One Life to Live minor families
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- For related performers, see List of One Life to Live characters
Though the American soap opera One Life to Live has focused predominantly on the families of Victoria Lord, Asa Buchanan and Dorian Cramer, many other families have played a prominent role at one time or another in the show's long history.
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[edit] The Craigs
In 1968, Llanview Hospital's Chief of Staff, Dr. Jim Craig, fell in love with his pretty young patient, actress Carla Benari. A widower, Dr. Craig soon asked her to marry him; Carla accepted, knowing that she didn't love him as much as he did her.
Carla soon became attracted Dr. Price Trainor, an idealistic black intern. Price felt guilty and ashamed to have fallen in love with a white woman. But when Carla accidentally ran into Sadie Gray, the mother she had run away from as a teenager, it became clear that Carla was, in fact, Clara Gray: a light-skinned black woman trying to make it as an actress by passing herself off as white woman. Sadie forced her daughter to deal with the fact that she was engaged to a white doctor whom she was too guilty to love, while falling for a black doctor. Carla ended her engagement to Jim; an angry Price rejected Carla when he learned of her true heritage, and though they later reconciled, the relationship ultimately ended and Price left town in 1970.
Dr. Jim Craig fell in love with and married Anna Wolek. They married, and Anna soon clashed with Jim's rebellious teen daughter, Cathy. Cathy soon started abusing drugs, eventually persuading Jim to take her to Odyssey House in New York City for treatment.
[edit] The Dennisons
Tom Dennison (Joe Riley's long-lost twin brother) and his daughter MariLynn Dennison
[edit] The Gordons
The Gordon family consisted of Roger Gordon, Victoria Lord's childhood sweetheart, and his two daughters, Megan and Sarah.
Sarah Gordon (Buchanan) was the first member of the family to arrive in Llanview. She was a therapist specializing in training blind people to live without their sight. Sarah became a counselor to Clint Buchanan in late 1987, who had been blinded due to a gunshot wound to the head. Early on, Sarah stated that her desire to help the blind was inspired by working with an older sister Anna (never seen) who was blind since birth and died tragically young. Sarah started out as Tina's rival for Cord's affection, but Sarah & Cord never progressed far in their relationship. She later fell in love and married Bo Buchanan. Unfortunately, Sarah became a witness to the drug-trafficking activiites of Carlo Hesser, who kidnapped her, and was thought to have killed her. Sarah turned up alive (as is typical for soaps, she re-appeared just as Bo was proceeding down the altar with another woman - Cassie Callison.) Sarah & Bo divorced, but reconciled, all during a time in which Sarah was a major suspect in the (first!) murder investigation of Carlo Hesser. Tragically, Sarah was on her way to remarry Bo when she was killed for real by a hit & run driver.
Megan Gordon (Harrison) came to town a year after her sister. This was 1988, during the time when the soap-within-a-soap "Fraternity Row" was produced in Llanview. As an in-joke, Megan was a an actress who played the gooder-than-gold heroine on "Fraternity Row", but was in real life a petulant, self-absorbed prima dona. Soon after settling in Llanview, her father Roger revealed a secret about her paternity that changed her life forever (see below). Despite initially locking horns with him, Megan fell in love with Max Holden. But Max could never get Gabrielle out of his life, so Megan broke up with him. Megan also shared several humorous adventures with Marco Dane (although the pair never became lovers), mostly pitting them against Megan's nemesis Spring Skye, a rival soap diva. Megan briefly romanced the crown prince of Mendorra before meeting her true love - Jake Harrison (who was the half-brother of Max's half-sister Andy; Max and Jake were not related). After many exciting adventures together, Megan and Jake tied the knot. But Jake's private investigator job took him to the middle eastern country Jaba where he was imprisoned by a warlord. For months, Megan didn't know if he was alive or dead. Making matters worse, she became gravely ill with lupus. As Megan's prognosis worsened, Reverend Andrew Carpenter (who had fallen in love with Megan) went to Jaba to rescue Jake. Jake returned to Llanview in time for one last goodbye before Megan died. Megan's spirit however lives on in Llanview, and she has appeared several times in the form of a guardian angel to her friends & loved ones.
