William Joseph Bell (March 6, 1927 – April 29, 2005) was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known as the creator of the soap operas Another World, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful. Early life Bell was born and raised in Chicago as an only child. His father was an accountant for the Link-Belt Company. His mother was primarily a homemaker, with a part-time job with Mrs. Steven's Candies. (In later years, his parents adopted a daughter.) Bell grew up listening to radio soap operas when he came home from school for lunch and late at night, including Life Can Be Beautiful, The Romance of Helen Trent and Our Gal Sunday. As a depression-era child, he would work at various odd jobs on weekends to help the family. In high school, he participated in the ROTC. After serving in the Navy as a corpsman, he attended the University of Michigan. Career Chicago radio writer At the age of 21, Bell worked at WJJD radio as a writer for two shows, with the focus being teen problems. That work led him to seek a job at WBBM radio as a comedy writer; specifically, character-oriented comedy, rather than jokes. He worked there for about three years. Advertising industry Bell went to McCann Erickson, then the second-largest advertising agency worldwide. He wrote radio and television commercials for Standard Oil of Indiana, the agency's biggest account; he was subsequently promoted to account executive, responsible for five small accounts. After three years there. Bell was offered an account executive position with Cunningham & Walsh. Procter and Gamble Productions During his time as a comedy writer at WBBM radio in Chicago, he made a call to Irna Phillips' secretary Rose Cooperman asking her if Phillips had an opening for a writer, as she was a well-known soap opera creator and Bell had become aware that Phillips also resided in Chicago. Cooperman said Phillips did have an opening. While Bell was composing a sample script, he was informed that the writer who was supposedly leaving had decided to stay, so the writing job was not available. Later, during the time that Bell was in the advertising business, he ran into Phillips' niece. She mentioned him to her aunt and Phillips remembered who he was; she also knew his wife, who was a well-known celebrity due to her work on local television.