Pat Falken Smith

Patricia Falken Smith (January 21 1926 – May 19 2001) was a television writer, most famous for her stints as head writer of several soap operas, including "General Hospital" and "Days of our Lives".

Biography

Smith served as the Head Writer for "Days of Our Lives" from 1973 - 1977, where she earned a salary of $285,000 a year, considered very high for that time, which included $35,000 just for "thinking creatively." [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913850-5,00.html TIME] , "Sex and Suffering in the Afternoon", January 12, 1976.] She won the "Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series" Daytime Emmy Award for "Days of Our Lives" in 1976 and 1977.

Smith was hired by Gloria Monty to head write ABC Daytime's "General Hospital" from 1979 - 1982 and she is credited with taking the show to the top of the soap ratings. Her stint as Head Writer included the highest rated episode in soap opera history, the wedding of Luke Spencer and Laura Spencer, which attracted more than 30 million viewers when it was first broadcast on November 16 1981.Fact|date=July 2008 Smith was reported to be the highest paid writer in broadcasting history when she left "General Hospital" in 1982, at $1 million per year. [Allen, Robert C. (1985). Speaking of Soap Operas, p.49, UNC Press, ISBN 0-8078-4129-3]

She was lured from "General Hospital" to "Guiding Light", where she served as Head Writer for less than 13 weeks. [Allen, Robert C. (1985). Speaking of Soap Operas, p.53, UNC Press, ISBN 0-8078-4129-3] She went on to serve as Head Writer of "Ryan's Hope" and again at "Days of our Lives".

Notes and references

External links

*imdb name | id=0989955 | name=Patricia Falken Smith
* [http://www.soapcentral.com/soapcentral/news/2001/0625-smith_dead.php/ Obituary for Pat Falken Smith on SoapCentral]
* [http://www.mcamy.net/geary/artint/art06.html]
* [http://www.geniefrancis.com/transformint.html Genie Francis]