Frank M. Hursley (November 21, 1902 – February 3, 1989) and Doris Hursley (September 29, 1898 – May 5, 1984) were an American husband-and-wife team of screenwriters, best known for their serials, especially the medical drama ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

.''

Biographical

The couple were writers on the Western series '' Have Gun, Will Travel'', but became famous in the soap world in 1957 when they began writing for the

CBS Daytime CBS Daytime is a division within CBS that is responsible for the daytime television block programming on the CBS' late morning and early afternoon schedule. The block has historically encompassed soap operas and game shows. Schedule NOTE: All tim ...

show ''

Search for Tomorrow ''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986. Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show focu ...

''. They continued to write ''

'' even after the show that they created, ''

'', had premiered. Another married couple that were television writers, Theodore and Mathilde Ferro, wrote the show in its early months. They created the medical drama ''General Hospital'', for

ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime programming block on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game ...

in 1963. It was the first serious effort by that network to create a daytime serial. Today, ''General Hospital'' is the longest-running daytime serial on American television. The duo head wrote the show until 1973, when they handed the reins to their daughter and son-in-law, Bridget and Jerome Dobson. In 1969, the Hursleys created and wrote the

NBC Daytime NBC Daytime was the daytime programming block of NBC. It historically featured many soap operas, game shows, and talk shows. Its main competitors were CBS Daytime and ABC Daytime. Game shows were discontinued from NBC Daytime's lineup in 1994 a ...

soap opera ''

Bright Promise ''Bright Promise'' is an American daytime soap opera that ran on NBC from September 29, 1969 to March 31, 1972. Synopsis The show revolved around students and faculty at the fictional Bancroft College, located in the community of Bancroft, somew ...

'' that starred

Dana Andrews Carver Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 – December 17, 1992) was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigious roles and character parts ...

as college president Tom Boswell. However, they soon left that series and it was eventually cancelled in 1972. The Hursleys retired from writing serials.

Personal lives

Doris was the eldest daughter of Socialists Victor Berger and

Meta Berger Meta Berger ( Schlichting; February 23, 1873 – June 16, 1944) was a prominent female socialist organizer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and advocate for improved public schooling systems. She was also the wife of the prominent democratic socialist p ...

(he a Congressman; she an organizer and feminist)and held a law degree from Marquette University. Frank Hursley left his first wife, Madeleine, and their one-year-old son, Frank Jr., both of Detroit, and became an English professor at the University of Wisconsin's Milwaukee Extension. After Doris's divorce in 1935 from her first husband, Colin Welles, she married Frank in 1936. The couple began writing for radio during World War II and moved from their home in

Thiensville, Wisconsin Thiensville is a village in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. Located on the west bank of a bend in the Milwaukee River, the community is bordered on all sides by the City of Mequon and is a suburb in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. ...

, to California in 1946.Stevens, Michael (Ed.). Family Letters of Victor and Meta Berger, 1894-1929. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1995, p. 14. Doris day Their daughter

Bridget Bridget is an Irish language, Irish female name derived from the Goidelic languages, Gaelic noun ''brígh'', meaning "power, strength, vigor, virtue". An alternate meaning of the name is "exalted one". Its popularity, especially in Ireland, is la ...

also became a television writer, creating soap opera '' Santa Barbara''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hursley, Frank And Doris American soap opera writers Married couples Showrunners General Hospital [./Https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2013/07/29/a8670/ "The Real-Life Soap Opera of GENERAL HOSPITAL creator, Frank Hursley"