Roger Gordon, an archeologist, arrived on the scene determined to convince both his daughters to move away from Llanview with him. Just as he & Sarah were about to leave town (after having convinced Megan to follow them to California), Roger overheard news that Viki had found the long-lost daughter she had spent months searching for. Inexplicably, Roger changed his plans and refused to leave town! Roger knew that the 'long-lost daugher' was a fraud - because Megan was the real missing Lord heir.
As a child, Roger Gordon's family participated in Victor Lord's disastrous, secret 'Eterna' project (in which a small underground city was created under Llantano Mountain). Against the wishes of the Eterna citizens themselves, they were sealed off from the outside world and abandoned to die. Roger's parents managed to break their teenaged son out of imprisonment though. Once outside, Roger met and fell in love with a then-teenaged Victoria Lord. The teens married, made love, and Viki became pregnant with Roger's child. But Victor intervened, and instigated an accident that turned Viki into her alter ego 'Niki Smith' for many months. 'Niki' ran away to New York City and carried her baby to full term. Just as she was about to give birth, Victor tracked her down and forced her to return to Llanview with him. A very young Larry Wolek (still in med school at the time) delivered the baby Megan, and 'Niki' reverted to Viki immediately afterward. Victor hushed up the whole incident (including hiring a hypnotist to erase Viki's memory of the incident) and gave the baby to Roger. Roger later married Carrie Gordon, and the two passed Megan off as their own child. (Carrie was the birth mother of Sarah & Anna. She was already divorced from Roger when he arrived in Llanview. Carrie appeared only rarely.)
In the present day (1989 at the time), Roger confessed to Viki that Megan was their daughter. Megan was initially less than thrilled to hear the news (she & Viki did not get along), but then developed a close rapport with Viki and the Buchanan family (especially Viki's other daughter Jessica). Both Roger & Viki began to feel their old teenaged passions rekindling, even though Viki was married to Clint at the time. However, Roger eventually realized he could never have what he once had with Viki, so he left town and allowed Viki to get on with her life.
[edit] The Hessers
Carlo Hesser appeared on the scene in 1990. He was suave, debonair, appreciated high culture, but was also a ruthless mob boss. Carlo ran the local drug trade alongside Michael Grande, and had an infatuation with Renee Divine Buchanan (even though she detested him). Carlo also held a particular grudge against Viki Buchanan for her part in the death of his son (see below). He plagued the good citizens of Llanview for several years, but met his match in Alex Olanov. A one-time FBI agent turned criminal, Alex used FBI surveillence tapes to blackmail Carlo into marrying her. Although he resented her at first, Carlo warmed up to Alex - who kept him interested by indulging in S&M bondage sex-games. Carlo was then gunned down in 1992, setting off a long murder mystery with numerous suspects. The culprit was at last revealed to be Stephanie Hobart, Carlo's neice who had discovered that Carlo was responsible for the deaths of her parents.
During Carlo's reign of terror, he was joined in Llanview by his son Johnny Dee, and daughter Charlotte. Johnny Dee was Carlo's second lieutenant in the drug trade, and was obsessed with Tina Lord. He stalked her relentlessly and tried to kidnap her. At the time, Viki was suffering from a stroke and seemed helpless to stop Johnny from carrying Tina away. But Viki's alternate personality Niki Smith emerged, and was not affected by the stroke as Viki was. "Niki" shot & killed Johnny before he could escape with the unconscious Tina. For months, no-one could figure out who killed Johnny (as Viki, the only other person in the house, was supposedly confined to a wheelchair.) Carlo discovered the truth and several times sought to exact revenge against Viki.
Charlotte Hesser was kept out of the 'family trade' by Carlo. Still, she wreaked a fair amount of havoc in town. Charlotte took a shine to Jake Harrison, who was in love with Megan Gordon. When Sarah Gordon was kidnapped by Carlo, Jake pretended to court her in order to wheedle information out of her. But Charlotte turned the tables on him, and hustled him into marrying her (Charlotte told her that Carlo had put a hit out on Megan, and the only way to protect her was to do whatever it was she demanded of him). True love won out though, and Charlotte was forced to grant Jake his freedom.
