Father’s Day Soap Opera Special: Daytime’s Greatest Dads

In honor of Father’s Day, Soap Hub presents a look back at the greatest fathers in daytime dramas who were there for their children, whether they were biological or not.

You’ll see some from today and some from decades past that will bring back all the sweet soap memories of daytime’s golden years.

Proud Papa: Mac Cory
Soap Opera: Another World
Offspring: Iris (daughter), Sandy (son), Amanda (daughter), Matthew (son – adopted), Jamie (son – in principal and in heart)
Mac never let a little things like genetics and biology stand in the way of loving a child that he felt was his. He and wife Rachel shared a daughter (Amanda) but Mac also loved and adored his adopted son Matthew just like he was a blood relation.

Proving the point even further Mac forged a strong bond with Rachels son Jamie (nearly a teenager by the time Mac and Rachel married) that was so strong Mac hoped it would be Jamie who would follow in his footsteps as leader of Cory Publishing.

In later years Jamie would claim on multiple occasions that Mac was the only man he considered his father as all memories of Steve Frame had evaporated.

Proud Papa: Tom Horton
Soap Opera: Days of Our Lives
Offspring: Tommy (son), Addie (daughter), Bill (son), Mickey (son) and Marie (daughter)
Not only did Tom help his wife Alice raise five children but he then turned right around and helped her rear two granddaughters (Julie and Jennifer).

Tom could be curt and hard-hearted at times as he was an old fashioned man with old fashioned values but he could never stay mad at his offspring for very long and he always welcomed them back with open arms.

He had to watch in vain as brothers Bill and Mickey fought over the same woman but he then rejoiced when Mickey found love with farm girl Maggie and Bill and Laura settled into wedded bliss (for a short time).

He also doted on his other grandchildren, like feisty Hope Williams who he and Alice encouraged to follow her heart and choose Bo Brady as her husband.

Proud Papa: Steve Aldrich
Soap Opera: The Doctors
Offspring: Billy (son – adopted), Erich (son) and Stephanie (daughter)
It surely surprised many folks that resident playboy Steve Aldrich wound up being one of the most stand-up fathers in the bustling metropolis of Maddison, USA.
He and Carolee Simpson, the love of his life, raised their darling little girl Stephanie alongside Erich (the son of Steve and his first wife Karen) and Billy (the son of Carolee’s first husband Dan Allison).

The couples’ sons would go …continue reading on the next page —>

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The couples’ sons would on to cause them periods of mourning and grief as they grew older. (Erich needed emergency heart surgery that nearly cost him his life and Billy got the much younger Greta Powers pregnant.) But, through it all, Steve remained resolute and steadfast in his love for his family and was there to confront every problem head-on.

Proud Papa: Mac Scorpio
Soap Opera: General Hospital
Offspring: Maxie (step-daughter), Georgie (step-daughter) and Robin (niece and defacto step-daughter)
Mac never had a biological child with wife Felicia but he diligently raised her daughter’s just like there were his own and when his brother Robert was thought dead, Mac didn’t hesitate to welcome his niece Robin into the fold.

And as much as Maxie and Georgie loved their dad they never lost sight of the fact that it was “Uncle Mac” who sacrificed so much to ensure their happiness and well being.

Proud Papa: Chris Hughes
Soap Opera: As the World Turns
Offspring: Don (son), Susan (daughter), Penny (daughter) and Bob (son)
Legal eagle Chris felt there was nothing more important in the world than family and nothing gave him more pleasure than seeing his children happy, healthy, and successful.

He delighted in the fact that, by the 1970s, his law practice was a true family affair as he worked side by side son Donald and grandson Tom. He also took great pride in the work his son Bob was doing at the hospital and he was heartened by the fact that daughter, Penny, had finally found fulfillment as a wife and mother to a young adopted daughter.

Proud Papa: Johnny Ryan
Soap Opera: Ryan’s Hope
Offspring: Dakota (son), Frank (son), Patrick (son), Mary (daughter) and Siobhan (daughter)
Johnny was considered the more level headed parent by his large brood and it was he who frequently calmed the rages of his more old fashioned wife Maeve, who would rail at the life choices her children were making.

He tried very hard to accept his children, faults and all, and to never judge them for their mistakes. (His devotion even extended to daughter-in-law Delia who made life hell for the family, and later turned out to be Ava Jerome’s mother on GH).

He even had to admit his own shortcomings when his illegitimate son Dakota tracked him down and demanded recognition as a member of the family.

Proud Papa: Clint Buchanan
Soap Opera: One Life to Live
Offspring: Cordero (son), Rex (son), Kevin (son, adopted), Joey (son, adopted), Jessica (daughter) and Natalie (daughter)
Clint only had one biological child with his lady love Victoria Lord (daughter Jessica) but that didn’t stop him from loving her two children (sons Kevin and Joey) just like they were his own and it was in fact he who asked permission to legally adopt them.

In later years, Clint would learn he had a grown son named Cordero and after a few tentative months the men were able to forge a real bond and Clint took great pride in having his eldest refer to him as Pop.

Proud Papa: Joe Martin
Soap Opera: All My Children
Offspring: Jeff (son), Tara (daughter), Joey (son) and Tad (son, adopted)
Widower Joe Martin spent many years anguishing over the tumultuous love lives of his two children, Jeff and Tara, who each chose lovers that gave them nothing but heartache and strife.

Joe seemed to learn from their mistakes and choose the right woman, nurse Ruth Brent, who bore him another son Joey and with whom he adopted future lothario, Tad.

Although all his children gave him cause for serious alarm (especially Tad), Joe never once wavered in his love for them and the Martin family remained one of the strongest units in Pine Valley lore.

Proud Papa: Mike Karr
Soap Opera: The Edge of Night
Offspring: Laurie Ann (daughter)

To the criminals who prowled the streets of Monticello, Mike Karr was a fearsome foe but to his adorable baby girl Laurie Ann he was no more than a grumbly teddy bear. Mike raised his daughter as a single parent for a few years after the passing of his wife Sara but he again found love with reporter Nancy Pollock.

Nancy, in turn, loved little Laurie just like she was her own and the trio spent many happy years together in familial bliss.

Proud Papa: Arthur Tate
Soap Opera: Search For Tomorrow
Offspring: Patti (step-daughter) and Duncan Eric (son)
Loveable, down to earth Arthur had a ready-made family when he married widower Joanne and adopted her nine-year-old daughter, Patti. He doted on the little girl right from the beginning and even when he and Joanne had a son of their own Arthur made sure that Patti never felt like a spare.

After Arthur passed away from a heart attack Joanne remarried, twice, but Patti never had a close relationship with either step-father feeling in her heart that Arthur had been her one true father.