Thursday, September 6, 2018

THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - LAURA SPENCER & CEARA HUNTER




Genie Francis is best known for playing Laura Spencer on 'General Hospital'.  But she was no stranger to other soap operas, two of which were on ABC.  However, she didn't play Laura in those shows, which one might have expected when 'General Hospital' had a history of crossovers with other ABC soaps.


On 'All My Children' and 'Loving', Ms. Francis appeared as a woman named Ceara Connor Hunter.

Here's a concise biography of Ceara in Toobworld from The Pine Valley Bulletin:


1990:
Ceara Connor knew she was a beautiful woman. She also knew her beauty was her greatest weapon. She moved into her Aunt Myrtle Fargate’s Boarding House in Pine Valley. Ceara was determined to marry one of the many rich men that the small town had to offer.

Ceara was hired as a fundraiser for Pine Valley University. There, she met the much younger college student David Rampal. David was the wealthy heir of an old Canadian family. But, before Ceara could put her plan into action, she met David’s father, Jeremy. Jeremy knew what Ceara had planned for his son and began to run interference.


1991: Jeremy succeeded in breaking up Ceara and David’s relationship. Ceara was surprised to find she was falling in love with Jeremy. They were soon a couple. But, Ceara had trouble being intimate with Jeremy.



Ceara’s past had tainted her ability to truly find love. She had grown up in a poor family with seven children. No one heard her cries for help when her father, George Connor, molested her. She had long suppressed her guilt over the situation.

Ceara was forced to confront her past when George appeared in Pine Valley. One night, George made a move on her. She was overtaken by memories. In her psychosis, Ceara reached for a gun and shot her father dead.

With Myrtle and Jeremy’s help, Ceara sought counseling from Dr. Anna Tolan. Finally able to have a healthy relationship, Jeremy and Ceara took their relationship to the next level. They married that New Year’s Eve.



1992-93: Ceara followed Jeremy to Corinth to find Carter Jones. Ceara fell victim to a sniper’s bullet.  

'General Hospital' and 'All My Children' had at least one crossover in its history - when Anna Devane and Robin Scorpio moved from Port Charles to Pine Valley.  So here's a theoretical one based on the information:


I'm not familiar with Ceara Hunter at all, but based on the information, information, information from the Pine Valley Bulletin, it seems like Ceara was the only one of the seven children to be sexually molested by their father, George Connor.


Why did he single her out?  I'm thinking it was because he was not her natural father. 

I think Ceara's mother had an affair with a man whom she met while auditing a college course in the hopes of bettering herself and her situation for the sake of her other children.  But that man was her teacher, Gordon Gray.  And he was already married to Florence.

When Claudia Connor realized she was pregnant, she broke off the relationship with Gordon Gray and passed off the resulting child of that union, Ceara, as George's daughter.

But I think George eventually found out and took out his anger at the situation on the young girl whom he once thought was his own daughter.

By the way, that illicit affair with Mrs. Connor wasn't the only time Gordon Gray cheated on Florence.....

From Wikipedia:
Lesley [Webber] came to Port Charles in March 1973 and immediately joined the staff at General Hospital. Florence Gray became one of Lesley's first patients. Florence was suffering from stomach ulcers, which she thought were caused by her troubled marriage with Gordon Gray. She started seeing psychiatrist Peter Taylor. Florence told Peter about her husband's affair with one of her students years earlier. He had gotten her pregnant but the child died at birth. Peter told Lesley about Florence's history and is shocked to find out that she was that very student who had the affair with Gordon. He reentered Lesley's life and confessed his love to her. Gordon was about to leave Florence and start a new life with Lesley. She asked Dr. Steve Hardyto be taken off the case. Lesley convinced Gordon to stay with his wife. She was then tormented by the memories of giving birth, and losing her daughter.

Shortly after Lesley got married to Cameron Faulkner, she found out that the daughter who she thought has died was only living miles from her away. Lesley did a little research and found out that her daughter Laura was adopted by Jason and Barbara Vining. 

So there's my theory of relateeveety - Laura Vining Webber Baldwin Spencer is the half-sister of Ceara Connor Hunter, both having the same father - Gordon Gray.  And they probably never learned of each other's existence.

Ceara and Laura - two characters played by Genie Francis, joined in a Toobworld theory of relateeveety.


Laura Vining Webber Baldwin Spencer

'General Hospital'
383 episodes

"General Hospital: Twist of Fate"
(TV Movie) 




'Roseanne'
- "Suck Up or Shut Up" 

Ceara Connor Hunter
'All My Children'
(1990-92)

'Loving'
 (1992-93)   

Until next time....

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