Cathy Geary Rush

Cathy Geary Rush ^[1] is a fictional character from the CBS soap opera Knots Landing, a long-running serial about middle class life on the fictional cul-de-sac known as Seaview Circle in Los Angeles, California. She was played by actress and singer Lisa Hartman Black between 1983 and 1986. She debuted in the seventh episode of the fifth season. Hartman remained in the series until the final episode of the seventh season. Hartman previously played another character, Ciji Dunne, during the fourth season.

Creation

Lisa Hartman Black portrayed two characters in Knots Landing.

The character of Cathy Geary was created for Hartman after she appeared on the series' previous season as another character, Ciji Dunne. Ciji was killed of after only seventeen episodes but she proved to be popular as her death caused a huge amount of backlash from fans. Producer decided to bring Hartman back but as another character. Hartman recalls; "I was hired by one of the characters to drive her husband crazy because I looked so much like (Ciji, the character who'd been murdered). At the end of that first season I'd gone on to do other stuff. When my manager called and said the producers wanted me back, that was the most flattering thing that ever happened to me".^[2]

Background

Cathy came from Wyoming and at an early age met and married Ray Geary. When he committed a serious crime she agreed to take the blame and went to jail.^[1]

Storylines

After she was paroled, with Abby Ewing's help, she agreed to distract Gary Ewing for Abby by impersonating the dead Ciji Dunne, who Gary had a strong friendship with. Cathy eventually fell in love with Gary during a short affair but quickly ended when the truth about her background and Abby's deal emerged. Cathy was tracked down by her husband Ray and she found herself being forced to rip off Gary. As Ray prowled around Gary's ranch, he was accidentally shot dead by the Wolfbridge Group, who thought he was Gary. Later, she became close friends with Laura Avery and moved in with her. During this time she began singing at Isadora's club. She then met the shy and religious Joshua Rush and they started a volatile relationship. Joshua wanted to marry Cathy but his control over her gave her doubts but she married him hoping this would change. Cathy realized things were worse and Joshua became very abusive and attempted to her and himself by jumping from a building. Instead Joshua fell to his death alone. Cathy began rebuilding her life and focused her singing career and eventually left Knots Landing to tour.^[1]

References

External links

• Cathy Geary at KnotsLanding.net
• Cathy Geary at the Internet Movie Database