Roy William Winsor (April 13, 1912 – May 31, 1987) was an American

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

writer, creator, producer and mystery novelist. He created three of the longest running soap operas in US television history. Roy Winsor

Biography

Roy William Winsor was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, on April 13, 1912, and graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

. Before he created television soap operas, he wrote for many

radio serial Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

s. He also produced the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

show ''

Have Gun – Will Travel ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Western series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Richard Boone was rated number t ...

'' for the radio. In 1951 he created the long-running soap opera ''

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 ...

'' (1951–1986). For ''Search for Tomorrow,'' he first worked with fellow soap opera writer

Agnes Nixon Agnes Nixon ( Eckhardt; December 10, 1922 – September 28, 2016) was an American television writer and producer, and the creator of the ABC soap operas ''One Life to Live'', ''All My Children'', as well as ''Loving'' and its spin-off '' The Ci ...

. The same year he created ''

Love of Life ''Love of Life'' is an American soap opera televised on CBS from September 24, 1951, to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation ''Search for Tomorrow'' premiered three weeks before ''Love of Life''; he created ''Th ...

'' (1951–1980). Three years later he would create another long-running soap opera ''

The Secret Storm ''The Secret Storm'' is an American soap opera that the CBS television network transmitted from February 1, 1954, to February 8, 1974. It was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas ''Search for Tomorrow'' and ''Love ...

'' (1954–1974). He produced episodes for

situation comedies A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

such as ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...

'' and ''

My Little Margie ''My Little Margie'' is an American television situation comedy starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell that alternated between CBS and NBC from 1952 to 1955. The series was created by Frank Fox and produced in Los Angeles, California, at Hal Ro ...

''. He created ''

Ben Jerrod ''Ben Jerrod'' is an American serial which ran from April 1, 1963 to June 28, 1963. The series is most notable for being the first daytime drama to be regularly televised in color. Michael M. Ryan played the show's title character. The cast also ...

'' in 1963, the first daytime TV drama to be entirely broadcast in color. The year before ''The Secret Storm'' ended, he would take over as head writer of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

soap opera ''

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''; he wrote for the show from 1973 to 1974. In 1981, after a long break, he returned to soap operas and co-created (with Bob Aaron) the serial '' Another Life'' (1981–1984) for

Christian Broadcasting Network The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is an American Christian media production and distribution organization. Founded in 1960 by Pat Robertson, it produces the long-running TV series ''The 700 Club'', co-produces the ongoing ''Superbook'' an ...

. Winsor described the family at the center of ''Another Life'' as held together by values such as "discipline, loyalty, and moral standards", which he said have been "abused and scoffed at in today's world." He was the author of three mystery novels, including ''The Corpse That Walked'', which won an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

in 1975 for Best Paperback Original. He also wrote ''Three Motives for Murder'', and ''Always Lock Your Bedroom Door''. Winsor died on May 31, 1987, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at the age of 75 in Pelham Manor, New York.

References

External links

* 1912 births 1987 deaths Harvard College alumni American soap opera writers Writers from Chicago 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American radio writers American male screenwriters 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Illinois Screenwriters from Illinois American male television writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-screenwriter-stub