Help Me Identify A Late-50s Soap Opera Character

Cafe Society
1

So my gf was telling me that her mother named her Regina for a character on a soap, but forgets which one. Her mother is now deceased. GF was born 12-6-59. She is pretty sure that her mother said it was the character’s name, not the actress.

So are there any soap fans out there with an encyclopedic knowledge of characters from 45 years past. I’d assume the character was fairly prominent and popular with viewers.

Sir Rhosis

2

I tried, but much to my annoyance IMDB’s search function is highly inefficient for this kind of thing. Of the ones I know off the top of my head were running at that time (As the World Turns, Guiding Light, Secret Storm, Search for Tomorrow) none of them have a character named Regina. I’m absolutely certain there are bunches of soaps that I don’t know about from that era, probably because none of them lasted into the 70s, when my soap opera awareness began.

3

I’ve looked too. Didn’t find Regina, but this is gonna keep me busy for hours.

4

Get a copy of The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (1997), which has character and cast lists for all network soaps from the '40s to the '90s.

5

I can also confirm that the IMDb, while having 410 movies and television series with characters named Regina, does not have a soap opera character from 1959 by that name.

In 1959, only CBS and NBC had daytime dramas; ABC’s first came in 1960. Some daytime dramas on the air in 1959:

THE HOUSE ON HIGH STREET
AS THE WORLD TURNS
THE EDGE OF NIGHT
SEARCH FOR TOMORROW
THE BRIGHTER DAY
FROM THESE ROOTS
THE GUIDING LIGHT
LOVE OF LIFE
YOUNG DR. MALONE

Those are probably close to all the soaps on air in 1959; three more and each network would have had three hours of daytime dramas, probably the maximum limit. The rest of daytime programming was filled with game shows, children’s shows, homemaker shows, and talk shows.

6

I checked out the “Edge of Night” and came up short.

7

Daytime dramas on CBS in fall 1959:

A Brighter Day
The Secret Storm
Search for Tomorrow
The Guiding Light
Love of Life
As the World Turns
For Better or Worse
The Edge of Night

Daytime dramas on NBC in fall 1959:
Young Dr. Malone
From These Roots
The House on High Street

(None on ABC.)