Minor Passions characters
The following are minor fictional characters on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions whose connections to the four major families are either weak or non-existent.
Norma Bates
For the character from the Psycho franchise, see Norma Bates (Psycho). Marianne Muellerleile (January 22, 2001 - August 5, 2008)
Norma Bates was introduced as the owner of a motel in 2001 that Tabitha Lenox and her companion, Timmy, fled to in order to escape the backlash from the release of Hidden Passions, a collection of Tabitha's memories that Timmy had compiled into a novel. Norma told Tabitha and Timmy that no one ever stopped at their hotel anymore, the reason for which the witch and doll later discovered — Norma was insane. She attempted to kill Tabitha with an axe while she showered, and the two later discovered that her father, with whom she had been conversing earlier, was dead — Norma had left his skeleton, dressed in his clothes, in a rocking chair. Timmy accidentally destroyed the skeleton, with only the skull surviving, and Norma swore to kill Timmy for hurting "Daddy". Tabitha and Timmy fled the motel.
Norma resurfaced five months later during the Harmony High School Class of 2001's senior trip to Warlock Island. Bates befriended the teens and stayed in their camp, all the while plotting to murder Tabitha and Timmy. After Hank Bennett and TC Russell rescued the stranded people, Norma was locked away in a psychiatric ward.
After that, Norma made a tradition of breaking out of the hospital each Christmas and attempting to murder Tabitha. Around Thanksgiving in 2005, Norma received a roommate — Edna Wallace, who had been locked up after claiming that Tabitha was a witch and had caused the tsunami the previous summer. Norma and Edna became partners-in-crime and again attempted to murder Tabitha, though they were ultimately unsuccessful. They were next seen in Rome during the summer of 2006 operating a pizza parlor as "Luigi" and "Sophia" and announced to Edna's disturbed daughter that they had become lovers. Norma and Edna became involved in Alistair's omega plot when Edna tried to bilk her daughter's father for money. When Alistair attempted to murder all of the citizens of Harmony in Rome, the two helped to battle his thugs. After the battle was won, Norma and Edna went on to become famous performers in lesbian bars.
Norma and Edna returned to Harmony for the Christmas holidays again in 2006. They pretended to make peace with Tabitha, secretly plotting to catch Tabitha off-guard. Tabitha eventually realized what was going on, though, and the two were sent to Hell. They emerged from Tabitha's basement in July 2007, announcing that the "Boys in the Basement" wanted Spike Lester to kill Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald. The two made a truce with Tabitha and began living in her house. They left in the autumn to visit Norma's hotel, and later traveled to Las Vegas, but returned to Harmony for Christmas once more in 2007; this time, however, instead of trying to kill Tabitha, they worked as Santa Claus and one of his elves on the pier. In late March 2008, Norma and Edna sent word via letter to Tabitha that they were on a tour of Europe, and residing in Berlin, Germany.
Norma and Edna returned once again befriending Tabitha in the shows final season on DirectTV. They actually got married right before the show ended in August 2008. Many characters like Kay and Miguel, Theresa and Ethan, Luis and Fancy, and Norma and Edna married.
Nick Bozman
Michael Bergin (May 15, 2002 - July 25, 2002)
Nick Bozman was a con artist for whom Antonio Lopez-Fitzgerald had once worked. In 2002, while living on the island of St. Lisa, Antonio and Sheridan, going by the names of Brian and Diana, both came to owe Nick money. When Nick threatened their lives, Antonio agreed to race cars for Nick to work off the debts. Nick had recognized the amnesiac Diana as Sheridan Crane, however, and rigged Antonio's car to explode, hoping to seduce Sheridan after Antonio died and gain access to her wealth. Nick's plan failed, though, and he disappeared off canvas shortly thereafter.
Pierre Carbonneau
Alain Benetar (July 16, 1999 - December 18, 2000)
Pierre Carbonneau was an associate of Jean-Luc Moulin, and one of the leaders of the French drug cartel. Pierre ordered the assassinations of Moulin, and Sheridan Crane, but by mistake Jean Luc's adulterous lover Mimi was mistaken for Sheridan and killed. