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. 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.
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' 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.
Days of our Lives
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 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
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 to The Young and the Restless because they felt it "reflected the youth and mood of the early seventies."
On Monday, March 26, 1973, The Young and the Restless debuted. Although slow to rise in the ratings, 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 1998 Bell relinquished most of his duties as head writer, serving only in a supervisory capacity.
The Bold and the Beautiful
In 1986, he began working on creating another soap for CBS, but plans were halted until the end of the year when the network decided to cancel the soap Capitol and needed a replacement. He created The Bold and the Beautiful, which debuted on Monday, March 23, 1987. B&B is known for its glamorous look as it was set in the fashion industry. It followed Y&R and has been a ratings success as well.
The Young and the Restless, Story Guidancemoreless
Following his head writing tenure on The Young and the Restless, Bell later served as the Exectutive Story Consultant with Head Writer Kay Alden from 1998-2005.