After Carlo was killed (supposedly), Alex assumed control of his criminal empire. But she found running it difficult, especially being a woman who once worked in law-enforcement! She then discovered lowly museum curator Mortimer Bern, who was a dead-ringer for Carlo (in looks if not in temperament). Alex taught 'Mort' to masquerade as Carlo, so as to solidify her control over his criminal empire. But Mort was a little too much like Carlo in one way - he was in love with Renee! Renee encouraged Mort to stand up to Alex and resist her attempts to control him. Eventually, Mortimer's 'mother' Velma Burns confessed on her deathbed that Mort had been adopted, and was indeed the twin brother of Carlo.
Several years later (in 1996), Carlo Hesser came back to town for real. ("To quote Mark Twain," he told Alex "reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated") He wasted no time reverting to his old tricks, including carrying out a vendetta against Viki. He also managed to trick Asa into giving him $30 million by posing as a mysterious businessman known only as "Poseidon". When everyone else discovered that he was was back, Carlo gave a "reformed" attitude to the rest of Llanview in order to avoid trouble. After Alex divorced him to be with Asa, Carlo got pissed and teamed up with local criminal RJ Gannon and they caused trouble for the Buchanans. Carlo looked for someone worthy enough to take his place and chose newly reformed Antonio Vega to be his heir, and after several events forced Antonio to turn to Carlo for help, he made him his surrogate son. Todd Manning and Alex soon had their own reasons for wanting Carlo dead. A year later though, Carlo was shot & killed (again!) and another murder mystery ensued.
Carlo's dead body with a bullet wound in his head was found by Blair Cramer. Antonio seemed to be heading to the top of the suspect list, which had plenty of people on it. Mortimer came back to town as a witnes, and it was later revealed that Alex had been the one who shot and killed Carlo. Later, Mortimer disappeared with Asa's $30 million. He later returned and lured Alex away, although many wondered if he was actually Carlo in disguise. In 2001, Alex returned to town and said that Carlo had left her and disappeared with Asa's money- which meant that the person she had shot and killed was actually Mortimer Bern, and the real Carlo was the one whom she had gone away with.
When Mortimer, posing as Carlo, returned to lure Alex away with him, she had already worn out her welcome in Llanview, so she wanted to go with him. The pair made a videotaped farewell message to several longtime Llanview residents and sailed into the sunset. (But apparently things didn't work out too well for Carlo. When a comatose Dorian had an out-of-body experience and found herself at the gates of Hell, who was there to greet her but Carlo!)
It is unknown where Carlo was or what he was up to after he took with Asa's money and left Alex, but he reappeared briefly in 2005, this time as Asa's calling. Asa needed someone to take the fall, instead of himself, for having Blair committed to a mental hospital as an act of revenge, he thought it should be Carlo. Carlo wound up in Statesville prison, where it was soon revealed that he was the criminal mastermind behind Christian Vega's kidnapping, and captivity, as well as the person who brainwashed into killing Christian's cousin Tico Santi (who was living Llanview at this time when it was revealed that he had killed his father, drug lord Manuel Santi, accidentally killed his mother, and was revealed to be Antonio Vega's biological brother thus making Antonio and Christian cousins and not brothers). Carlo had also told Christian to kill Antonio, be just as he was about to, Christian stopped himself. "When you get back to Llanview, you must kill two people. Someone you love, and someone you hate" Carlo was instrumental in launching the 2005 riot at Statesville prison, but he was thankfully unsuccessful in escaping and remains incarcerated. He has not been seen since.
[edit] The Holdens
Max Holden came to Llanview in 1987 to seek a loan from family friend Maria Roberts, who agreed to give him the money he needed on the condition that Max lure Tina Lord away from her son, Cord. Max soon fell for Tina, but she could never get Cord out of her system; Max finally broke things off for good when, during their wedding ceremony, Tina accidentally said Cord's name. He would eventually rekindle his romance with former flame Gabrielle Medina, with whom he conceived a son, Al Holden. Max later lured Blair Cramer away from her husband of convenience, Asa Buchanan, but Max found true love in 1991 with Luna Moody, with whom he would have twin children, son Frankie and daughter Leslie. Sadly, Luna was killed in 1995.
