Greg and Jenny Nelson

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Greg (Laurence Lau) and Jenny (Kim Delaney) on their wedding day — Valentine's Day, 1984.
Greg (Laurence Lau) and Jenny (Kim Delaney) on their wedding day — Valentine's Day, 1984.

Greg Nelson and Jenny Gardner were a Supercouple on the American soap opera All My Children. Greg was played by Laurence Lau and Jenny was played by Kim Delaney.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The two met in 1981, after Jenny moved to Pine Valley with her mother, Opal (then played by Dorothy Lyman). They were attracted to each other, but they moved slowly due to four factors:

  • Jenny was younger than Greg. In 1981, Greg was a senior in high school while Jenny was only fifteen.
  • They came from different economic backgrounds. Jenny was middle-class while Greg came from a rich family in Pine Valley.
  • Greg's ex-girlfriend, Liza Colby (Marcy Walker), refused to allow Greg and Jenny to be happy together and schemed to displace her at all costs.
  • Greg's mother, Enid Nelson (Natalie Ross) was a snob who thought that Jenny was not good enough for her son.

In 1982, Liza had almost succeeded in winning Greg back, but Jenny returned from vacation and his infatuation grew even stronger. Liza rigged the Miss Junior Pine Valley contest so she would win instead of Jenny; this did not deter Greg, who eventually told Jenny that he loved her and wanted to marry her.

Jenny eventually found out that her father, Ray Gardner (Gil Rodgers), who she thought was dead, was in fact in prison for rape. Liza found out about this, and threatened to tell Greg unless Jenny got out of his life. Jenny ran away to New York City, followed by her friend Jesse Hubbard (Darnell Williams), who had been falsely accused of rape by Liza, who hated him for his friendship with Jenny. Jesse saved Jenny from being forced into making a pornographic movie, and the two stood up for each other against the odds in the big city. Their summer in New York is considered one of the greatest storylines in the history of All My Children. Eventually, Jenny and Greg were reunited, as were Jesse and his love, Angie Hubbard (Debbi Morgan).

Greg and Jenny (Laurence Lau and Kim Delaney)
Greg and Jenny (Laurence Lau and Kim Delaney)

Greg suffered a fall in 1983 and was paralyzed from the waist down. He wanted the best for Jenny so he broke up with her and encouraged her to go to New York and pursue modeling. Jenny went to the big city and eventually was engaged to another model, Tony Barclay (Brent Barrett), even though she still loved Greg.

When Greg regained the use of his legs in 1984, he went to see Jenny so he could salvage what they had together. They were reconciled and Jenny broke her engagement to Tony. Shortly thereafter, Greg and Jenny were married. Tony was angry that Greg had come back into Jenny's life, so he plotted to kill him.

Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight), Jenny's biological brother, had scheduled a day of fun for Greg and Jenny at Willow Lake just outside of town. Tony wired Greg's jet ski to explode, but at the last minute, Jenny switched machines with Greg and she ended up being the victim. She died at Pine Valley Hospital, with Greg at her side.

A few weeks later, Greg thought that he saw Jenny again, but it turned out to be another girl who looked like her, hired by his mother to help him to get over his grief.

Two years later in 1986, Greg left Pine Valley for Washington.

In 1994, Jenny returned as a ghost with Jesse, who was shot and killed, to help Tad escape the twister in which the Martin house is destroyed. Tad did indeed escape with Jenny and Jesse and they subsequently returned to Heaven.