Bridget and Jerome Dobson

Bridget and Jerome Dobson were writers for American soap operas and created the NBC soap opera "Santa Barbara" in 1984.

Bridget Dobson is the daughter of "General Hospital" creators Frank Hursley and Doris Hursley. Bridget and Jerome married in 1961. Bridget began writing for "General Hospital" in the early 1970s and Jerome joined her soon after.

In 1975 the Dobsons were hired as the head writers for the long-running CBS Daytime soap opera "Guiding Light". They spent the rest of the 1970s at "Guiding Light" where they created alluring nurse Rita Stapleton (who became the show's heronie for the remainder of the 1970s), the rich, upper class Spaulding family in 1977 (who are still one of the show's core families three decades later), and wrote the infamous storyline of Holly Norris Bauer's rape by her own husband Roger Thorpe in 1979. The Dobsons would later go on to become the head writers of another Procter and Gamble soap opera, "As The World Turns" were they created the infamous character of James Stenbeck and also paired the characters of Tom and Margo.

In 1984, NBC debuted "Santa Barbara" where Bridget and Jerome Dobson had creative control of the show's storylines until they were locked out of "Santa Barbara's" NBC offices in 1988 after the Dobson's repeated attempts to fire then head writer, Anne Howard Bailey. The Dobson's filed a $53 million lawsuit against NBC and New World Television (the company that owned "SB"). That same year, when claiming Santa Barbara's Outstanding Daytime Drama Emmy, a bittersweet Bridget Dobson taunted, "Though New World Television locked me out of the studio, they couldn't lock me out of the Emmys!" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW9vAa6fTnU 1988 Daytime Emmys: SB Wins!] In 1991, the case was finally settled out of court and the Dobsons returned to the show they created.

In 1995, the Dobsons moved to Atlanta, GA, where Bridget began pursuing her lifelong passion for painting. She quickly developed a loyal following in the art community for her distinctive work and became the featured artist at gallery shows across the United States. More than sixty of her paintings were featured in a solo traveling museum tour.

At the urging of friends, Bridget Dobson began to transfer the vibrant designs of her artwork to the surface of lifestyle products. Her series of fine china, crystal, and giftware -- sold by the company Bridget Dobson Studios -- was unveiled in 2006 in New York City.