Margaret DePriest, Emmy-Nominated writer for 'General Hospital', dies at 94

Margaret DePriest, an acclaimed actress-turned-soap opera writer whose creative vision helped define decades of daytime television, has died at 94.

Her daughter, Sara Kimbell, confirmed that DePriest passed away of natural causes on September 29 at her Greenwich Village home.

Born April 19, 1931, in Bristow, Oklahoma, DePriest was one of seven children. Her parents, Drusilla and Oscar, never learned to read or write, yet her childhood was filled with music — folk icon Woody Guthrie often joined her father on their porch to sing.

DePriest earned a full drama scholarship to the University of Oklahoma and later acted in Dallas before moving to New York in the 1950s with her first husband, actor-singer Glenn Kezer.

She appeared off-Broadway in The Crucible and in 1965 won an Obie Award for The Place for Chance while starring on The Edge of Night.

After acting on several series, she shifted to writing, co-creating Where the Heart Is in 1969. Over the next three decades, she became a trailblazing head writer for General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, All My Children, Another World, and One Life to Live.

Known for “writing like a man,” DePriest shaped enduring storylines, including Days of Our Lives’ “Salem Strangler” and the Bo and Hope wedding. She earned five Daytime Emmy nominations and was admired for crafting “strong female leads and layered storylines that tackled social change, class and identity.”

DePriest is survived by her daughter, Sara; son, Jake; son-in-law Wayne; and grandchildren Eli and Chaya. “My mom began every morning with The New York Times crossword — in pen,” Kimbell said.