Max's brother Steve Holden came to town in 1988 and soon became involved with (and married) Gabrielle. She still carried a torch for Max, however, and the relationship soon fell apart. Later that year at the double wedding of Cord and Tina and Asa and Renee Divine, Steve noticed that the wedding cake had been wired to explode (by Tina's crazy enemy, Ursula Blackwell). Steve threw himself in front to the bomb to protect his wife Brenda and was killed instantly as it exploded. Brenda later discovered she was pregnant with Steve's child.
Max's half-sister Andy Harrison came to town in 1989 with news of their mother Patricia's death; Max and Andy's volatile relationship eventually cooled before she left town in 1991. She would return in 1994 and become involved with fellow police officer Antonio Vega before leaving again in 1997.
[edit] The Medinas
Gabrielle Medina and her sinister father Dante came onto the canvas in 1987 when Gabrielle's former flame Max Holden reappeared in Argentina with his new girlfriend, Tina Lord. Dante was killed, and Gabrielle's sister Debra and scheming mother Julia followed her to Llanview in 1989. Debra became involved for a time with Cord Roberts before leaving town in 1990; Julia eventually confessed to the murder of Du Ann Demerest, and went to prison in 1992.
Gabrielle had a son, Al, with Max, and was initially duped by Tina into letting Tina pass the child off as her own. Gabrielle thought Tina would be raising the child with Max; Tina actually pretended the child was hers with Cord, hoping to reconcile with him. The truth eventually came out.
Gabrielle went to jail in 1991, but returned to Llanview dramatically in 2001 as the wife of Asa Buchanan. She was tragically murdered in 2004 after suffering through the death of her son Al and finally finding happiness in a relationship with Bo Buchanan.
[edit] The Moodys
Darlene "Luna" Moody literally fell from the heavens into Llanview society in 1992. She was skydiving, and her parachute was blown off-course so that she landed on the yard of the Llanview country club during a gala event. Luna was a devoted wiccan who believed in reincarnation and the spirit world. She hosted a radio talk show and ran the Serenity Springs health spa. The spa was situated on land owned by Max Holden, whom Luna immediately fell for. Max was infatuated with Blair Daimler (who was married to his arch-enemy Asa Buchanan), but eventually realized that Luna was his soul-mate. Luna once wrestled with the spectre of Death for Max's soul, and Max in turn confronted the ghost of Luna's deceased first husband before finally being wed in a joint Christian/wiccan ceremony presided over by Rev. Carpenter and a pagan priestess. Luna gave birth to twins - Frankie (who was later revealed to be deaf) and Lesley - before being killed herself when she was inadvertently struck with a bullet during a gangland fight. She was memorialized when a statue of an angel bearing her likeness was sculpted and put on display in Angel Square.
Several of Luna's brothers followed her to Llanview. Tyler "Ty" Moody came to work on Serenity Springs during the summer of 1993. Ty was more traditional than either Luna or Max, and objected to their living together without being married. Ty also discovered that the mischievous Alex Olanov was behind the 'haunting' of Serenity Springs (Alex was trying to drive away Max & Luna's business, so that the spa would close and Asa - whom Alex was seeking to seduce - would be able to take over). Alex led Ty on, pretending to be interested in him. But Ty finally realized that Alex didn't care about him and left town.
Dylan Moody came to town when Luna was suffering from a spinal injury. He helped her during her convalescence, and then romanced Marty Sayebrooke. Dylan and Marty married, but Marty was really in love with Patrick Thornhart. Following their divorce, Dylan ran a youth center in Angel Square (a neighborhood riddled with gang violence at the time). Tragically, Luna took the bullet that was really intended for Dylan.
