William J. Bell
William Joseph Bell (March 6, 1927 – April 29, 2005) was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known as the creator of the soap operas Another World, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.
For the American entomologist, see William J. Bell (entomologist).
William J. Bell
April 29, 2005 (aged 78)
Writer, producer
1956–1998 (as a writer)
1973–2005 (as a producer)
3, including Bradley Phillip Bell and Lauralee Bell Martin
Early life[edit]
Bell was born and raised in Chicago as an only child. His father was an accountant for the Link-Belt Company. His mother was primarily a homemaker, with a part-time job with Mrs. Steven's Candies. (In later years, his parents adopted a daughter.)[1] Bell grew up listening to radio soap operas when he came home from school for lunch[2] and late at night, including Life Can Be Beautiful, The Romance of Helen Trent and Our Gal Sunday.[1] As a depression-era child, he would work at various odd jobs on weekends to help the family. In high school, he participated in the ROTC. After serving in the Navy as a corpsman, he attended the University of Michigan.[1]
Career[edit]
Chicago radio writer[edit]
At the age of 21, Bell worked at WJJD radio as a writer for two shows, with the focus being teen problems. That work led him to seek a job at WBBM radio as a comedy writer; specifically, character-oriented comedy, rather than jokes. He worked there for about three years.[1]
Advertising industry[edit]
Bell went to McCann Erickson, then the second-largest advertising agency worldwide. He wrote radio and television commercials for Standard Oil of Indiana, the agency's biggest account; he was subsequently promoted to account executive, responsible for five small accounts. After three years there. Bell was offered an account executive position with Cunningham & Walsh.[1]
Procter and Gamble Productions[edit]
During his time as a comedy writer at WBBM radio in Chicago, he made a call to Irna Phillips' secretary Rose Cooperman asking her if Phillips had an opening for a writer, as she was a well-known soap opera creator and Bell had become aware that Phillips also resided in Chicago. Cooperman said Phillips did have an opening. While Bell was composing a sample script, he was informed that the writer who was supposedly leaving had decided to stay, so the writing job was not available. Later, during the time that Bell was in the advertising business, he ran into Phillips' niece. She mentioned him to her aunt and Phillips remembered who he was; she also knew his wife, who was a well-known celebrity due to her work on local television.[1]
He started his writing career on Guiding Light and then moved over to As the World Turns, working under Phillips; Phillips' other protegee at the time was Agnes Nixon. Bell co-created Another World with Phillips in 1964. In 1965, he co-created the primetime As the World Turns spinoff Our Private World.[3]
Days of Our Lives[edit]
In 1966, he was hired as head writer of the then-struggling soap Days of Our Lives. Bell was credited with the show's initial surge of popularity. Bell changed the dynamics of soaps when he began focusing on sexuality. Formerly, soap operas did not delve into the sexual side of their romances. He intended to leave the show around 1972 when he began creating his own show The Young and the Restless, but the owners of the show sued him, and he agreed to write long-term story projections for them. He remained as head writer until 1975.
The Young and the Restless[edit]
In 1972, CBS executives wanted a new daytime serial that was youth oriented. William along with his wife Lee Phillip Bell created The Young and the Restless for the network under the working title, The Innocent Years. However, before the show went into production, he had to rename the series as Bell mentioned..."We were confronted with the very disturbing reality that young America had lost much of its innocence,". "Innocence as we had known and lived it all our lives had, in so many respects, ceased to exist." They renamed the series The Young and the Restless because they felt it "reflected the youth and mood of the early seventies." He spent between ten and sixteen hours a day writing stories.
The Young and the Restless debuted on March 26, 1973. Although slow to rise in the ratings (he got very frustrated and asked head of CBS Daytime Bud Grant to cancel the serial), CBS had faith in the show and gave it a chance. Y&R was credited for breathing new life into the daytime serial, with its brightness, humor and cutting-edge storylines. As he did on Days of our Lives, Bell saw to sexuality also playing a major role in the stories. Bell guided Y&R as head writer from 1973 until stepping down in 1998, the longest tenure of any head writer in soap opera history. Y&R has been the highest-rated soap on the air since 1988 in households, and 1989 among viewers.
As of December 2020, Bell holds the distinction of having created the largest number of soap opera characters that are still appearing, with over 25 characters on either The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, or Days of Our Lives such as: