J. J. Larrabee

Joseph James "J.J." Snyder (né Sweeney; previously Larrabee) is a fictional character on the daytime soap opera As the World Turns. He was played by Daniel Manche from December 22, 2006 to August 20, 2008 and, previously, by Dylan Denton from August 16, 2004 to November 13, 2006.

Character history

J.J. Snyder is the biological child of Les Sweeney and Julia Morrissey Larrabee, who are both now deceased. He has been adopted by Jack Snyder and Carly Tenney. He was also in the care of his maternal biological uncle Keith Morrissey. He is the adoptive brother of Parker Snyder and Sage Snyder.

In 2004, J.J. moved to a town near Oakdale along with his mother Julia Morrissey Larrabee. Julia was a nurse who took in Jack Snyder who had no memory of who he was. Jack was convinced that the dark haired Julia was his wife. Convinced by a doctor to go along with the charade, Julia was forced to reveal the truth when Jack mistakenly mistook her son, J.J. for his son. Jack lived with Julia and J.J. for months. Les soon found them after being released from the prison and he threatened to take J.J. away. Jack talked Julia into marrying him in order to protect Julia and J.J. In the meantime, J.J. found a message in a bottle in the river and brought it home. Though Julia told him to through the filthy bottle out, J.J. kept it but had no way to get the message out (without breaking the bottle). Julia found the bottle and took out the message with a picture. It was a picture of none other than Jack with a beautiful blonde and two children. Included was a note from the little boy named Parker asking Jack to come back home. Not wanting to lose Jack, Julia kept quiet and married Jack. The next day, Julia made a trip to Oakdale. She met the Snyder family, who was reeling from the apparent death of their father, Jack. Wanting more information, Julia went to the Snyder home while the babysitter was there poked around the house while the sitter was preoccupied. There she found a police badge with Jack’s name on it and pocketed it. Julia then returned home. Terrified of losing Jack if his family found them, Julia insisted that they had to move to Louisville immediately and lied that she had a job offer there. After driving all night, Jack and his new family stopped at a hotel. That night, Jack found his police badge in Julia's possessions. The next morning he confronted Julia and she lied that she'd only found out the day before when she left the hospital. Jack then came face to face with his wife Carly Tenney. So, Jack went back to Oakdale and brought Julia and J.J. with him. Jack's memory soon came back. Jack decided to return to Carly but informed Julia that he wanted to stay a part of J.J.’s life.

When his father Les killed his mother Julia, he was first left with his maternal uncle Keith Morrissey. Les fought for custody by hiding his criminal record and won but Jack and Carly would not let J.J. go with Les. Les got sent back to prison after attacking Carly when he attempted to collect J.J. While being transferred to prison, the van crashed and Les got away presumed dead in the van explosion. However, Les later came back to the Snyder farm and set it on fire, intending to kill everyone present and take J.J. After a scuffle with Keith Morrissey, Les was about to shoot Holden, Lily, and Keith when Jack showed up and shot Les dead. J.J. was officially left in Keith's custody. But Keith was a pilot and was often gone with weeks at a time. Keith agreed to leave J.J. with Jack and Carly. Jack and Carly later adopted him. He gained two siblings, Carly's son Parker Munson and Jack and Carly's daughter Sage Snyder. Jack and Carly have since divorced but the children split their time between Jack and Carly. Jack has been briefly married to Kathryn "Katie" Peretti. J.J. tried to break them up a couple of times while they were engaged but Carly's fatal illness eventually broke the couple up. Jack now lives at the Snyder farm with J.J., Parker, and Sage.

J.J. was held hostage by Silas and Ava Jenkins. They kidnapped him because Silas promised Les that he would raise J.J. the way Les would have wanted had he had the chance. Jack and Carly eventually found J.J. and ended up catching Silas and Ava, who are now in police custody.