Alex Olanov
Encyclopedia
Alexandra "Alex" Olanov (formerly Wentworth, Hesser, Buchanan, Stuart and Vickers) is a fictional character
from the long-running ABC
soap opera One Life to Live
. She has been portrayed by Tonja Walker
since the character's inception in 1990.
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.
, who at first resists but ultimately marries her in a November 1994 Egypt
ian-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
manages to have the charges dropped. After donating bone marrow to Todd's baby daughter Starr Manning
, Alex leaves town in 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.
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. Smelling money, Alex discovers David working at a rehabilitation clinic in November 2007; 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. Both David and Alex are playing each other, falsely believing that the other has come into money. Alex and David tie the knot, and decide to 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.
Unaware Alex owns St. Blaze's, Dorian vacations there in January 2009 and runs into Alex. 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.
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 don't believe 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 resurfaced again in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at a plastic surgeon's office complaining about a botched surgery on her face and encountered con artist Cutter Wentworth
, who revealed 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 his sister (and Alex's daughter) Kimberly Andrews to be placed in foster care. Cutter was so furious upon seeing Alex he strangled her until being stopped by his companion, an amnesiac who thought she was Stacy Morasco who had plastic surgery to look like her sister (and Rex's assumed dead love) Gigi Morasco
. Cutter and "Stacy" were in Brazil to find her plastic surgeon to reverse the surgery and were being followed by Rex and Cutter's former grifting partner and ex-girlfriend Christine Karr (aka 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 ordered Alex to help him and "Stacy" get out of there without Rex seeing them and became involved in Cutter's scheme in order to win her son's forgiveness. Cutter then covered 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 then wheeld out Alex to the waiting room where Rex and Aubrey was there to find Cutter and Gigi's "imposter". Aubrey then untied the bandages off Alex's face to reveal herself to Aubrey and Rex. Rex was surprised to see Alex again, and Alex lied to him by saying that she teamed up with Cutter to pretend to be Gigi in order to get her share of the Buchanan fortune with Cutter, but didn't tell Rex and Aubrey that she was Cutter and Kim's mother. Rex then believed Alex and Cutter's story (even though he later revealed to Aubrey that he didn't really believed them at all!), and told them he didn't want to be like them, and that he already accepted Gigi's death. After Rex and Aubrey left, Alex gave Cutter her business card, telling him to call her anytime he needed her help. Alex then wished Cutter and "Stacy" good luck before she left Rio to go back to her home in St. Blaze's Island.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the long-running ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
soap opera One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
. She has been portrayed by Tonja Walker
Tonja Walker
Tonja Walker is a former beauty pageant titleholder who has competed in the Miss USA pageant, an actress, and a singer. She is known for her role as Alex Olanov on One Life to Live and for her role as Olivia St. John Jerome on General Hospital.-Career:Walker held the Miss Teen All-American title...
since the character's inception in 1990.
Arrival
In 1990, federal agent Alex Olanov comes to LlanviewLlanview, Pennsylvania
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 from All My Children, Port Charles from General Hospital, and...
to help Bo Buchanan
Bo Buchanan
Beaufort Oglethorpe "Bo" Buchanan is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live.-Casting and awards:The role was originated in 1979 by Robert S. Woods, who briefly left the series in 1986 but returned in 1988, and currently portrays the role...
find his missing wife Sarah Gordon, presumably kidnapped by mob boss Carlo Hesser
Carlo Hesser
Carlo Hesser is a fictional character on ABC's daytime drama One Life to Live. He has been played by Thom Christopher from 1990 to 1992, 1996 to 1997, in 2005 and from July 3, 2008 to September 11, 2008. The character was named after Lisa S...
. 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.
Asa and Exit
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 BuchananAsa Buchanan
Asa Buchanan is a fictional character and patriarch of the Buchanan family on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. The Texan industrialist father of newly-arrived characters Clint and Bo Buchanan, Asa was originated in 1980 by Philip Carey. Carey portrays the nearly continuously for nearly three...
, who at first resists but ultimately marries her in a November 1994 Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian-themed wedding in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. 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
Todd Manning
Thomas Todd Manning is a fictional character from the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. Created by writer Michael Malone, the role was originated in 1992 by actor Roger Howarth. In 2003, Howarth departed from the series and the role was recast with actor Trevor St. John as Todd, initially written...
, trading her exclusive story for his paying her legal fees. Lawyer Téa Delgado
Téa Delgado
Téa Delgado is a fictional character from the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. The role was portrayed by Florencia Lozano from January 27, 1997 to March 2, 2000 and briefly in 2002; Lozano returned to the role once again on December 5, 2008.A stern but passionate personality, the character has...
manages to have the charges dropped. After donating bone marrow to Todd's baby daughter Starr Manning
Starr Manning
Starr Irene Manning is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. Portrayed by Kristen Alderson since 1998, Starr is the oldest child of Todd Manning and Blair Cramer, and was originally known for her mischievous behavior, exacerbated by her parents' volatile...
