Gloria Monty, a groundbreaking producer who reinvented the ABC daytime drama General Hospital, turning it into a pop culture phenomenon, died last Thursday of cancer, in her Rancho Mirage, California, home. When she took over GH in 1978, the series was hovering on the brink of cancellation. Dubbed ABC’s Queen of Daytime, Monty was 84-years-old.

She was also controversial.  Her most daring storyline for GH had the characters Luke and Laura begin a romance after he raped her on the floor of a closed disco.  At the time, Monty’s critics accused her of glorifying violence against women.  Immune to criticism, the producer told the media, “Some people call it a rape.  We call it a seduction.”

Once a sluggish drama targeting middle-aged housewives, General Hospital under Monty’s guidance won a massive audience of teenagers and young adults.  The progressive producer added action-adventure and science fiction to plots; she quickened the pace, and hired attractive, younger actors.  She brought in a Broadway designer to modernize the set. 

Beyond her many contributions to daytime drama, Gloria Monty is said to have been the model for the motherly soap opera producer in the 1982 Dustin Hoffman classic motion picture Tootsie.