ONE LIFE TO LIVE THROUGH THE YEARS: January - July, 1997

With it's legacy of romance and adventure, ONE LIFE TO LIVE has been captivating viewers for over 25 years. Here are some of the highlights.

January - July, 1997

All of Llanview was shocked when mob boss Carlo Hesser turned up dead after Todd and Blair Manning's ill-fated ball. Carlo was a man with many enemies and almost everyone had a reason to want him dead. Antonio Vega went on trial for Carlo's murder and things looked bleak for him indeed, especially since Carlo had staged an elaborate planned scheme in which he had framed Antonio for the crime. In the end, however, Alex Olanov Hesser Buchanan was revealed as the murderer. It was also revealed that Asa Buchanan had witnessed the murder, but had said nothing to clear Antonio because he was hoping that the 30 million dollars Carlo has swindled from him would resurface. Asa had knowingly let an innocent man stand trial for murder and no one could forgive him for this selfish act.

Alex literally got away with murder when the charges against her were dropped due to a legal technicality. A short time later, Alex received a shock when Carlo returned from the dead to reclaim her as the love of his life. Or was it Carlo's twin brother Mortimer who had returned for Alex? Alex really didn't care either way, as long as they had Asa's 30 million dollars.

Police Detective Andy Harrison stood by her boyfriend, Antonio, throughout his murder trial. With Antonio cleared of the crime, Andy and Antonio were finally able to look forward to a future together. Things became even better when Antonio was also cleared of a previous murder conviction, thanks to the work of hotshot young lawyer Tea Delgado. With a bright future ahead of him, Antonio proposed to Andy and she happily accepted. Antonio was accepted to law school and he and Andy planned to be married.

Young Kelly Cramer was enjoying a romance with Joey Buchanan, much to the annoyance of Kelly's aunt, Dorian Lord. When Joey decided to move to Paris, he asked Kelly to come with him. Kelly waivered for weeks, but Dorian successfully convinced her to remain in Llanview. Several months later, Kelly was heartbroken when she received a letter from Joey ending their relationship. Devastated, Kelly began driving aimlessly in the rain and accidentally caused an oncoming car to swerve off the road and crash. What Kelly didn't know at the time, however, was that the other car contained her pregnant cousin Blair, and her friend, Patrick Thornhart. Blair was seriously injured in the crash and lost her unborn baby, which had been fathered by Patrick.

By this time, Kelly was becoming attracted to Drew Buchanan, a schemer with a sordid past he had tried very hard to keep hidden. Kelly was consumed with guilt over the accident and played right in to Drew's manipulations. Drew knew about Kelly's role in the accident and wanted to use this knowledge to blackmail Dorian into selling him her waterfront warehouse. Soon, however, Kelly did the right thing -- she went to the authorities and confessed her role in the accident. Kelly sought the forgiveness of those she had hurt and cut Drew out of her life completely.

Marty Saybrooke and Patrick Thornhart loved each other deeply. And that was a good thing because their love was put to the test time and time again. No matter what fate threw at them, Marty and Patrick managed to work through it and stay together. When Patrick proposed, Marty readily accepted and they looked forward to a future as husband and wife.

Todd and Blair Manning had finally found their way back to each other. But when Blair learned that Todd was responsible for having previously kidnapped their baby daughter Starr, she left him. Blair and Todd separated and began a bitter custody battle for little Starr. It was also during this time that Blair learned that she was pregnant with Patrick's baby, the result of a one night affair when she still believed that Todd was dead. Blair and Todd both had real feelings for each other, but both were too stubborn to admit it.

Todd and Blair's world was shattered when Starr became seriously ill. Diagnosed with aplastic anemia, Starr needed a bone marrow transplant in order to survive. Todd and Blair launched a public campaign to find a compatible donor and decided to move back in together and present themselves as a united couple for the sake of appearances. With all of their energy focused on Starr, Todd and Blair softened towards each other. In fact, they were on the verge of a complete reconciliation when fate once again turned them upside down.

