Your favorite soap stars are saving the "day" at night!

It wasn't so long ago that soap actors were routinely passed over for primetime roles. Daytimers, who have always been considered the hardest-working actors in the biz, nonetheless were thought of as lightweights by series producers and casting directors. Those who left soaps for a shot at the big time often found that their daytime experience was more harmful than helpful.
     Oh, how things have changed over the past few years. Now, more than ever, soap stars are being taken seriously and given dee opportunity to shine as brightly by night as they have by day. Here are a few of the most successful:

DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Steve Wilder (ex-Jack) and Stephanie Cameron (ex-Jennifer)
Their daytime characters have been sent far, far away to Africa. But in real life, these to performers have both gone from Salem Place to MELROSE PLACE. Both Wilder and Cameron put in short-term appearances on MP this season. Ironically, though, they didn't appear at the same time.
     "It was weird," reports Cameron, "Steve was leaving just as I was coming on. When I found out I got the job, I called him, and we had sort of a laugh about it."
     Cameron and Wilder may not have shared screen time, but their characters did have something in common. At the beginning of this season, Wilder played Alex, Jane's fashion-designer ex-lover, who for a while threatened to come between Jane and Michael. Meanwhile, Cameron's scheming-nurse character, Audrey, arrived on the scene in January and had a brief fling with Michael. Audrey is just about to make her exit from the show, but not before she drops a bombshell on rival Jane.
     What will happen to Cameron and Wilder now that their MP gigs are up? Well, Wilder has since appeared on The Love Boat: The Next Wave and Charmed. "It's a fun life being an actor," he reports. "You never know what's going to happen."

A DAYTIME ACTOR'S BEST FRIEND
Veteran producer Aaron Spelling has been responsible for giving dozens of daytimers a shot at primetime. Over the years, his nighttime soaps have been packed with familiar faces. the cast of DYNASTY included GENERAL HOSPITAL alum Emma Samms (ex-Holly), DAYS' Wayne Northrop (ex-Roman) and Jack Coleman (ex-Jake), THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS' Deborah Adair (ex-Jill) and ALL MY CHILDREN's Michael Nader (Dimitri). His BEVERLY HILLS 90210 has Vanessa Marcil, of course, not to mention LOVING alum Luke Perry (Ned) and GUIDING LIGHT grad Ian Ziering (ex-Cameron).
     MP boasts two former GH-ers, Jack Wagner (ex-Frisco) and Rena Sofer (ex-Lois). Past MP players make up a virtual DAYS alumni association: Patrick Muldoon (ex-Austin), Lisa Rinna (ex-Billie) and Kristian Alfonso (Hope), not to mention Wilder and Cameron, have all had roles on MP. Finally, who could forget RYAN'S HOPE's dynamite graduate Grant Show (Rick)?