Zach Slater

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Zachary "Zach" Slater is a fictional character on the daytime drama All My Children. He has been portrayed by Thorsten Kaye since May 20, 2004.

1 Character history
2 Lifeline
3 Family, marriages & romantic entanglements
4 Parents
5 Siblings
6 Marital status
7 Past marriages
8 Children
9 Other relatives
10 Flings & relationships
11 See also
12 References

[edit] Character history

Zach Slater was born Alexander Cambias, Jr. Growing up, Zach felt the tyrannical rule of his father, Alexander Senior. Alexander expected his eldest son to run the family empire as Alexander saw fit, a life Zach did not want to lead. With the help of his younger brother Michael, Zach faked his death and adopted the new identity of Zach Slater (the name of a boarding school friend).

Zach worked odd jobs and eventually built his own empire of casinos. (It was later revealed that the casino was won from Marshall Rodner in a card game). Zach met Maria Santos Grey and the two fell in love. Maria was suffering from amnesia, and going by the name Maureen Gorman. Maureen couldn't remember her past, and Zach wanted to forget his. Their desire to live for the moment drew the two together and fed their love. Their affair was cut short when David Hayward, who was trying to hide Maria from being discovered by her family, lied and told her the police were closing in on her (from an imagined murder David told Maria she committed, to keep her on the run). Maria was forced to leave Zach. Zach assumed he would never see her again.

Years later, Zach learned that Michael had been murdered following an extended stay in Pine Valley. Soon Erica Kane, one of Michael's many enemies and a suspect in his murder, arrived at his casino for an extended stay. Zach kept close tabs on Erica as he researched her family and all those in Pine Valley that had reason to hate Michael. During the course of his research, he found that his beloved Maureen was living in Pine Valley, having regained her memory. Zach traveled east to Pine Valley, where he made plans to open a casino outside of town.

Zach made his presence known to Maria, who was affected at the sight of him. The feelings between the two were strong, and Zach wanted to resume their relationship, but Maria explained she was married. She did not tell her husband Edmund, now paralyzed in a wheelchair, that she had a relationship with Zach during the time she was away from Pine Valley. Edmund eventually discovered Maria and Zach's past, building enmity between Zach and Edmund.

Zach met Bianca Montgomery and grew to like and respect her. Bianca had killed Michael, which Zach had trouble comprehending given her kind and compassionate nature. Zach was unable to accept that Michael had become a monster, assaulting women and ruining lives. The Michael that Zach remembered was a sweet, trustworthy young man. Zach was convinced that someone close to Bianca---Erica, or Bianca's sister Kendall Hart---had killed Michael. He had lots of enemies in the town and Zach was not impressed by the moral composition of the residents. At the grand opening of his casino, Zach designed a murder mystery game whose elements were similar to the Michael Cambias murder case. Watching via security cameras, Zach hoped to weed out the real killer by observing them play a game similar in design to Michael's real death. Maria discovered him and confronted him on his action, and Zach revealed to her that he was Michael's brother. During the course of the murder mystery game, Ryan Lavery was shot by an unknown assailant.

Maria tried to convince Zach that Bianca did kill Michael, and that Michael was a horrible man. Maria promised Zach that she would help him accept the truth about Michael and come to terms with it. Edmund did not want Maria around Zach, so Maria had to keep her meetings with Zach a secret. Finally Zach was able to accept the monster Michael had become, and broke down in Maria's arms. Erica saw the two together and reported everything to Edmund. Furious that his wife continued to see Zach when she promised she wouldn't, Edmund initiated divorce proceedings. Despite his strong feelings towards her, Zach respected Maria's determination to make her marriage work.

Zach was shocked when Ethan Ramsey arrived in town claiming to be Alexander Cambias Junior's son. Ethan's story, of Alexander Junior impregnating maid Hannah Nichols, only to die soon after, rang true with Zach. He remembered sleeping with Hannah before faking his death. Zach had Ethan's DNA tested in secret and learned that they were father and son. Shortly after, Zach announced to the whole town that he was really Alexander Cambias Junior, and apologized to Bianca for Michael's actions. Zach told Ethan that they were not father and son.. Zach later confessed to Maria that Ethan was his son, but he would deny Ethan the Cambias name at all costs, for he did not want the Cambias money to corrupt Ethan as it did Michael and their father.

Ethan was arrested for shooting Ryan Lavery, and Zach worked behind the scenes to clear him. While Ethan was incarcerated, Zach took shots at Ryan and his wife Greenlee Smythe. Zach was confident that doing so while Ethan was still in prison would weaken the case against Ethan. Ethan was granted bail. Ryan accused Zach of taking the shots at him, and wondered if Zach was responsible for both shootings.

