| Alex Olanov | |||||||||||||||
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| One Life to Live character | |||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Tonja Walker | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1990–97, 2001–02, 2007, 2009, 2011 | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | August 24, 1990 | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | November 22, 2011 | ||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former, regular | ||||||||||||||
| Created by | |||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Paul Rauch | ||||||||||||||
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Alex Gwendolyn Olanov is a fictional character from the long-running ABC soap opera One Life to Live . She was portrayed by Tonja Walker since the character's inception in 1990 to 1997, with appearances in 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011 . [1]
In 1990, federal agent Alex Olanov comes to Llanview, Pennsylvania to help Bo Buchanan find his missing wife Sarah Gordon, presumably kidnapped by mob boss Carlo Hesser. Sarah is later presumed dead in a plane crash, and Alex develops feelings for Bo. When he falls in love with Cassie Callison, Alex becomes obsessed with him. Losing touch with reality, Alex tries to kill Cassie but is ultimately arrested and institutionalized. She later escapes and reappears at Bo and Cassie's wedding with a very-much-alive Sarah in tow, before being taken back to the mental institution.
Alex soon returns in 1992 and becomes the wife of Carlo. When he is murdered, she tries to assume control of his crime syndicate but is ultimately unsuccessful. Alex then pursues billionaire Asa Buchanan, who at first resists but ultimately marries her in a November 1994 Egyptian-themed wedding in Central Park. Alex is elected mayor of Llanview and Carlo turns up alive in 1996, invalidating her marriage to Asa; Carlo and Alex engage in an affair even as she divorces him and remarries Asa on March 29, 1996. They soon divorce, however, once Asa discovers her infidelity with Carlo; as a "pregnant" Alex prepares to remarry Carlo, Asa reveals that she is faking her condition and Carlo breaks off their engagement.
Carlo is seemingly murdered again in 1996, and Alex is arrested for the crime; hoping to get away with murder, she makes a deal with The Sun publisher Todd Manning, trading her exclusive story for his paying her legal fees. Lawyer Téa Delgado has the charges dropped. After donating bone marrow to Todd's baby daughter Starr Manning, Alex leaves town in July 1997 with a huge chunk of Asa's fortune and a very-much alive Carlo, who reveals that it was actually his twin brother Mortimer whom she killed.
In 2001, Asa brings Alex, who had been working as a stripper after Carlo dumped her yet again, back to town under the pretense of wanting to remarry her, but he marries Gabrielle Medina instead. Humiliated just as a vengeful Asa had wanted, Alex leaves Llanview but returns later that year for the reading of Asa's will; fleeing to Asa's private island with his ashes, she discovers a very-much-alive Asa. Alex attempts to blackmail Asa into remarrying her, but he turns the tables on Alex and tricks her into instead marrying a janitor (using Asa'a longtime alias, "Jeb Stuart").
In April 2002, Alex, now in the process of divorcing Jeb, returns to Llanview yet again at the behest of Todd Manning, who bribes her into donating bone marrow to his and Blair's ailing infant son Jack, who had been diagnosed with aplastic anemia (the same disease Todd's daughter, Starr, suffered from in 1997 when Alex donated bone marrow to her). After the successful operation, Alex attempts to seduce Bo; realizing he has no interest in her, Alex leaves town once again.
Alex returns to Llanview in August 2007, this time for Asa's real funeral. She overhears Asa's butler Nigel Bartholomew-Smythe tell Max Holden that David Vickers is secretly Asa's biological son, and takes off to find David. [2] [3] Smelling money, Alex discovers David working at a rehabilitation clinic in November 2007; [4] acting the part of a wealthy widow with a sex addiction, Alex preys upon old acquaintance David's greed to convince him to marry her on November 9, 2007, never mentioning his true parentage. [5] [6] Both David and Alex are playing each other, falsely believing that the other has come into money. Alex and David get married and briefly go back to Llanview; they run into David's ex-wife Dorian Lord at the airport and follow her to the Buchanan ranch in Texas, where Asa's will has been read. Once there, Alex blackmails Nigel with the truth about David; he has her tied up and gagged in the barn. Alex is crushed to discover that David has been left no money, but Nigel gives Alex his own inheritance from Asa — Asa's yacht, and the deed to his private resort, St. Blaze's Island — in exchange for her silence. Placated, Alex dumps David unceremoniously and skips town. On her way out, Alex accidentally backs over Dorian with her car. [7]
Unaware Alex owns St. Blaze's, Dorian vacations there in January 2009 and runs into Alex. [8] [9] When Dorian realizes Alex was the one responsible for her hit-and-run in 2007, she threatens to sue Alex for the accident; in exchange for Dorian's silence, Alex gives her the valuable information that David is Asa's son. Dorian returns to Llanview, leaving Alex relieved. [10] [11]
Alex reappears in March 2011 when Bo and Rex Balsom go in search of David, whom Clint Buchanan had kidnapped and thrown into a Moroccan prison as revenge for David destroying Clint's marriage. Clint blackmails Alex into moving David from Morocco to St. Blaze's, but Bo and Rex catch wind of the plot and confront her at her island resort. Alex denies any involvement in David's kidnapping, even when Bo and Rex find David in a plush suite at her resort. Alex insists to Bo and Rex that David came to St. Blaze's of his own free will, but the two men disbelieve her lies. After Bo and Rex leave St. Blaze's with a relieved David, Alex contacts Clint and informs him that she did as he asked, then warns him that David is headed back to Llanview with Bo and Rex.