Luna's brother Bascombe Moody only appeared briefly in Llanview, but made his presence felt. Bascomb blamed Max for Luna's near-crippling spinal injury and beat him up. He tended to dislike Max, whom he thought was bad for his sister. Nevertheless, he did attend Max and Luna's wedding.
During her time as a Llanview radio announcer, Luna hosted an annual Valentine's Day music show spotlighting songs about love. For several years after her death, Andrew Carpenter & Renee Divine hosted the Valentine's Day show in her honor. Like Megan Gordon, Luna's spirit took on the form of a guardian angel, watching over & caring for her still-living friends and loved ones in Llanview.
[edit] The O'Neills
In 1984, Harry O'Neill and his daughters Didi, Connie and Joy were a hard-working family who worked at the Lord-Manning plant, which Clint and Viki Buchanan were considering closing for financial reasons. Eldest daughter Didi married Bo Buchanan (his first marriage), but was electrocuted on a high-voltage fence during an incident involving the notorious Jamie Sanders. Youngest daughter, Joy, was one of the many disciples of cult-leader Mitch Laurence.
[edit] The Rappaports
Nora Buchanan's former flame Sam Rappaport came to town in 1998. That year, Nora's husband Bo Buchanan was devastated when his son Drew, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty. Nora hoped to conceive a child to give Bo a reason to live; out of desperation she turned to Sam. The pregnancy pulled Bo back onto his feet, but he and Nora later divorced when it was revealed that Nora's son Matthew had been fathered by Sam.
Sam's ex-wife Lindsay Rappaport followed him to Llanview in 1998, immediately sparking a rivalry with Nora (with whom Sam had cheated on Lindsay in the past). Much to everyone's surprise, she married Clint Buchanan suddenly in 1999; the marriage fell apart quickly as Clint tired of Lindsay's manipulative ways. Lindsay's business partnership with Dorian Lord blossomed into friendship, and Lindsay's friendship with Nora's former brother-in-law (and sometimes criminal) R.J. Gannon got her in (and out of) her share of trouble.
Sam and Lindsay's son Will Rappaport arrived in 1998 and befriended Jessica Buchanan, who later became pregnant with his child while involved with Cristian Vega. When Dorian Lord accidentally ran down Jessica with her car, Jessica survived but lost her unborn child (later named Megan).
Sam and Lindsay's rebellious daughter Jennifer Rappaport appeared in 2001, becoming involved with Al Holden, being engaged to Cristian Vega and marrying Rex Balsom and Joey Buchanan. She had a tempestuous relationship with her mother Lindsay, but became close to her father's girlfriend Nora (and Nora's son with Sam, Matthew).
Will left town in 2001, but would return briefly in 2003 and 2005 for two family tragedies. Sam died in 2003, and it was revealed that Matthew was, in fact, Bo Buchanan's son. Jennifer had somewhat settled down and started dating Riley Colson in 2005, but was murdered by Riley's father (and Nora's husband) Daniel Colson in his effort to cover up a murder he had committed (and his homosexuality).
[edit] The Rileys
In 1968, reporter Joe Riley clashed with icy heiress Viki Lord, who had little interest in romance and focused her time and energy on her work at The Banner. They soon started falling in love, but publisher Victor Lord disapproved of his daughter becoming involved with the working-class Riley and did all he could to keep them apart. Torn between pleasing her father and following her heart, Viki began getting headaches — and mysterious, threatening notes telling her to end her relationship with Joe.
Secretly plagued by multiple personality disorder, Viki (as alter ego Niki Smith) became involved with Joe's best friend, Vincent "Vinny" Wolek. In love with Niki, a heartbroken Vinny learned the truth and told Viki about her other personality. Viki sought medical treatment and, as her mental illness seemed under control, she went ahead with her plans to marry Joe. But during the wedding in June 1969, Niki reemerged and fled the ceremony with an ecstatic Vinny. When he urged Niki to marry him, however, Niki's own panic resulted in Viki regaining control. She returned to Joe. During more intensive therapy, Viki remembered writing the notes (as Niki), and finally recalled the childhood memory that had apparently caused her personality to splinter. Now freed by the truth, Viki married Joe.
