Hotchkiss family

The Hotchkiss family is a wealthy family living in the fictional town of Harmony on NBC/DirecTV's soap opera Passions. The Hotchkiss family is not one of the four main families on the show.

Family members

First generation

• Jonathan Hotchkiss
  Jonathan is the never-seen father of Gwen Hotchkiss. He married Rebecca for her money after having been seduced by her; to his vocal dismay, their only child was a girl, though he still loved his daughter. Jonathan agrees to divorce Rebecca in 2001 so that she can marry Julian, but only if she leaves him with her inheritance. Gwen later names her son Jonathan in honor of her father. According to comments made by both Gwen and Rebecca, Jonathan is also a crossdresser.
  • Rebecca
    (Maureen McCormick, 2000; Andrea Evans, 2000–08)
    Rebecca seduced Jonathan as a young woman, stealing him away several other socialites. Rebecca arrives in Harmony in 2000 to help plan her daughter's upcoming nuptials to Ethan, and, ever the social climber, eventually divorces her husband so that she can marry the much wealthier Julian Crane.

Second generation

• Gwendolyn "Gwen" Hotchkiss
  (Liza Huber, 1999–2000, 2002–08; Natalie Zea, 2000–02)
  Gwen moves to Harmony in the series premiere with her long-time boyfriend, recent Harvard Law School graduate Ethan Crane. They soon become engaged, but Ethan breaks things off the night before their wedding, leaving her for Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald. With her mother's help, Gwen reveals Ethan's true paternity and frames Theresa for the deed. Gwen and Ethan are married in December 2002; the split up briefly in October 2003, after the stillbirth of their daughter, Sarah, and again in 2007 after Gwen discovers Ethan cheating on her with Theresa. They have a second child in 2007 and renew their wedding vows in 2008, but her misdeeds are soon exposed, and upon Rebecca's revelation that Gwen married a stranger while drunk in Las Vegas, her marriage to Ethan is invalid.
  • Ethan Winthrop
    (Travis Schuldt, 1999–2002; Eric Martsolf, 2002–08)
    Ethan is Gwen's childhood sweetheart and quickly becomes her fiancé when they move to Harmony. After a brief break-up and some scheming, Gwen and Ethan are married in December 2002, and they have two children: Sarah, who is stillborn, and Jonathan. They separate in 2007. The couple renews their vows in 2008, but after discovering that Gwen was drunkenly married in Vegas seven years ago, their marriage is invalid and Ethan marries Theresa.

Third generation

• Sarah Winthrop
  Sarah is the daughter of Ethan and Gwen. After an altercation, Sarah is stillborn in Los Angeles in October 2003. Her death is the catalyst for many new stories in the Gwen/Ethan/Theresa triangle, including the conception and birth of younger half-sister Jane.
• Jonathan Winthrop
  (Jack and Nathan Ecker)
  Jonathan is the son of Ethan and Gwen and is born off-screen in May 2007, despite the fact that Gwen is believed to be barren. Jonathan becomes deathly ill late in 2007 but survives after older half-brother Little Ethan donates part of his liver. His father Ethan married his step-mother Theresa on the series finale and his mother Gwen went to prison. His step-mother Theresa is now raising Jonathan as her own son with his father Ethan.

Extended family

• Jonathan's mother
  Jonathan's late mother lived to be ninety-seven years old. Her daily care eventually fell to Rebecca, who did a poor job of caring for her ailing mother-in-law.

Hidden Passions

In the novel Hidden Passions Rebecca's mother's name was Pamela Osburn. However, the show (which has never mentioned Rebecca's mother's name) states that Rebecca came from a long line of Osborn women.

Family tree

Jonathan Hotchkiss

m. Rebecca (divorced 2001)

c. Gwendolyn Hotchkiss (born 1975)

m. unknown man (married 2001)

m. Ethan Winthrop (2002–08; invalid)

c. Sarah Winthrop (2003; stillborn)

c. Nathan Winthrop (2004; medical abortion)^[1]

c. Jonathan Winthrop (born 2007)

Note: the letter "m" indicates a marriage, "a" an affair, "r" a rape, and "c" a child resulting from one of those unions.

References and footnotes