| R. J. Gannon | |||||||||||||||
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| Timothy D. Stickney as R.J. Gannon from the One Life to Live opening sequence | |||||||||||||||
| One Life to Live | |||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Timothy D. Stickney | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1994–2008, 2009 | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | August 1994 | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | April 28, 2009 | ||||||||||||||
| Created by | Michael Malone | ||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | R. J. | ||||||||||||||
| Gender | Male | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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Randall James "R. J." Gannon is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live. He has been portrayed by Timothy D. Stickney since 1994, though the character was put on recurring status in 2006 and aired through May 29, 2008. He returned briefly in April 2009 for three episodes.
R.J. is first introduced as the wayward younger brother of Llanview, Pennsylvania District Attorney Hank Gannon. He is a career criminal who later becomes a respectable businessman, more or less. Though the brothers are often at odds with each other, they eventually settle their differences. R. J. also maintains a close relationship with Hank's ex-wife Nora Hanen; when Nora is erroneously believed to have died in 2000, no one is more demonstratively grief-stricken than R. J. He is also a loyal friend to Nora's rival Lindsay Rappaport, helping her out of many bad situations, and this friendship eventually blossoms into romance.
In 2001 it is revealed that Keri Reynolds is R. J.'s daughter by former love Liz Coleman Reynolds; R. J. and Liz rekindle their romance but she is later killed in 2003. A despondent Keri also dies in 2003, and at first she is thought to have been murdered by boyfriend Antonio Vega. It is later determined that she had actually committed suicide, but R. J. still believes that Antonio had driven her to do it. This situation sparks a fierce custody battle between R. J. and Antonio for custody of Antonio and Keri's daughter, Jamie. Antonio is eventually awarded full custody, but R. J. remains a large presence in Jamie's life.
In early 2007, R. J. breaks up with girlfriend Lindsay. That September, he visits Lindsay in jail after her arrest for murdering Spencer Truman, and asks District Attorney Nora, who is prosecuting the case, to go easy on Lindsay. When it is determined that Lindsay had been insane when she committed the crime, both R. J. and Police Commissioner Bo Buchanan (Lindsay's ex) offer to be her guardian. Due to R. J.'s past criminal record, the judge decrees Bo her guardian.