Gloria Monty, 84, a soap opera director and producer who revived the ailing "General Hospital" and made it one of the most-watched daytime dramas of the 1980s, died March 30 at her home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. She had cancer.
Although unimposing physically -- she was once described as 5-foot-2 and weighing "85 pounds after a big meal" -- Ms. Monty was known for intimidating micromanagement. When an actress wore a blouse with a small, duck-shaped pin, Ms. Monty announced from the darkness of the control booth: "Lose the duck."
She also helped the show lose its wheezing organ music in favor of contemporary sounds. She brought in a Broadway set designer to improve the 1950s hospital look. And she cast sexy, young actors, including Demi Moore, Emma Samms and John Stamos, and moved the drama to location shots outside the hospital.
To free staid camera movement, Ms. Monty sometimes borrowed old techniques, such as using a handheld camera to show a scene from the perspective of a killer.
Her most daring decision concerned plot. Never was this more apparent than in having sweetheart Laura Baldwin (Genie Francis) raped on a lonesome dance floor in 1979 by tough guy Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary). In a shocking twist, Laura proceeded to fall in love with Luke. This culminated in their 1981 wedding, an event featured on Newsweek magazine's cover with the headline "TV's Hottest Show."
Despite protests from rape victims and counselors that the plotline glorified violence against women, Ms. Monty called the rape a "choreographed seduction."
Nearly 30 million viewers tuned in to the Luke and Laura nuptials, which also benefited from an appearance by a bejeweled, turban-wearing Elizabeth Taylor, a longtime fan who volunteered her services.
Ms. Monty and ABC executive Jacqueline Smith were credited with steering the program toward success, and under their guidance "General Hospital" won two Emmy Awards as outstanding daytime drama. People magazine reported in 1981 that the show earned more than $50 million annually, a quarter of ABC's profits.
Later, the show moved into the realm of action-adventure and science fiction. This led one critic to note bizarre thematic influences of "Tarzan" creator Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard, the author of "King Solomon's Mines" and "She."
Ms. Monty stepped down in 1987 to focus on other programming but was lured back in the early 1990s after "General Hospital" fell behind CBS's "The Young and the Restless" in the Nielsen ratings.
Saying she was "tired of all the WASP families" on television, she tried to infuse "General Hospital" with a class-conscious story line, but the show slumped further in the ratings. Not long after, she was said to have left for "personal reasons."
Gloria Montemuro, the daughter of an Italian immigrant builder, was born Aug. 12, 1921, and raised in Bergen County, N.J. A career in medicine was her early ambition "until I had to dissect a cat," she once said.
She was a graduate of New York University and received a master's degree in drama from Columbia University. She taught speech at the New School for Social Research, where her students included Marlon Brando ("a nice young man," she said).
Around this time, she married Robert O'Byrne, a writer with whom she started the Abbe Theatre School in New York. Their stock company's productions won good notices in the New York Times, but the enterprise "went broke," and Ms. Monty sought work in television.
In 1954, she began a 14-year job as director on "The Secret Storm," a CBS daytime drama. Ms. Monty tried to emphasize credibility despite outrageous plot developments. When drug addiction became a focus, she brought in a police narcotics specialist as a consultant. The officer, in turn, invited an addict for additional insight.
In early network television, Ms. Monty was sometimes viewed skeptically by her male co-workers. Once, when she wanted to hire a female assistant, she was told it would be too confusing for those listening on headphones to distinguish the women's voices.
She pointed out that nobody seemed to have trouble telling the difference when men spoke.
Over the years, she directed countless serials, specials and movies of the week. In the 1990s, she produced for television several Mary Higgins Clark novels.
Her husband died in 1991.
Survivors include a sister, Norma, who wrote for "General Hospital" and other shows.
