Celebrities Who Started on Soap Operas, 5-8
You can play six degrees of soap stars in this segment of the list of celebrities who started on soap operas.5. Meg Ryan
Before she was the queen of romantic comedies, Meg Ryan was tangled up in a love triangle on As the World Turns. From 1982 to 1984, the spunky actor portrayed good girl Betsy Stewart, who was in love with blue-collar Steve Andropolous. Her stepfather didn't approve, so Betsy married unscrupulous Craig Montgomery instead. But true love prevailed when Betsy left Craig and married Steve in May 1984. Their happiness didn't last, but so it goes in the soap world. Ryan's movie career took off when she left the show, and her starring role in When Harry Met Sally in 1989 solidified her place as a leading lady.
6. Teri Hatcher
Voted by her 1982 high school class as "Girl Most Likely to Become a Solid Gold Dancer," Hatcher took a different direction and studied math in college. Her classmates might have been onto something, however, because she soon left college life and, in 1985, found a job as a dancing mermaid on The Love Boat. From 1986 to 1987, she was cast on Capitol as Angelica Clegg, a congressman's wife. But Hatcher didn't stick around for long; in 1987, she started to appear in several prime-time TV shows, such as Night Court and L.A. Law. By 1993, she landed her first major role -- as Lois Lane on the series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
7. Christopher Reeve
Speaking of Superman . . . Long before he was characterized personally and professionally as a "man of steel," Christopher Reeve played devilishly handsome and selfish Ben Harper on Love of Life from 1974 to 1976. His character was married to two women from the same town at the same time! His wives eventually exposed him for the cad that he was, and he ended up in prison. Perhaps leading a double life on screen is why, in 1978, a casting director got the idea to make him a secretive superhero in Superman.
8. Kevin Bacon
This prolific actor had a small role in National Lampoon's Animal House before his 1979 TV debut on Search for Tomorrow. Then, from 1980 to 1981, he played a troubled teen on Guiding Light. Since then, Bacon has been involved in so many entertainment projects that there's even a game called "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," in which almost everyone in Hollywood is somehow linked to him. These days, in addition to acting, Kevin and his brother make music and tour as The Bacon Brothers.
Keep up with a set of Joneses on the next segment of the list of soap stars.
