William J. Bell (March 6, 1927 – April 29, 2005) was the creator and executive producer of the
soap operas The Young and the Restless and
The Bold and the Beautiful.
Personal life
He was married to former talk show host
Lee Phillip Bell, who co-created
Y&R and
B&B with him. Their three children, Bill Jr.,
Bradley, and
Lauralee, and daughter-in-law
Maria Arena Bell are all involved in their parents' soaps in some capacity.
On April 29, 2005, Bell died from complications of
Alzheimer's disease.
Writing Legacy
Procter and Gamble Productions
He started out as a comedy writer at
WBBM-TV in
Chicago, and one day he made a call to
Irna Phillips' secretary Rose Cooperman asking her "Does Irna have an opening?" Rose said Irna did have an opening. By the time he got there it turned out the guy who was leaving decided to stay. About two years later William J. Bell was in advertising business and he ran into Irna's niece. She mentioned him to Irna and Ms. Phillips remembered who he was; she also knew his wife, who was a celebrity in
Chicago at that time. He started out at $75 a week and ended up living in what once was
Howard Hughes' villa. His
mother regularly listened to
radio soap operas:
Life Can Be Beautiful,
The Romance of Helen Trent,
Our Gal Sunday and
The Guiding Light.
He started his writing career on
The Guiding Light and then moved over to
As the World Turns, working under the legendary "Queen of Soaps," Irna Phillips; Phillips'...
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