Which Soap Star Taught Actors The Craft Before Their Own Success?

Many budding young thespians – future soap stars included – find that proper training in their craft is of paramount importance. Most acting teachers come from a performing background themselves, but some find fame AFTER they have sent numerous students out into the “reel world.”

Which Soap Star Was It?

All of these actors are either alums of, or are currently starring in, one of the four remaining soap operas – The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and The Young and the Restless. But only one of them can claim that they taught a plethora of future superstars the craft of acting long before they found their own success in the world of daytime soaps.

But who can that actor be? Was it Obba Babatunde (ex-Julius Avant, BB), Louise Sorel (Vivian Alamain, DAYS), John Ingle (ex-Edward Quartermaine, GH) or Christian Le Blanc (Michael Baldwin, YR)?

Obba Babatunde

After graduating from Jamaica High School in 1969, Babatunde pursued a number of acting opportunities – but he needed a day job to help support his dream. To that end, he briefly taught at a private school for students of color. But he isn’t the answer to today’s identity query.

Louise Sorel

She’s known for playing two of daytime’s most zany (and sometimes deadly) characters – Santa Barbara’s Augusta Wainwright Lockridge and DAYS’ Vivian Alamain – in addition to a few other soap roles but had Sorel not been steered by a particularly enthusiastic drama coach, she may have never flirted with the acting profession.

Christian Le Blanc

Upon graduating from Tulane University with honors and a degree in history and pre-med training, Le Blanc accepted work as a substitute teacher in the Los Angeles school district. But he isn’t today’s featured star.

John Ingle

Ingle graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles and soon after he joined the staff of Hollywood High School where he taught English and theater. In 1964, he transferred to Beverly Hills High School where he continued to teach the performing arts.

Among Ingle’s many pupils were Nicolas Cage, Albert Brooks, Barbara Hershey, Swoosie Kurtz, Stefanie Powers, Julie Kavner, and one Miss Louse Sorel! He retired from teaching in 1985, the same year that his acting career (which began two years earlier) really began to heat up – thanks in part to guest spots in series such as Highway to Heaven, Cheers, and Silver Spoons as well as a role in the feature film Stitches.

So if you guessed that the soap star in question was John Ingle – who spent nearly two decades playing General Hospital’s cantankerous Edward Quartermaine – then you were absolutely correct!