In November 2011, Alex resurfaces again in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, storming out of the office of plastic surgeon Dr. Fascinella complaining about a botched surgery on her face and encountered con artist Cutter Wentworth, who reveals himself to be the son she abandoned as a child, an act which caused Cutter's father William J. "Billy Joe" Wentworth Jr. to commit suicide and he and his sister (and Alex's daughter) Kimberly Andrews to be placed in foster care. Cutter is so furious upon seeing Alex that he strangles her [12] until being stopped by his companion, an amnesiac who thinks she is Stacy Morasco who had plastic surgery to look like her sister (and Rex's assumed dead love) Gigi Morasco. Cutter and "Stacy" are in Brazil to find her plastic surgeon to reverse the surgery and are both followed by Rex and Cutter's former grifting partner and ex-girlfriend Christine Karr (a.k.a. Aubrey Wentworth, the real name of Cutter's sister which she used when scamming); when they arrive at the same office, and after Alex admits to knowing and disliking Rex, Cutter orders Alex to help him and "Stacy" escape without Rex's knowledge [13] and become involved in Cutter's scheme to win her son's forgiveness. Cutter covers Alex's face with a bunch of bandages to fool Rex and Aubrey to believe that she was Gigi after she got her plastic surgery. Cutter wheels out Alex to the waiting room where Rex and Aubrey are there to find Cutter and Gigi's "imposter". Aubrey unties the bandages off Alex's face to reveal herself to Aubrey and Rex. Rex is surprised to see Alex again. Alex lies to him by saying that she teamed up with Cutter to pretend to be Gigi to get her share of the Buchanan fortune with Cutter but did not tell Rex and Aubrey that she was Cutter and Kim's mother. Rex believes Alex and Cutter's story (even though he later revealed to Aubrey that he did not really believed them at all). He tells them he did not want to be like them and already accepted Gigi's death. After Rex and Aubrey leave, Alex gives Cutter her business card, telling him to call her anytime he needs her help. Alex wishes Cutter and "Stacy" good luck before she leaves Rio to go back to her home in St. Blaze's Island.
Victoria Lord is a fictional character and matriarch of the Lord family on the American soap opera One Life to Live, played for over 41 years by six-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning actress Erika Slezak.
Llanview, Pennsylvania is the fictional setting for the long-running American soap opera One Life to Live. The city exists in the same fictional universe as cities from other existing or defunct ABC daytime dramas, including Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, from All My Children, Port Charles, New York, from General Hospital, and Corinth, Pennsylvania, from Loving.
Asa Buchanan is a fictional character and patriarch of the Buchanan family on the American serial drama One Life to Live. The Texan industrialist father of newly arrived characters Clint and Bo Buchanan, Asa was originated in late 1979 by Philip Carey. Carey portrayed the role continually for nearly three decades, through to his final pre-taped appearance in 2008. Throughout those years, Asa's ruthless business dealings and attempts to both protect and control his family members drive much of the drama in the series.
Beaufort Oglethorpe "Bo" Buchanan is a fictional character from the American soap opera One Life to Live, portrayed by Robert S. Woods.
Kelly Cramer is a fictional character on the long-running ABC soap opera One Life to Live. The role was originated by actress Gina Tognoni, who debuted on February 20, 1995, and played the character in her last appearance on August 24, 2011.
One Life to Live is an American soap opera that was broadcast on the ABC network from 1968 to 2012. The series began with One Life to Live storylines (1968–1979). The plot continues in One Life to Live storylines (1980–1989). The plot in the next decade is outlined in One Life to Live storylines (1990–1999) and the story concludes in One Life to Live Storylines (2000–2013).
One Life to Live is an American soap opera that was broadcast on the ABC network from July 1968 to January 2012, and online from April to August 2013. The series starts with One Life to Live storylines (1968–79). The plot continues in One Life to Live storylines (1980–89). The plot in the next decade is outlined in One Life to Live storylines (1990–1999) and the story concludes in One Life to Live storylines (2000–2013).
Adriana Cramer is a fictional character from the American daytime drama One Life to Live. Amanda Cortinas originated the character in 2003, and Melissa Fumero subsequently played her from 2004 to 2008, 2010, and 2011.
Rex Balsom is a fictional character from the American daytime drama One Life to Live, portrayed by John-Paul Lavoisier from May 9, 2002, to the show's finale on January 12, 2012.
Clint Buchanan is a fictional character from the American soap opera One Life to Live.
David Vickers is a fictional character from the American soap opera One Life to Live, portrayed by Tuc Watkins.
Joey Buchanan is a fictional character from the American daytime serial One Life to Live. The character is the son of original protagonists Victoria Lord and Joe Riley Sr.
Carlo Hesser is a fictional character from the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live. The role was portrayed by Thom Christopher intermittently between 1990 and 2008.
Gigi Morasco is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. She was portrayed by Farah Fath from October 24, 2007, through January 12, 2012.
The Buchanan family is a long-running family of fictional characters on the American soap opera One Life to Live. The ensemble was originally inspired by the Ewing family on the primetime soap opera Dallas, and appeared from September 1979 through the end of the serial in August 2013.