Blair's unborn baby was determined to be a compatible match for Starr, and Blair prepared to undergo a procedure in which her unborn baby's bone marrow would be extracted and used for Starr. It was then that tragedy struck. While driving with Patrick, Blair was involved in a car accident (caused by Kelly) and lost her baby, and Starr's potential savior. Fortunately, Alex Buchanan turned out to be a compatible match and Starr was soon on her way to a complete recovery. Aside from losing her unborn baby, Blair also suffered severe physical injuries. Blair went to Philadelphia for special surgery and Todd turned back into his old, vengeful self.

Before Kelly confessed that she was responsible for Patrick and Blair's accident, Todd became convinced that Patrick had caused the crash on purpose. Todd then began to plot his revenge on Patrick, unfounded as it was. Todd learned that Patrick had once been associated with a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a publishing magnate back in Ireland. Armed with this knowledge, Todd planted a bomb on the yacht of Guy Armitage and planned to frame Patrick for it. Todd's plan, however, went awry when Guy returned to his yacht unexpectedly and was killed in the explosion. Todd's plan had failed miserably. Patrick was soon cleared as a suspect in the bombing while Todd feared that his role in the bombing would be exposed. To make matters worse, Blair realized what Todd had tried to do to Patrick and ended her marriage to Todd once and for all. Todd and Blair were once again apart and both vowed to get custody of little Starr.

Maggie Carpenter had planned on becoming a nun, but her attraction to Max Holden was just too strong. Maggie renounced her vows and she and Max quickly became a couple.

While on vacation on the tropical island of St. Maarten with Max, Maggie was shocked to see her father, Bishop John Carpenter, there as well. Maggie was even more shocked when John begged her to help him move a corpse from his hotel room! As it turned out, John had met up with his former love, Eleanor Armitage, in St. Maarten and Eleanor had suddenly dropped dead in his hotel room. Eleanor was married to the wealthy Guy Armitage and John didn't want any scandal surrounding her death. Maggie helped John move Eleanor's body and thought that the ordeal was over. Boy, was she wrong!

Shortly after Eleanor's death, her son Ian Armitage arrived in Llanview looking for a locket that he was certain his mother would have been wearing when she died. Maggie suspected that John had taken the locket, but denied any knowledge of it to Ian. Eventually, Maggie's better judgment got the best of her and she told Ian everything she knew about his mother's death. Maggie and Ian confronted John several times about the locket, but he refused to answer any questions. When John suddenly died, it was revealed that he had left the locket with Maggie's cousin, Reverend Andrew Carpenter, who turned it over to Maggie and Ian. When Maggie and Ian opened the locket, however, all they found inside were two braids of hair tied together with a ribbon.

After traveling to Eleanor's family home in New Orleans, Maggie and Ian made a startling discovery -- they were twins who had been separated at birth! As it turned out, Eleanor had been pregnant by John when she married Guy. After giving birth to twins, Eleanor gave the girl (Maggie) to John to raise and kept the boy (Ian). After all these years, Ian and Maggie were reunited. Maggie and Ian each loved having a new sibling in their life and Max was relieved that Ian was no longer a threat to his relationship with Maggie.

While on a business trip to Washington, D.C., Dorian Lord found something she wasn't even looking for -- a man! Prize-winning newspaper reporter Mel Hayes literally fell all over Dorian when they met in a hotel bar and the sparks between them were instantaneous. Dorian convinced Mel to move to Llanview, where he took a job at The Banner, and their passion continued.

Cassie Carpenter was married to Reverend Andrew Carpenter, but that didn't stop her from being attracted to fellow newspaper reporter Kevin Buchanan. Cassie and Kevin tried to fight their attraction for months, but to no avail. Finally, Cassie and Kevin made love. Cassie immediately confessed her indiscretion to Andrew, who quickly ended their marriage. Cassie and Kevin were a couple, although Cassie was still trying to come to grips with the end of her marriage.