Delia Ryan

Delia Ryan
Ilene Kristen as Delia Ryan (2013)
Ryan's Hope character
Portrayed by	Ilene Kristen (1975–78, 1982–83, 1986–89, 2013) Randall Edwards (1979–82) (and others)
Duration	1975–84, 1986–89, 2013
First appearance	July 17, 1975
Last appearance	October 29, 2013
Created by	Claire Labine Paul Avila Mayer
Introduced by	Claire Labine Paul Avila Mayer Frank Valentini (2013)
Crossover appearances	General Hospital
Profile
Occupation	Businesswoman Waitress
Residence	Riverside New York City, N.Y.
Family Brothers Bob Reid Spouse Frank Ryan (1970–77) Patrick Ryan (1977–78) Roger Coleridge (1978–80, 1989–) Matthew Crane (1984) Sons Johnno Ryan Daughters Ava Jerome Grandsons Owen Ryan Granddaughters Kiki Jerome

Delia Ryan Coleridge (née Reid; previously Crane) is a fictional character from the original ABC daytime soap opera, Ryan's Hope.

Most notably portrayed by Ilene Kristen, the character was created and introduced by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer. Kristen originated the role in the series premiere on July 7, 1975. Delia is the catalyst for most of the show's story lines and remains a central component of the series throughout its run. Delia is the kind of character that viewers "love to hate".^[1] Delia has a habit of dealing with situations in ways that cause even more trouble.^[2] Delia is known for her early chaotic romances with brothers, Patrick and Frank. Delia eventually finds true love with Dr. Roger Coleridge. Delia is considered to be the breakout character of the series and remains one of the most iconic characters in daytime history. In the fall of 2013, Kristen reprised the role of Delia on the sole surviving ABC soap, General Hospital. Us Magazine ranked the character as #1 villainess in soaps in 1977.^[3]

Creation

Background

Delia Reid grew up as a very lonely and confused child. Her father ended up in a mental institution, while her mother Maureen worked herself into an early grave leaving Delia to be cared for by her big brother, Bob. Delia becomes very close to the Ryan family, after Ryan matriarch Maeve Ryan Helen Gallagher gave her some seed cake. As a teenager, Delia dates the youngest Ryan son, Patrick. However, after Pat chooses his medical career over her, Delia falls for his older brother, Frank. The couple marries in 1970. However, the marriage is not happy because during Frank's time in law-school, he has an affair with Jillian Coleridge. After discovering the affair, Delia gets herself pregnant with their son, John "Johnno" Ryan II thinking it will keep Frank from straying. In between Pat and Frank is when she met Victor Jerome who got her pregnant with daughter Ava, which is later explored in General Hospital. Ava was given up for adoption. ^[4] Delia grows up without any guidance or security due to losing her parents at such a young age. She has a lot love to give, but is unaware of the appropriate ways to show her love for others.^[5]

Casting

Ilene Kristen was one of the show's original cast members. However, Kristen vacated the role in late 1978.^[6] The producers immediately began searching for Kristen's replacement.^[7] In the meantime, Robyn Millan appeared in the role of Delia for five episodes from January 18 to February 21, 1979. Despite being listed on most cast list as the second actress to play Delia, Millan was only a temporary replacement until the series found a permanent replacement.^[8] Randall Edwards officially took over the role of Delia in March 1979.^[7] In late February 1982, it was reported that Edwards had been fired and Kristen returned to the role in early March. After a failing to impress as One Life to Live's Georgina Whitman, Kristen was left unemployed allowing for her to return to Ryan's Hope.^[9] However, in 1983, Kristen was fired from the series when she was suffering from a thyroid illness.^[10] Robin Mattson known for her iconic role as Heather Webber on General Hospital was later cast in the role. Mattson made her debut on June 15, 1984.^[11] However, Mattson was only contracted to the role for six months. ABC hoped to talk Mattson into a long term commitment, but after failed contract negotiations, Mattson vacated the role in December 1984, just in time for pilot season.^[12] It was announced in August 1986 that Kristen would once again reprise the role of Delia. Kristen made her onscreen return on September 5, 1986.^[13] Kristen remained with the series until it's final episode on January 13, 1989.

In early October 2013, several reports surfaced and claimed that Kristen would reprise the role of Delia on the remaining ABC Daytime soap, General Hospital. However, the series never commented on the rumors.^[14] On Friday, October 25, Kristen appeared in the next episode preview.^[15][16] Ron Carlivati himself confirmed through Twitter that Kristen would reprise her role as Delia for two episodes on October 28 and 29.^[17] Kristen appeared on those episodes, revealing that her character, Delia, was the mother of Ava Jerome, the illegitimate daughter of Victor Jerome. She is Ava's mother and Kiki's Grandmother.

