5-Time Daytime Emmy Nominee Dead at 94: RIP to Margaret DePriest

Writer and actress Margaret DePriest has died. She was 94.

According to her daughter, Sara Kimbell, she died of natural causes at her home in Greenwich Village late last month.

She was known as a pioneering head writer for over three decades on classic soap operas like General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, All My Children and Another World.

Before her extensive writing career, she starred in soaps herself, like when she appeared on CBS’ The Edge of Night as Abby Cameron and as on NBC’s The Doctors as the social worker Mrs. Berger.

Shortly after that role, she co-created the CBS drama Where the Heart Is in 1969. Her daughter told The Hollywood Reporter that executives at the time praised DePriest for “writing like a man.”

Four years later in 1975, she joined The Love of Life at CBS as a head writer, then returned to The Doctors—only this time as the show’s writer and not its star. Shortly after, she jumped over to ABC to become head writer and assistant to the producer on the iconic soap General Hospital from 1978 to 1981.

After that, she jumped all over the place to become head writer on all sorts of well-known soaps, like Another World, All My Children, One Life to Live, and Sunset Beach.

While jumping from show to show, she received five Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Writing across her career: in 1981 for General Hospital, two in 1984 and 1985 for Days of Our Lives, another in 1990 for All My Children and a final nomination in 1992 for One Live to Live.

She is survived by her daughter, her son, and two grandchildren.