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Revision as of 02:29, 27 June 2004 by Guanaco (talk | contribs) (dab)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)One Life to Live is a soap opera which has been broadcast on the American ABC television network since 1968. It is set in the fictional town of Llanview, Pennsylvania, a suburb of "Center City", which is the show's name for Philadelphia.
One Life to Live was created by Agnes Nixon, who was also responsible for the creation of All My Children and Loving, and who served as the head writer of Another World and Guiding Light. The show originally concentrated on the wealthy Lord family and the middle-class Rileys and Woleks. Since its inception, it has centered on the character of Victoria Lord Riley Burke Riley Buchanan Buchanan Carpenter Davidson (played since 1971 by Erika Slezak).
The show was the first soap opera to deal with interracial relationships. The character of Carla Benari (played by Ellen Holly) was an African American woman passing for white. Her mother was the maid at the Lord mansion, who discovered that her daughter, Clara Gray, was pretending to be a white woman, and eventually persuaded her to reveal her true ethnicity.
Over the years, such well-known actors as Tom Berenger, Yasmine Bleeth, Jonathan Brandis, Frank Converse, John Cullum, Linda Dano, Henry Darrow, Christine Ebersole, Laurence Fishburn, Al Freeman Jr., Athol Fugard, Farley Granger, Pam Grier, Tommy Lee Jones, Bethel Leslie, Judy Light, Kelly McGillis, Colm Meaney, Sylvia Miles, Jameson Parker, Ryan Phillippe, Thalmus Rasulala, Phylicia Rashad, Elaine Stritch, Roy Thinnes, Linda Thorson, Blair Underwood, Trish Van Devere, Casper Van Dien, Mario Van Peebles and Robert Vaughn have appeared on the show.
Ryan Phillippe played the role of Billy Douglas, a gay teen dealing with the difficulty of coming out to his parents and friends. The resident bad girl, Marty Saybrooke, accused Reverend Carpenter of having a sexual relationship with Billy. Marty eventually had an epiphany about her ways, but it only came about after she was gang-raped. While it can't be debated that the character was changed forever, many fans were in two minds about the storyline, as some argued it promoted misogyny.