All My Children, which began as a half-hour soap opera in 1970. One Life to Live is an American soap opera which has been broadcast on the ABC television network since July 15, 1968. ... All My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ...

The show was successful from its beginning, combining its study of social clashes with acting talent including Ruth Warrick and Rosemary Prinz. Nixon helmed the writing team for over a decade, until 1983. Ruth Warrick as Phoebe Tyler Wallingford on All My Children An elderly Ruth Warrick in her final AMC storyline Ruth Warrick with Julia Barr with Eileen Herlie and Louis Edmonds in 1995 Phoebe toasts with Langley Phoebe in a comedic moment Phoebe in fur Phoebe the heiress with Palmer Cortlandt... Rosemary Prinz (born 1930 in New York City) was an actress in the early era of the American soap opera. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

It is on All My Children that Nixon had the most impact; her long tenure as writer helped shaped the show and its characters. She again introduced many social issues into storylines, including domestic violence, drunk driving, and daytime's first abortion by a major character, in this case Erica Kane. (In a controversial move, the storyline was undone in 2006 and Erica's fetus was revealed to have lived and implanted into a surrogate, a procedure that is medically impossible.) All My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ... Erica Kane, from a picture first seen in All My Childrens opening credits in January 1990. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

All My Children was a half-hour show for the first seven years of its run, and virtually none of those episodes exist. ABC erased the tapes of those early episodes so the tapes could be reused. When ABC went to Nixon and said that they wanted her to expand the show to an hour, one of her conditions was that the tapes of the show would be archived and preserved by the network. Episodes began to be saved in 1976, while All My Children expanded to an hour on April 25, 1977. All My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... All My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ...

Loving/The City

The other program to her credit is Loving, which she co-created with Douglas Marland. The half-hour program ran from 1983 to 1995, but despite the involvement of Nixon and Marland, never really gained a solid footing. So in 1995 the show was retooled and became "The City". While Nixon herslef did not create "The City" she remained a creative consultant for the show until it's cancellation in 1997. The soap opera Loving aired on ABC from June 27, 1983 to November 10, 1995. ... Douglas Marland (born Marland Messner, May 5, 1935 - March 6, 1993) was a writer of American soap operas, most known for his tenure as head writer for As the World Turns, which he held from 1985 until his death in 1993. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Continuing story

In 1992 ABC executives decided that the show needed new blood, and promoted Nixon's protege Megan McTavish to the position of head writer (Nixon continued to be involved with the show, but wanted to take a step back from the grueling day-to-day task of being a head writer). McTavish made some important changes by re-writing major storylines. Most notably, when the show debuted in 1970 the father of Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) had simply abandoned his wife Mona (Frances Heflin) to be with another woman. McTavish changed history so that Erica had been raped by a friend of her father and had a child, Kendall Hart (Sarah Michelle Gellar, now played by Alicia Minshew). McTavish left and returned as writer several times. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... Megan McTavish (born 1949) is an American soap opera writer, most known for her head writing stints on All My Children. ... Erica Kane, from a picture first seen in All My Childrens opening credits in January 1990. ... Susan Lucci on the cover of TV Guide (1990). ... Frances Heflin (born September 20, 1923 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — died June 1, 1994, New York City, New York) was an American actress. ... Sarah Michelle Gellar (born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. ... Alicia Minshew, in a still from an opening sequence of All My Children. ...

In 1999, McTavish was dismissed and Nixon was again asked to take over the headwriting reins at All My Children. Nixon was well aware that this would probably be her last major stint as head writer in daytime television, and wanted to leave one final legacy. As it had always been Nixon's intention that her soaps would deal with important social issues, Nixon decided to forever change the landscape of the show by having a major character come out (although the show had gay characters in the past, they had always been supporting players). In 2000, Erica's daughter Bianca Montgomery (Eden Riegel) returned to Pine Valley with a secret and for months the audience was shown her trying to keep her sexuality a secret from everyone around her. Although this was at first met with criticism, it renewed interest in the show and Eden Riegel gained a huge fan base. This storyline led to All My Children winning a casting Arios award, a GLAAD Media Award and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Best Drama Series. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Old Farts by the Sometimes-United Nations. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Eden Riegel, in a still from All My Children. ... Arius (AD 256 - 336) was an early Christian theologian, who taught that the Son of God was not eternal, and was subordinate to God the Father (a view known generally as Arianism). ... The GLAAD Media Awards were created in 1990 by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor the media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. ... The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York- based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming. ...

