Hillary Bauer was a fictional character that lived in the town of Springfield on the CBS daytime drama Guiding Light. She was a member of the core Bauer family, being the daughter of Bill Bauer and his Canadian mistress Simone Kincaid, thus half-sister to Mike and Ed Bauer and step-daughter of Bert Bauer. Hillary’s longtime best friend was kooky Nurse Katie Parker. The role of Hillary Bauer was originated by Linda McCullough in 1977, but is most often associated with Marsha Clark, who played Hillary from March 1978 to September 1984, when the popular character was killed off in an explosion. Hillary was created by Guiding Light 's then-head writers Bridget and Jerome Dobson.
Hillary first arrived in Springfield in late 1977 to do a nursing internship at Cedars. Little did she know how much her arrival in Springfield would shake up her own world, as well as others'. Her father, "Bill Kincaid" was at first reluctant to visit her in Springfield, and only when an emergency appendectomy caused him to at last rush to town to be by Hillary's bedside did he finally visit her. Bill was hesitant to meet any of Hillary's new friends and colleagues, particularly Dr. Ed Bauer, Ed's brother Mike Bauer, and Ed's fiance nurse Rita Stapleton (who was taking care of HIllary after her appendectomy). Eventually it would come out that Bill was, in fact, Bill Bauer, patriarch of the Bauer family, and presumed dead since the plane he was to have been on in 1969 went down (he was not on the plane). Rather than contacting his family in Springfield to let them know he was still alive, he moved to Vancouver to be with his mistress Simone and their daughter Hillary, where he had spent the previous eight years.
Though initially shocked, Ed and Mike were able to accept Hillary as their sister, and even Bill's former wife, Bert Bauer accepted her as a daughter, inviting Hillary into her home after a failed romance with Roger Thorpe; she actually lived in Bert's house for several months in 1979 before moving in with her best friend, nurse Katie Parker.
When Hillary eventually finished her internship and became a registered nurse, she decided to remain in Springfield, where she'd built a life. She had a quirky, offbeat sense of humor. She suffered unrequited love for handsome Dr. Kelly Morgan. Hillary later fell in love with Dr. Jim Reardon and traveled to the Caribbean to help find a cure for a disease known as “The Dreaming Death”. In the Caribbean, Hillary met journalist Fletcher Reade, who promptly fell in love with the spunky nurse. Hillary did not return his romantic affections, but her presence in Springfield led Fletcher to come to town. Hillary came down with the “Dreaming Death” herself, and fell into a semi-coma which her lover Jim Reardon was able to save her from. Sadly, the disease killed Hillary’s friend and fellow nurse Lesley Ann Andrews. Upon Hillary’s recovery, Jim proposed to her and Hillary gladly accepted, sending a dejected Fletcher Reade into the arms of Dr. Claire Ramsey after Hillary’s gentle rejection.
In 1984, Hillary and Jim became embroiled in a mystery surrounding the new home of friends and Hillary’s future in-laws, Annabelle Simms Reardon and Tony Reardon. After an inquisitive Hillary deduced the Spaulding family was somehow involved in the mystery, she was seriously injured in an explosion the evil Susan Piper had set for Annabelle and Tony. Despite the efforts of her half-brother Ed, Hillary died. The Bauer family and Springfield mourned her passing in a huge funeral.
The “killing off” of the character of Hillary Bauer on “Guiding Light’” proved unpopular with many fans, especially since the same headwriter Pamela Long Hammer had written off Mike Bauer, Hope Bauer and Alan-Michael Spaulding. Many see the birth of the character of Michelle Bauer the following year was an attempt by the show to appease fans and strengthen the Bauer family presence on the show.