In 1970, Joe began investigating Llanview's increasing drug trade for The Banner. While making inquiries in California, Joe's car went over a cliff; his body was never found, but he was presumed dead. Viki was devastated. She signed papers declaring Joe dead in 1972, which shocked Vinny Wolek and Joe's sister Eileen, both of whom had refused to give up the hope that Joe was alive.
Joe Riley reappeared in time to watch Viki marry another man, Banner editor Steve Burke. As she and Steve returned from their honeymoon, she got the news that Joe was alive, and fainted. In love with (and married to) two different men, Viki eventually chose to remain loyal to Steve in 1973. Heartbroken and still in love with Viki, Joe took up with Cathy Craig.
[edit] The Sanders
When Judith Russell Sanders (played by Louise Sorel) first arrived in town, she and husband Charles Sanders were already separated; he quickly followed, hoping to reconcile and save their marriage. Judith (sister to Jon Russell, a private investigator involved with Dorian Lord) was a free-spirited idealistic lawyer who never truly fit into the conservative, aristocratic lifestyle maintained by Charles, who was the ambassador to the (fictional) European monarchy Mendorra. Judith also frequently locked horns with Elizabeth Sanders, Charles' domineering, manipulative mother, played by Edge of Night alum, Lois Kibbee.
Charles and Judith couldn't resolve their differences, and divorced — much to Elizabeth's delight. Judith subsequently had an affair with Herb Callison, while Charles romanced Dorian as part of a money-making scheme. When Dorian realized he was using her, she turned the tables on him by revealing that he had had an affair with a member of Mendorra's royal family. Charles was replaced as ambassador by Dorian herself. Later, Charles eloped with Lee Halpern during a drunken night in Las Vegas, and died of a heart attack on their wedding night. Judith was distrought by Charles' death and left town soon afterward. Lee, however, remained in town a while longer in order to torment Elizabeth.
Charles and Judith had two children; noble, heroic Kate (played by a then-unknown Marcia Cross) and sleazy; spoiled Jamie. Kate was an anthropologist with a taste for adventure, and fell in love with Cord Roberts (who was then married to the scheming Tina Lord). When Tina was believed to be dead, Kate accepted Cord's proposal. But just as their wedding ceremony was coming to an end, Tina abruptly burst into the chapel — very much alive and carrying a baby she claimed to be Cord's son. While Cord sought a divorce from Tina, Kate became entangled with Patrick London, her ex-fiance, who stooped to insane measures to break up Cord and Kate. He didn't need to bother though; as Kate came to realize Cord loved Tina, she broke up with him and left Llanview.
Jamie was Kate's polar opposite. Mean-spirited and rotten, he played on his mother Judith's sympathies to bail him out of one fix after another. Eventually though, his criminal ways (including running a crack factory, killing a fellow cocaine dealer and kidnapping Cassie Callison) caught up with him and he was sent to Statesville Prison for a life sentence. Even in jail, he was a menace: he threatened Tina when she was wrongly imprisoned for the murder of Maria Roberts, broke out and shot Clint Buchanan, and led a widescale prison riot.
Charles had one other son — Geoff McGrath — the illegitimate product of his affair with a Mendorran royalty. Geoff kept his true identity a secret for several months while he ran a legal service for low-income, working-class people. Geoff became close to Judith, but when she left town, he simply faded out of the storyline.
Elizabeth stuck around the longest. After Asa Buchanan led a successful hostile takeover of her Sanders Industries, she sought revenge. She masterminded a bizarre takeover scheme in which an impostor (actually Patrick London), masquerading as Bo Buchanan, infiltrated the Buchanan family, drugged Asa, and stealthily sold off the Buchanan family assetts, until all that was left would be Sanders Industries. The plot was foiled however, and Elizabeth went to jail. She later appeared as part of an army of prisoners whom her grandson Jamie helped escape from jail. That adventure was the last anyone heard of the Sanders family.
