Leslie Charleson, known for her role on "General Hospital,"
died Sunday morning after a long illness. She was 79.
The Daytime Emmy-nominated actress portrayed Monica
Quartermaine on the soap opera for nearly 50 years.
On January 12, 1926, the two-man comedy series “Sam ‘n’
Henry” debuted on Chicago radio station WGN. Two years
later, after changing its name to “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” the show
became one of the most popular radio programs in American
history.
Though the creators and the stars of the new radio program,
Freeman Gosden and Charles Carrell, were both white, the
characters they played were two Black men from the Deep
South who moved to Chicago to seek their fortunes.
By that time, white actors performing in dark stage makeup—
or “blackface”—had been a significant tradition in American
theater for over 100 years.
Gosden and Carrell, both vaudeville performers, were doing
a Chicago comedy act in blackface when an employee at the
Chicago Tribune suggested they create a radio show.
All in the Family is an sitcom television series that aired
on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April
8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes.
All in the Family has been ranked as one of the best TV
series. The show became the most watched show in the
U.S.during the summer reruns of the first season, and
topped the yearly Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976, the
first television series to have held the position for five
consecutive years.
1971
Sally Anne Struthers (77) was born in Portland, Oregon.