In 2005, Nixon appeared onscreen to celebrate the 35th anniversary of All My Children on January 5th. She played "Agnes Eckhardt" (Nixon's maiden name). The character was introduced as a longstanding board member of Pine Valley Hospital. The episode included several in-jokes about the behind the scenes running of the show. For example, while Agnes was speaking, Opal Cortlandt (Jill Larson) said "The way she's talking you would think she built the town with her own bare hands." Verla Grubbs (Carol Burnett) spoke a line of dialogue to Bianca Montgomery where she confirmed, "I've been following your story since the beginning!" (Carol Burnett admits to having been a fan of the show since it debuted in 1970). This episode was also very significant as it was the last screen appearance of original castmember Ruth Warrick before her death ten days later; Nixon appeared at an onscreen memorial service for Warrick's character Phoebe in May 2005. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jill Larson (born October 7, 1947) is an American soap opera actress. ... Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is one of the most successful female comediennes on American television, thanks largely to her eponymous variety show that ran on CBS from 1967 through 1978. ... Ruth Warrick as Phoebe Tyler Wallingford on All My Children An elderly Ruth Warrick in her final AMC storyline Ruth Warrick with Julia Barr with Eileen Herlie and Louis Edmonds in 1995 Phoebe toasts with Langley Phoebe in a comedic moment Phoebe in fur Phoebe the heiress with Palmer Cortlandt... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Nixon is still highly involved in All My Children. She sits around the writing table with the current writing team (headed by none other than Megan McTavish). In 2003 she appeared in an episode of A&E Biography about All My Children. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Biography is a documentary television program. ...

Awards and recognition

• She was inducted into the Soap Opera Hall of Fame at a Planet Hollywood restaurant in 1994.
• She received the Trustees Award for Continued Excellence from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1981.
• At one point, Nixon raised eyebrows and caused a great deal of upset in the writer's circle by her adamant refusal to join the Writers Guild of America. As the executive producers of her shows she feared that a writer's strike would force her to stop her writing activities, but still be required to produce the show. In spite of this, she has won five Writers Guild of America Awards for Best Written Daytime Serial.

1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences or NATAS is branch of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences based in New York City. ... The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the collective bargaining representative, or labor union, for writers in the motion picture and television industries in the United States. ... Irna Phillips (July 1, 1901 - December 22, 1973) wrote and created many of the first American soap operas. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... Another World (AW) (sometimes called Another World: Bay City to distinguish it from its spinoffs in the 1970s and 1980s) was a Daytime Emmy-winning American soap opera which ran on the NBC television network (CTV in Canada) from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. ... One Life to Live is an American soap opera which has been broadcast on the ABC television network since July 15, 1968. ... Gordon Russell (August 15, 1929-January 19, 1981) was a television soap-opera writer known for his works on Dark Shadows beginning in 1967, who would make an appearance on the final episode of Dark Shadows on April 2, 1971. ... All My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ... Wisner Washam is an American soap opera writer, best known as the head writer of All My Children in the early 80s. ... Douglas Marland (born Marland Messner, May 5, 1935 - March 6, 1993) was a writer of American soap operas, most known for his tenure as head writer for As the World Turns, which he held from 1985 until his death in 1993. ... Loving can refer to Loving (novel), a 1945 novel by Henry Green. ... Millee Taggart is an American actress, best known for her long-running role as Janet Bergman Walton Collins on Search for Tomorrow. ... Wisner Washam is an American soap opera writer, best known as the head writer of All My Children in the early 80s. ... All My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ... Megan McTavish (born 1949) is an American soap opera writer, most known for her head writing stints on All My Children. ... Megan McTavish (born 1949) is an American soap opera writer, most known for her head writing stints on All My Children. ... All My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ... Jean Passanante is an American television writer best known for her work in daytime soap operas. ...

External links

• Agnes Nixon at the Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, video games and production crew personnel. ...

Sources

• Museum of TV article about Nixon