[edit] The Siegels
In 1972, lawyer and longtime Llanview resident Dave Siegel managed to get Steve Burke acquitted for the accidental death of his secretary. Unbeknownst to Dave, the crucial evidence came from a surprising source: Dave's presumed-dead brother-in-law, Joe Riley. Dave's wife (and Joe's sister) Eileen Riley Siegel had never given up hope that Joe was alive, and she was overjoyed when he finally appeared.
Dave suffered a massive heart attack and died in 1973; Eileen turned to painkillers to get through the ordeal. Eventually she sought treatment from Dr. Dorian Cramer.
[edit] The Vernons
Dr. Will Vernon was a resident psychotherapist at Llanview General Hospital - which is a laugh given the twisted dynamics of his immediate family. Before arriving in Llanview in 1976, he'd already had one mistress, prompting his neurotic wife Naomi to attempt suicide. Will was genuinely remorseful over the consequences of his actions, and wanted to mend fences with his wife. However, Naomi was a passive-aggressive manipulator who never let him forget his sins. Moreover, Naomi was furiously jealous at the close relationship Will seemed to have with his assistant Jenny Wolek. Fearful that Will might leave her, Naomi concocted a fake suicide attempt in order to elicit her husband's sympathy. Unfortunately, her plan went awry and she actually did die as a result of taking too many sleeping pills.
Will & Naomi's son Brad ("the Cad") was once on the fast-track to become a major tennis star. An elbow injury cut his pro-athlete dreams short though. Bitter and self-pitying, Brad became a ne'er-do-well lothario. He romanced several young women about town, chief among them cocktail waitress Lana McCain, and Jenny Wolek. Jenny resisted his advances, but that only made him all the more determined to win her over. Eventually Jenny did fall for him, but by then Lana was pregnant with Brad's child. During a quarrel, Brad accidentally caused Lana's death. Fearful that he might be blamed for murdering her, Brad coaxed Jenny into providing him an alibl for the time Lana died. The police didn't buy it and Brad went to trial. Jenny was called to testify against Brad, but refused on the grounds that she had eloped with Brad the night before - and as his wife, couldn't be asked to speak against him in court. Nevertheless, Brad went to jail for manslaughter. When she realized how she'd been used, Jenny sought an annulment. But after visiting him in jail numerous times, Jenny became convinced that he'd had changed. She stuck with the marriage when he was released from jail, and became pregnant by him. But if Brad had changed at all, it was for the worse - he raped Jenny's sister Karen, and pressured Karen into remaining quiet by telling Karen that Jenny was suffering a difficult pregnancy, and any upsetting news might cause her to miscarry. (Ironically, when Jenny learned about the rape, she went into early labor and DID end up losing the baby.) Jenny left Brad, and he eventually mellowed out. He dated Georgianna Whitmore, an auto mechanic, ran the 'Vernon Inn' for several years, and later married Joy O'Neill (sister of Didi and Connie.)
Samantha Vernon, Brad's little sister, resented her father and seemed to be always on the search for a surrogate 'dad.' She chased the much older Tony Lord around town for a while. After Tony finally lost his temper and told her off, the devastated girl got into a car crash (one that scarred her, and resulted in the death of Pamela Cross - her father's fiancee.) After leaving town for corrective plastic surgery, Samantha returned to marry the much, much, MUCH older Asa Buchanan. Unbeknown to Samantha (or Asa's sons Clint & Bo for that matter), Asa's first wife Olympia was still alive and refused to grant him a divorce. Thus Asa imprisoned her, and his marriage to Samantha was a bigamist affair. Olympia escaped several times and attempted to kill either Asa or Samantha, but was foiled and returned to her imprisonment time and again. Finally, the truth about Olympia came out, and Samantha divorced Asa. Samantha later fell in love with Rafe Garretson (Asa's nephew, who had served as Olympia's jailor) and married him. Samantha was pregnant with Rafe's child when a traumatic accident left her brain-dead. The child she was carrying was artificially inseminated into her friend Delila Ralston (another one of Asa's halpess brides), and Sam's father Will shut off her life-support. The baby that Delila eventually bore was a girl whom she & Rafe named Samantha in honor of her biological mother. Samantha was seen again however as one of many former friends who appeared to Viki as angels during the famed 'Heaven' storyline.
