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Irna used many of her own personal experiences as ideas for her stories. When Irna was 19 years old she found out she was pregnant. Unmarried, the father of the baby wanted nothing to do with Irna. She ended up giving birth to a still born baby. Out of this tragedy she gained comfort in the sermons of Dr. Preston Bradley. The sermons at the non-denominational Chicago church centered around the brotherhood of man. Twenty-seven years later she used this minister's preachings and theme as the basis for The Guiding Light. Irna's stories, unlike many other soap operas of the time, dealt with real-life problems. In 1958 Irna decided to kill off a popular Guiding Light character, Kathy Roberts Holden. Angry telephone calls and mail flooded the offices. Irna turned the show over to Agnes Nixon. She continued her work on As The World Turns until the 1970s. In 1964, Irna created Another World. Set in Bay City, it was meant to be a companion show to As The World Turns. However, Another World ended up on another network. Irna is considered a daytime legend. Agnes Nixon served her apprenticeship under Irna. William Bell also worked with her, and so did Ted Corday, Douglas Marland, and Paul Rauch. Agnes Nixon went on to create All My Children and One Life to Live. With Douglas Marland, she created Loving (later renamed The City). Ted Corday created Days of Our Lives. William Bell created The Young and the Resltess and The Bold and the Beautiful. Paul Rauch is currently Guiding Light's executive producer. Irna's touch in daytime lasts to this day. Irna was the youngest of ten children. Her mother was 42 when she was born. At the age of 8 her father, a grocer, died. On December 23, 1973, Irna died in Chicago at the age of 72. She has been inducted into the Soap Opera Hall of Fame. Related Links:
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Irna Phillips was a school teacher from Dayton, Ohio. She traveled to Chicago and talked WGN into giving her fifteen minutes a day to broadcast a family drama called Painted Dreams. Later she created The Guiding Light, The Road of Life, and Woman in White. Irna created As The World Turns and The Edge of Night, both premiering on television as a half hour soap opera on April 2, 1956.