Zach remained determined to keep Ethan from obtaining the Cambias name, and wanted him to leave town as soon as he was cleared of the charges against him. To that effect, Zach tried to convince Kendall (now dating Ethan) to break up with him, so Ethan would leave town once he was cleared of the charges against him. Kendall refused, and the ordeal only brought Ethan and Kendall closer, while building the animosity between Ethan and Zach.

Determined to get Kendall out of Ethan's life (and in doing so, get Ethan out of town), Zach presented compelling evidence to Ryan that would suggest that Kendall was responsible for poisoning Greenlee. Zach was also elated when Miranda, Bianca and Michael's presumed dead daughter, was revealed to be alive. Ethan had his DNA tested against Miranda and learned he was Zach's son. Ethan confronted Zach over denying him and declared war.

Maria resisted her feelings for Zach and told him that she was reconciling with Edmund. Zach respected her wish, but soon discovered security footage that showed the wheelchair bound Edmund could walk, and had been lying to Maria about his paralysis. Zach prepared to tell Maria, but was waylaid by Ethan in the Wildwind barn. The two fought and Ethan knocked Zach out. When he awoke, the barn was on fire and Edmund was unconscious on the ground. Zach nearly died in the fire, but Ethan saved him. Edmund died from his injuries and Ethan lied and told the police he witnessed Zach kill Edmund. Zach told Maria that Edmund was lying to her and could walk, but she refused to believe Zach and accused him of murdering Edmund out of jealousy. Zach was arrested. Zach, feeling betrayed by his son and the women he loved, confessed to the murder as a way to hurt them. Lily Montgomery, who had actually witnessed the crime, came forward and declared that Zach was innocent. Zach was cleared of the crime. Maria apologized to Zach for not believing him, but he was hurt by her lack of faith in his innocence. Slowly the tension between them melted, as Maria admitted to Zach that she never stopped loving him, but that her focus had to be on repairing her damaged relationship with her children. The two former lovers parted with a final kiss goodbye.

Zach sued Ethan for control of Cambias Industries, which Ethan had assumed control of. As revenge, Ethan had Zach's casino shut down. Kendall had broken up with Ethan, disgusted over his lies about Zach's guilt. Zach proposed to Kendall that they marry as the ultimate form of payback to Ethan. Additionally, Kendall would regain Zach's gaming licenses for him, help him run the casino, and would keep Bianca and Miranda's interest in Cambias Industries after Zach had regained control. Kendall agreed and the two were married in secret. Shortly after, Ethan made a loving plea to Kendall to reunite, but Zach dropped the bombshell that he had married Kendall. A furious Ethan fought Zach, and declared his father dead to him.

Shocked by the depth of his son's pain, Zach called off his lawsuit to regain Cambias. He offered to let Kendall out of their marriage, but Kendall chose to remain married to Zach, desperate for a loveless marriage as a means to keep her away from the inevitable pain that love brings. Zach and Kendall began to develop genuine feelings for each other, but neither one wanted to admit it. Kendall turned on Zach after learning that he was responsible for the blackout that had resulted in Kendall having herself implanted with Ryan's sperm so that she could give Ryan and Greenlee a baby, and the two divorced. Zach was also devastated to lose his son, Ethan, in the Mardi Gras ball explosion. He encountered Dixie Cooney Martin at the cemetery, and soon became enmeshed in her quest to get certain information from Dr. Greg Madden. Zach had a motive of his own -- he wanted to make sure that Greg could never hurt Kendall.

Zach 'kidnapped' Kendall from Madden's island of pregnant surrogates and took her on a boat ride, where the two of them remarried. Once they returned to Pine Valley, Kendall was seriously injured in an accident at Fusion. Determined to do what he could to make sure that Kendall's son (nicknamed Spike) survived, Zach barricaded himself in her hospital room to give Spike enough time to be healthy. Luckily Spike managed to make it safely through childbirth, even though he was very weak, but Zach faced criminal charges for what he did. A contribution to the judge's campaign saved Zach from jail time, but he faced Kendall's ire over his refusal to seek vengeance against J.R. because of a promise he had made Dixie. Kendall was finally able to understand Zach's vow to Dixie and offered to assist herself in helping Dixie find her daughter as thanks for Dixie giving Zach the information he had needed to save her from Madden.

Zach is currently the "target" of a deranged serial killer who has killed Simone Torres and Erin Lavery, and the attempted murders of Danielle Frye and Babe Carey, employees of Fusion. Also murdered was Dixie Cooney Martin. Zarf, a transgender rock star was found to have had pictures of Zach's late mother in his London apartment. He is also Haunted by the memories of his mothers death and thinks that is somehow resulting in the Fusion Murders. Zach had been convinced that Zarf was the killer and had been stopping at nothing to prove this. However, as of February 2007, Soap Opera Digest has reported that Alexander Cambias, Sr., Zach's father, is the Satin Slayer. Zach went to Las Vegas with Kendall and had his father's grave opened. They were shocked to discover that the casket was empty. Zach's father is still alive.