General Hospital’s enduring legacy continues to rub off on Frank and Doris Hursley, the creators of the daytime drama renowned as one of the longest-running shows in America’s television history. Though the couple passed on in the 80s, the soap occasionally pays homage to the creators. For instance, the show marked its 50th anniversary in April 2013, featuring an easter egg scene as a tribute to the couple. The opening scene of the episode that aired on April 2, 2013, depicts a nurse on the phone saying: “Oh hey, Doris! How’d you like Frank’s big surprise?”
When General Hospital celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2023, it again acknowledged Frank and Doris Hursley by introducing a character named Agent Hursley. Debuting in April 1963, the series pioneered several storytelling techniques that are now common in the genre. Its innovative narrative and pop culture presence are why the series outlived its creators to become a cultural icon in America and across borders. With 61 seasons and over 15,500 episodes thus far, Frank and Doris Hursley’s legacy lives on through the daytime drama.
Frank and Doris Hursley’s Life Before They Became A Couple
The screenwriting duo were born in the early 20th and late 19th centuries. Frank McColl Hursley was reportedly born in Elgin, Ontario, Canada on November 21, 1920, while Doris Hursley (née Berger) was born to Meta and Victor L. Berger. She was born on September 29, 1898, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, where she was raised. Frank, on the other hand, grew up in Detroit, Michigan.
There, he started a family with his first wife, Madeleine Hursley, with whom he had a child named Frank Hursley Jr. Little is known about Frank’s family background, unlike Doris who was born to notable politicians. Her father was an Australian-American socialist, one of the founding members of the Social Democratic Party of America. The party merged with a fraction of the Socialist Labor Party in 1901 to become the Socialist Party of America.
Berger is remembered as a prominent figure in America’s political history. As the first Socialist member of Congress, he served Wisconsin’s 5th district in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 1923 to March 1929. His wife Meta Berger was also involved in politics, especially as a socialist organizer and education activist. She served on several school boards, including the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents.
The Screenwriting Couple Met At The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Frank and Doris Hursley met and fell in love at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Frank had left his first wife and toddler son in Detriot to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Chicago. From Chicago, he moved to Minneapolis where he taught American literature and gave marriage another shot. He was married to his second wife when he met and fell in love with Doris, who was also married to a lawyer named Colin Welles at the time. They soon divorced their respective partners and exchanged marital vows sometime in 1936.
On September 1, 1938, the couple welcomed their only child together, a daughter named Bridget Dobson. Alongside raising their child, Frank and Doris Hursley started writing together, beginning with scripts for radio shows. The couple relocated to Los Angeles a decade into their marriage. There, they landed gigs that popularized their names in the industry, leading up to their creation of General Hospital.
Frank and Doris Hursley Gained Recognition With Search for Tomorrow Before Creating General Hospital
The couple had become an established writing team in the 50s, contributing to the Golden Age of Television with several notable projects. These include Matinee Theatre (1955 – 1957), The Millionaire, and Lassie (1956 – 1957). However, they only wrote a few episodes of these shows. Their first significant work came in 1958 when they were contracted as head writers for Roy Winsor’s Search for Tomorrow. The daytime drama ran on CBS and NBC for 35 seasons with over 9,100 episodes. The Hursleys served as the head writers of the soap opera until 1964.
They created General Hospital while working on Search for Tomorrow. Originally titled Emergency Hospital, an unaired pilot episode of the daytime drama was produced in 1962. Frand and Doris Hursley later rebranded the show as General Hospital. Its first episode aired on ABC on April 1, 1963. They served as head writers until 1972 when their daughter and son-in-law Jerome Dobson took over. The couple also created Bright Promise, another soap opera that aired on NBC from September 1969 to March 1972. Check out more about Nicholas Alexander’s exit frim General Hospital.
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