"All My Children" has cast Iraq war veteran JR Martinez in the role of Brot Monroe on the Emmy Award-winning daytime drama, according to a press release from ABC.

"We are honored and delighted to welcome JR Martinez to the cast of 'All My Children,'" states executive producer Julie Hanan Carruthers. "JR represents the best of the human spirit. His commitment to help his fellow service men and women and their families has inspired us all. JR's challenging journey and resilience will bring a uniquely authentic perspective to the role of Brot Monroe."

In the story, Brot served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and was injured in combat. While serving, he fell in love with Lt. Taylor Thompson (Beth Ehlers). Due to the extent of his injuries, Brot made the decision to allow Taylor to believe he had died, not wanting to subject her to the reality of his injuries. The character's injury was determined by Mr. Martinez's personal injuries. After many surgeries and recovery, Brot returns to find his fiancee has been grieving her loss, not knowing Brot is actually still alive. Mr. Martinez's first airdate is Nov. 7. On Nov. 9, the show will air a special episode featuring additional real-life Iraq war veterans in a series of unscripted support group scenes in which the veterans will share their unique stories and journeys.

In February 2003, Mr. Martinez was deployed to Iraq and in April 2003, while serving as a driver of a Humvee, the tire hit a landmine and he suffered severe burns to more than 40 percent of his body. After spending 34 months in the hospital and undergoing 32 different surgeries, he is now a national spokesperson for the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes, to promote and support programs helping other wounded service members.

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Props are a very important part of a soap set. Once when I was on the set of "Bold and Beautiful," a photo of a character who had been replaced was set up on the Forrester family mantle. The picture shown was of the previous actor. One of the other actors on the set spotted the mistake and took the photo off the mantle. A union member said he was not allowed to do that. After a 10-minute fight, a union stagehand had to put up the old photo. Then he put up the picture of the new actor. Sometimes the mistakes of a prop department can be tragic.

In a mid-October episode of "General Hospital: Night Shift," Toussaint studied a photo of his long-lost son. The prop photo chosen was that of 6-year-old Christopher Barrios, who was kidnapped and murdered in 2007. "We offer our deepest condolences to the Barrios family for their loss, and our sincerest apologies for any pain caused by our mistake," said a statement from the network. SOAPnet will be running PSAs to raise awareness about missing and exploited children and will permanently edit out the photo from the episode.

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"All My Children's" Rebecca Budig (Greenlee) has decided to leave the show when her one-year contract is up in February. Budig, who created the role of Greenlee, left the show after she married Bob Guiney. The couple makes their home in L.A; AMC is taped in New York. Sabine Singh replaced Budig, but when Budig became available, AMC took her back. Singh was fine, but Budig has been amazing as "Greens." She has a character you can love and hate at the same time. In fact, the role of Greenlee was only supposed to last a week. Within two weeks they made her a major Pine Valley player. She turned out to be Jack's daughter, Ryan's love interest and Kendall's BFF. As for Budig's decision to exit AMC, a two-coast marriage may sound romantic for six months or if you have been married 40 years, but for a young bride and groom it gets a bit wearing.

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Frank Runyeon (ex-Steve, "As the World Turns") is set to play Reece's (Tamara Braun) dad on "All My Children." Reece, Bianca's lover and fiancee, has not told her about-to-be spouse that daddy dearest has very negative feelings about his daughter's lifestyle. In real life, the very affable Runyeon has an unusual talent: He dresses up in a tuxedo, sits down at a grand piano, takes out two half-oranges and plays Rachmaninoff. Look, ma! I'm using no fingers on the piano! I'm playing with oranges!

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"Days of Our Lives" has hired Chris Whitesell to serve as co-head writer with Dena Higley. Higley, as you may recall, was one of the main reasons Ed Scott was let go as "Days'" producer. Higley complained that Scott had allowed actors to change her words. It even became a cause celebre with the Writers Guild. Now Higley will not be sharing writing duties with the producer but with another writer. Whitesell, by the way, has worked as a producer; over 20 years ago, he produced "Guiding Light."

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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