Characterization

Upon the show's debut, The Robesonian described the character as "beautiful and sultry."^[6] Though Delia can be a bit insensitive, no one hold more for Delia then Delia herself Kristen explained. Michael Denis said Kristen displayed a specific kind of "manic verve" as well as "troubled" and "erratic." According to Denis, the character has two distinct sides to her personality, the "happy" youthful side which is usually betrayed by her "sick" side.^[5] Stephanie Schaefer described the character as "bewitching, "dizzy," and "wacky.^[2] Francine L. Trevens described the character as a "conniving" whiner.^[18] Damon L. Jacobs said Delia displayed all the characteristics of Borderline Personality Disorder before it was first listed as a diagnosis in 1980. Kristen said for the character to be "real" she observed those that were extremely needy. Delia is never stands on her own two feet, she goes from depending on her brother, to depending on the Ryan family. Though Delia uses her femininity to manipulate, she does it out of love. Kristen described the character's speech as "Deliaspeak." Like most, she also referred to the character as a "child woman." Delia is never cruel intentions, but she goes to any extreme to get what she wants, and often does things that are counterproductive.^[19] In 2008, Kristen described Delia as "semi-tragic" and a "very unhappy person."^[20] Seli Graves referred to the character as "delightfully," and "deliciously devious."^[10] Us Magazine hailed the character as the bitchiest new character of the year in 1977. Kristen also referred to the character as "starved for attention." According to Claire Labine, Delia is not the "traditional bad girl." Instead, Delia is someone who possesses "desperate insecurities."^[3]

Storylines

In July 1975, Frank (Michael Hawkins) confronts Delia on the stairs at Riverside Hospital and asks her for a divorce and she angrily pushes him down the stairs. Though he nearly dies, Frank still covers for Delia and they try to repair their marriage. However, when Delia begins an affair with Roger (Ron Hale), Frank divorces her in February 1977. Delia then turns to her first love, Patrick (Malcolm Groome) and seduces him. After Delia announces her pregnancy, Pat proposes marriage. Delia secretly miscarriages on April 1, 1977, but keeps quiet as she marries Pat several weeks later. During the marriage, Delia resorts to extremes to keep Patrick's attention including faking a miscarriage and a mental breakdowns. When Pat turns to drugs and pushes her down the stairs during a confrontation, Delia is left temporarily blind; though she recovers, Delia continues to fake blindness. During a cruise in April 1978, Pat finds out that Delia was faking the blindness. When they return to Riverside, he also finds out from Roger Delia's schemes the past year. The Ryan family confront Delia, then decide to detach from her behavior. Delia goes into therapy, then agrees to having the marriage annulled in September 1978. Roger convinces Delia that she is fine just the way she is. He helps Delia establish her independence. They marry in October 1978. Delia (Edwards) becomes heavily involved in the stock market and her investments begin to pay off. However, when Roger suspects her of cheating with her stock broker, her divorces her. Delia later opens her own restaurant, The Crystal Palace and begins dating Ryan family cousin, Barry (Richard Backus). When Delia finds out Barry has been cheating on her, she runs him over and frames her former sister-in-law, Faith Coleridge (Karen Morris-Gowdy) for the crime. Due to lack of finances, Delia loses her business to mob boss, Joe Novak (Roscoe Born); however she is forced to shut The Palace down in 1982. Delia leaves Riverside in November 1983 after getting a job offer. In actuality, Frank (Geoff Pierson) sets up the job so he can get custody of Little John. Delia resurfaces on June 15, 1984 when she marries wealthy oilman Matthew Crane (Harve Presnell). The marriage quickly falls apart due to Delia's affair with Steve Latham (Franc Luz). After the divorce, Delia relocates to California.^[4] Delia returns to to Riverside in September 1986 for her grandson Owen's christening. Delia sets her sights on Roger once again and does her best to win his affections from his wife, Maggie Shelby (Cali Timmins). Delia even kidnaps the pregnant Maggie and helps to deliver her daughter, Olivia. Maggie eventually leaves town allowing for Roger and Delia to reconnect. The couple remarries on January 9, 1989.^[4][21]

Reception

Ilene Kristen was immediately praised for her portrayal of Delia. Ronni Ashcroft who praised Kristen for her portrayal said, "it's a wonder she's able to pull off Delia's bitchiness so convincingly" because the two were exact opposites of one another.^[3] Francine L. Trevens said, "She plays Delia to perfection."^[22] In 1978, Kristen won Afternoon TV Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Delia. Kristen also earned two Soap Opera Digest Award nominations for Outstanding Comic Performance in 1988, and for Outstanding Villainess in 1989. Kristen ranked at #21 on We Love Soaps list of the 50 Greatest Soap Actresses.^[23] Fans immediately took to Edwards in the role. John N. Goudas praised Edwards for her portrayal and said the actress made the character very multidimensional.^[13] Edwrds's firing was met with skepticism from Lynda Hirsch who said that Edwards had become very popular in her own right. Because the actresses were so different, "it's hard to imagine Delia reverting back into the character that Ilene made her originally," said Hirsch.^[9] Despite Edwards success in the role, Kristen believed that only she could capture the true essence of Delia.^[19] Seli Graves agreed with Kristen's assessment in 1988 and said the character "resisted anyone else's efforts to bring out the unique qualities" of Delia.^[10]