, Alex leaves town in 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.
Returns
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 MedinaGabrielle Medina
Gabrielle Medina is a fictional character from the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. She has been portrayed by Fiona Hutchison from 1987-1991 and again from 2001-2004. She is set to return in 2011.-Arrival and Max Holden:...
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
Todd Manning
Thomas Todd Manning is a fictional character from the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. Created by writer Michael Malone, the role was originated in 1992 by actor Roger Howarth. In 2003, Howarth departed from the series and the role was recast with actor Trevor St. John as Todd, initially written...
, 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
Max Holden (One Life to Live)
Max Holden is a fictional character from the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. He was most popularly portrayed by James DePaiva.-Storylines:Max Holden came to Llanview in 1987 and as soon as he got there, he became involved in a love triangle with two women, Tina Lord Roberts and Gabrielle Medina....
that David Vickers
David Vickers
David Vickers Buchanan is a fictional character from the daytime soap opera One Life to Live, portrayed by Tuc Watkins.-Appearances:...
is secretly Asa's biological son, and takes off to find David. Smelling money, Alex discovers David working at a rehabilitation clinic in November 2007; 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. Both David and Alex are playing each other, falsely believing that the other has come into money. Alex and David tie the knot, and decide to briefly go back to Llanview; they run into David's ex-wife Dorian Lord at the airport and follow her to the Buchanan
Buchanan family
The Buchanan family are a fictional family on the American soap opera One Life to Live, first introduced in the fall of 1979.-History:Clint Buchanan arrives in Llanview, Pennsylvania in 1979, soon followed by his brother Bo and later their father Asa in 1980...
ranch in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, 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.
Unaware Alex owns St. Blaze's, Dorian vacations there in January 2009 and runs into Alex. 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.
Alex reappears in March 2011 when Bo and Rex Balsom
Rex Balsom
Rex Balsom is a fictional character on the American daytime drama One Life to Live, portrayed by John-Paul Lavoisier since May 9, 2002.With the character initially named "Jamie" prior to production, then-Executive Producer Gary Tomlin "toyed with the idea" of putting Rex in a gay storyline;...
go in search of David, whom Clint Buchanan
Clint Buchanan
Clinton "Clint" Buchanan is a fictional character on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live.-Casting:The role was originated in September 10, 1979 by actor Clint Ritchie, portraying the role nearly continuously through December 30, 1999. Ritchie reappeared in the 2003 and 2004. Actor Jerry...
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 don't believe 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 resurfaced again in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at a plastic surgeon's office complaining about a botched surgery on her face and encountered con artist Cutter Wentworth
Cutter Wentworth
Cutter Wentworth is a fictional character on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live. He has been portrayed by Josh Kelly since his debut on December 29, 2010.-Casting:...
, who revealed 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 his sister (and Alex's daughter) Kimberly Andrews to be placed in foster care. Cutter was so furious upon seeing Alex he strangled her until being stopped by his companion, an amnesiac who thought she was Stacy Morasco who had plastic surgery to look like her sister (and Rex's assumed dead love) Gigi Morasco
Gigi Morasco
Gigi Morasco is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. She was portrayed by Farah Fath since October 24, 2007 to June 29, 2011 and October 2011 to present . She returned as a ghost on August 1, 2011 .-Background and Arrival:Gigi was born in 1979 and was briefly presumed dead...
. Cutter and "Stacy" were in Brazil to find her plastic surgeon to reverse the surgery and were being followed by Rex and Cutter's former grifting partner and ex-girlfriend Christine Karr (aka Aubrey Wentworth
Aubrey Wentworth
Aubrey Wentworth is a fictional character on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live. She has been portrayed by Terri Conn since her debut on November 29, 2010...
, 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 ordered Alex to help him and "Stacy" get out of there without Rex seeing them and became involved in Cutter's scheme in order to win her son's forgiveness. Cutter then covered 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 then wheeld out Alex to the waiting room where Rex and Aubrey was there to find Cutter and Gigi's "imposter". Aubrey then untied the bandages off Alex's face to reveal herself to Aubrey and Rex. Rex was surprised to see Alex again, and Alex lied to him by saying that she teamed up with Cutter to pretend to be Gigi in order to get her share of the Buchanan fortune with Cutter, but didn't tell Rex and Aubrey that she was Cutter and Kim's mother. Rex then believed Alex and Cutter's story (even though he later revealed to Aubrey that he didn't really believed them at all!), and told them he didn't want to be like them, and that he already accepted Gigi's death. After Rex and Aubrey left, Alex gave Cutter her business card, telling him to call her anytime he needed her help. Alex then wished Cutter and "Stacy" good luck before she left Rio to go back to her home in St. Blaze's Island.