Lynda Hirsch on Soaps

In the mid 1980s, I received a press release from "As the World Turns." The show was trumpeting that the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston and the niece of Dionne Warwick was going to appear on the show. Who was she? I thought. In fact, many people that were on "As the World Turns" thought the same thing. Who she was was Whitney Houston.

Houston and Jermaine Jackson sang at the high school prom. The prom queen was played by Marisa Tomei, and her date was played by Christian LeBlanc (presently Michael on "Young and Restless"). LeBlanc remembers that the show was very technical that day because it was a big scene. He also relayed to Soap Opera Digest that he was thrilled that Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine was going to be on the show, as he was an avid fan of the Jackson 5. Then he heard Houston sing. He said he knew she had a voice of an angel and would be a major star.

When I was very young, I wanted to be Zina Bethune. Bethune played Robin on "Guiding Light." She was a troublemaking preteen who wanted her divorced parents to remarry. Bethune was also a prima ballerina in New York City who trained under the famed George Balanchine. Bethune, who continued to act in a variety of soaps throughout the years, revealed that her body was not meant to be a ballerina's body. She suffered from scoliosis and other spinal issues, which made being a ballerina almost impossible. When Bethune left acting, she decided to teach ballet to women and men with conditions that made it seem like it was impossible to dance.

Bethune was killed last week in a freak accident near famed Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles. Bethune saw what she thought was a wounded animal on the side of the road. The actress/ballerina got out of her car. She was struck by one oncoming car and then another. She died at the scene of the accident. The animal Bethune was trying to rescue turned out to be a possum, already dead, on the side of the road. The driver of the second car left the scene of the accident.

Friends of Bethune say that this act of kindness was what Bethune's life was all about. It truly has been a sad week in the world of soaps.

Grace-Lynne Ingle, wife of John Ingle (Edward on "General Hospital") for over 58 years, died in their home on Feb. 11. One of Ingle's daughters posted a message on Facebook: "Our Mom, Grace-Lynne, died in her bed, wrapped in her robe, with her cat by her side. We believe it was a stroke, but it could just as likely have been the angels that she so often summoned when praying for her loved ones. Apparently, those same angels just decided it was her time to go."

Ingle, now 83, and Grace-Lynne married in 1954 and had five daughters.

Castmates on "General Hospital," including Steve Burton (Jason), Leslie Charleson (Monica) and Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) have all conveyed condolences via Facebook and Twitter.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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