References

v t e General Hospital General Hospital characters (Current contract cast only) Shawn Butler Nikolas Cassadine Silas Clay Carly Corinthos Jacks Michael Corinthos Morgan Corinthos Sonny Corinthos Alexis Davis Anna Devane Patrick Drake Robin Scorpio-Drake Felix DuBois Dante Falconeri Lulu Spencer-Falconeri Olivia Falconeri Franco Ava Jerome Julian Jerome Kiki Jerome Maxie Jones Rafe Kovich, Jr. Sam Morgan A. J. Quartermaine Tracy Quartermaine Sabrina Santiago Mac Scorpio Laura Spencer Luke Spencer Elizabeth Webber Britt Westbourne Nathan West General Hospital characters (Recurring cast) T. J. Ashford Scott Baldwin Victor Cassadine Lucy Coe Kevin Collins Emma Drake Max Giambetti Milo Giambetti Alice Gunderson Josslyn Jacks Epiphany Johnson Felicia Jones Lucas Jones Molly Lansing Duke Lavery Diane Miller Daniel Morgan Monica Quartermaine Coleman Ratcliffe Aiden Spencer Bobbie Spencer Cameron Spencer Heather Webber Lesley Webber Ben Westbourne Notable former characters Diego Alcazar Lorenzo Alcazar Ned Ashton Lee Baldwin Brenda Barrett Katherine Bell Jessie Brewer Gia Campbell Helena Cassadine Mikkos Cassadine Spencer Cassadine Stavros Cassadine Stefan Cassadine Jagger Cates Stone Cates Lois Cerullo Skye Chandler Mike Corbin Blair Cramer Rae Cummings Marco Dane Kristina Davis Téa Delgado Anna Donely Sean Donely Noah Drake Bill Eckert Cesar Faison Connie Falconeri Audrey Hardy Tom Hardy Simone Hardy Steve Hardy Abby Haver Tiffany Hill Matt Hunter Jasper Jacks Jerry Jacks B. J. Jones Frisco Jones Georgie Jones Tony Jones Ewen Keenan Ric Lansing Ethan Lovett Starr Manning Todd Manning Courtney Matthews John McBain Siobhan McKenna Trey Mitchell Jason Morgan Lisa Niles Alan Quartermaine Dillon Quartermaine Edward Quartermaine Emily Quartermaine Lila Quartermaine Lily Rivera Holly Sutton-Scorpio Robert Scorpio Joe Scully, Jr. Rebecca Shaw Frank Smith Zander Smith Jake Spencer Lucky Spencer Damian Spinelli Dominique Stanton Marcus Taggert Ellie Trout Amy Vining Mary Mae Ward Maya Ward Justus Ward Jeff Webber Rick Webber Steven Webber Karen Wexler Anthony Zacchara Claudia Zacchara Johnny Zacchara Notable crew Executive producer Frank Valentini Creator Frank and Doris Hursley Head writer Ron Carlivati Former executive producers Selig J. Seligman James Young Tom Donovan Gloria Monty H. Wesley Kenney Joseph Hardy Wendy Riche Jill Farren Phelps Former head writers Theordore Ferro and Mathilde Ferro Bridget and Jerome Dobson Richard Holland and Suzanne Holland Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock Irving Elman and Tex Elman Douglas Marland Frank Salisbury Pat Falken Smith Margaret DePriest Thom Racina Leah Laiman John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington Anne Howard Bailey Norma Monty Ann Marcus Gene Palumbo John Whelpley Maralyn Thoma Bill Levinson Claire Labine Robert Guza, Jr. Karen Harris Richard Culliton Janet Iacobuzio Christopher Whitesell Elizabeth Korte Michele Val Jean Megan McTavish Charles Pratt, Jr. Garin Wolf Shelly Altman Related topics Port Charles (city) Luke and Laura Sonny and Carly Patrick and Robin Frisco and Felicia Jason and Sam Lucky and Elizabeth Jason and Elizabeth List of cast members 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Children The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli History of General Hospital Fictional families Hardy/Webber family Scorpio/Jones family Spencer family Quartermaine family Cassadine family Corinthos family Jerome family Lord family Cramer family Spinoffs and Specials Twist of Fate Port Charles Night Shift What If...