Frank and Doris Hursley

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Frank M. Hursley (November 21, 1902February 3, 1989) and Doris Hursley (September 29, 1898May 5, 1984) were a husband-and-wife team who wrote American soap operas.

The couple were writers on the Western series Have Gun, Will Travel, but became famous in the soap world starting in 1960 when they began writing Search for Tomorrow. They left the show in 1963 when the star, Mary Stuart, threatened to leave after they killed her character's son in an attempt to increase ratings, only to find that the viewership did not rise.

They created a medical drama, General Hospital, for the ABC network in 1963; it was the first serious effort by that network to create a daytime serial. Today, General Hospital is the longest-running soap on ABC. The duo wrote the show from its inception until 1969, when they left to create a new soap, Bright Promise. They stayed with that show until it was canceled in 1972; it was at this time that they retired from writing soap operas.

The Hursleys were natives of Thiensville, Wisconsin. Their daughter Bridget also became a soap writer, creating Santa Barbara.