The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

The Queen of modern soap operas is none other than Rosemont’s very own Agnes Nixon. Born on December 10, 1927, this lady’s career ranges from radio to modern day TV.

She created the soaps All My Children, One Live to Live and Loving. She was the Executive Producer or Consulting Producer for these shows for decades.

She wrote (with her assistants) most of the scripts for All My Children for two decades. She also authored the stories for other soap operas.

While at Northwestern University, she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority. After graduation, she went on the write Woman in White and As the World Turns and then became the head writer for Search for Tomorrow, Guiding Light, and Another World.

One Life to Live took place in Llanview. It was a fictional Main Line town near Philly. While Agnes Nixon wrote much of the soap operas or daytime stories, she wasn’t an actress. However, in 2008, she appeared as “Agnes” on One Live to Live during the program’s 40th anniversary. Several years later, she again appeared on the series as: Agnes Dixon (correct spelling), the creator of an axed soap opera. It was the last televised episode of One Life to Live.

After the success of One Life to Live, she created All My Children, originally a half-hour series for the show’s first seven years. None of those half-hour broadcasts are known to exist today. When ABC wanted to expand the show, Nixon’s deal was that the network start recording and archiving the programs. In 1976, the programs started be recorded and the broadcast went to a full hour the next year. Agnes, in 2005, portrayed a character on “All My Children” as Agnes Eckhardt (the name she was born with). It was the show’s 35th anniversary.

In 1983, Agnes created another “story” for ABC, Loving. This, too, was set in a Pennsylvania town called “Corinth.” That program ran until 1997. Agnes Nixon has won many awards in her lifetime. She literally changed television, as we know it.

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com