Father Figure: Who Is Your All-Time Favorite Classic Soap Dad?

Fans have fond memories of kind patriarchs from soaps that no longer hit our screens. They made us feel safe and loved just like our own dear old dad.

In honor of Father’s Day, Soap Hub wants to know which one is your favorite?

Pine Valley Patriarch
Contrasting All My Children controlling fathers like Adam Chandler and Palmer Courtlandt was kindly Dr. Joe Martin (Ray MacDonnell).

The Pine Valley resident had three kids with his first wife Helen — Jeff, Bobby, and Tara. He and his second wife Ruth had two sons Tad, and Joey. The worst thing you can say about Joe is that one of his kids (Bobby) went up to the attic one day and disappeared. (Of course, it’s the writers who stopped writing Bobby! He didn’t vanish due to Joe’s neglect!)

But, Joe had his hands full especially with adopted son Tad, who did all kinds of mischievous things before being presumed dead. When Tad came back, still fully unsure of who he was, Joe and Ruth were there to welcome their son back home.

Bay City Pop
From the mid ’70s up until 1989, Douglass Watson played Mac Cory on Another World. Mac wasn’t just Rachel’s knight in shining amour.

He was a supportive step-dad to Rachel’s sons, Jamie and Matthew, and he was an understanding father to his own biological children: Iris, Amanda, and Sandy. (His daughter Paulina came on the scene after Mac’s death).

Mac’s passing was written into the show after Watson’s untimely death in the spring of 1989. Mac was on the outs with Iris due to her machinations when he had his fatal heart attack, but we’ve no doubt that he would have found a way to forgive his firstborn had he lived.

Oakdale’s Finest
As a doctor, Bob Hughes (played by Don Hastings) provided support to his patients at Oakdale Memorial on As the World Turns.

He brought even greater care and concern to his kids and step-kids and pretty much anyone else who needed it. When his flighty first wife, Lisa, neglected her maternal duties, Bob stepped up and made sure that Tom knew he was loved.

He did the same with daughter Frannie after his wife/her mother Jennifer died. Bob’s so smart he figured out that Sabrina Fullerton, Frannie’s look-alike, was actually his long lost child with Kim.

Of course, Bob was not perfect – he cheated on wife Kim with Susan after her concern for her son Andy became too much. But Bob never stopped loving his kids.

Bauer Father
Ed Bauer (Peter Simon) and his kids, Rick and Michelle, were a constant in the last decades of Guiding Light’s long history.

Far from being a saint, Ed had his demons including being an alcholic and he strayed from his martial vows by sleeping with Holly and Lillian; the latter affair indirectly caused the death of his wife Maureen.

But, Ed did his best to remain as strong as he could for Michelle. He saw Rick through some tough times, too. Ultimately, look no further than how good his children turned out to say whether or not Ed was a good dad.

Joe, Mac, Bob, and Ed aren’t on the airwaves anymore, but these cherished father figures remain in the hearts and memories of soap fans.

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