We pay a tribute to the Cordays for bringing us Days of Our Lives. Without
them we wouldn't have our precious loved Days and this fan club wouldn't exist.
Thank you Ted and Betty Corday for the opportunity to look inside the lives of
Salem throughout the years.
| Heart of Days | Days Validictorians | Days of Our Lives |
Ted Corday began his career in the entertainment industry in 1930 as a stage manager
on Broadway. He then directed many productions including Cabin in the Sky
and Porgy & Bess.
Corday introduced his talent to the national radio networks, where he directed several more
major productions such as Gangsters and The Shadow.
Corday became a director for CBS radio in the late 40's and was the first to direct
the new radio soap opera The Guiding Light In 1952, Corday directed the same
script he used for the radio at the CBS Television Center, where it aired live.
He then entered into a working relationship with Irna Phillips.
Corday helped Irna Phillips create As the World Turns
for CBS Television in 1956. He directed and produced this 30- minute soap opera.
Their relationship
grew for the next 10 years. During which he became acquainted with
Phillips' scriptwriters, Agnes Nixon and Bill Bell (whom each was writing either
Guiding Light or As the World Turns
The Idea for Days of Our Lives was conceived in the early 60's by the Cordays and
Phillips. On November 8, 1965 Days of Our Lives was born to the world and its
debute was on NBC. It was the FIRST soap opera to be broadcast in COLOR, and the
first also to be set in the rural midwest.
July 1966, Ted Corday passed away, leaving his legacy to his wife, Betty, who had been a producer
of the radio soap operas Young Dr. Malone and Pepper Young's Family.
Betty Corday ran DAYS from 1966 until 1985 when she retired and stayed with the show
til she passed away in 1987.
The show became the top daytime show just four years after its inception.
A quote from Bill Bell (head writer for Days from 1966 to 1973) about Ted:
"Ted was a superb producer and director whose unique rapport and sensitivity
with the actors is legendary. His ability to exract every ounce of drama and emotion
from the written word was a writer's dream."
A quote from Bill Bell about Betty:
"Betty was an equally dedicated mother and writer and producer and a very powerful force in her own right.
Each the ultimate complement of the other. They were very precious to each other and to all of us who knew
them."
Ted and Betty's son, Ken, began working on the show in 1980 first as composer
and later as someone who answered fan mail and brought coffee to producers.
Today he is the executive producer.
Ted and Betty Corday received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Extraordinary
Contributions to Daytime Television from the National Academy of Arts and Sciences
at the Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony held in New York City. Ken Corday was
there to accept this award on their behalf.
That is what makes Days interactive. It keeps pace with the younger audience and keeps
the older audience satified as well.
The directors,producers, and writers, as well as the actors, know there are about 4 generations
watching Days of Our Lives. That is why they try to fill it with a variety of storylines such
as romance, adventure, drama, and a little of fantasy and reality mixed into one.
That is the reason Days of Our Lives has been around for over 30 years. Bringing us what we thrive into our
lives and making it a part of daily rituals. We cry, grieve, hate, love, and share the feelings
of the lives in Salem. If a show can bring all these emotions...its doing its job and still some!
It has been sharing love and finding it in new places, proving love thrives with
nurturing, tender care, and devotion. What more can you ask for?
Ted and Betty
Betty
Ken
HEART OF DAYS
Ted and Betty Corday is who we thank for creating Days of Our Lives.
They have produced more than a daytime drama. They have produced a soap opera
of love, devotion, and traditional values, which we all admire.
DAYS VALIDICTORIANS
Tom and Alice Horton (Macdonald Carey and Frances Reid) were there on Days from
the very first episode. Carey was a film star with over 500 movies under his belt.
Frances Reid had a list of prestigious theater credits (several Shakespearian productions
on Broadway). They both never had a major storyline of their own until the early 80's.
The Hortons were the original family. There were other families such as the Bannings,
Andersons, Grants, and Grants.
Later Pat Falken Smith moved in the Brady and DiMera families.
DAYS OF OUR LIVES
(from the complete family history book)
"Some people would argue, however, that daytime is amoral. We can do things in
daytime that cannot be done on primetime until after 10pm. There's a certain
amount of passion and romance that others might call sexuality. But we tend not
to complete the emotion for the viewer. We start it, and let the viewer complete it.
For example, Marlena may have a tear forming in her eye and it may start down the cheek,
but we cut away before it falls. Two characters kiss, embrace, and fall down in front of
a fireplace while we dissolve and fade into the candle flame. The audience can complete the
scene in a way they see fit"
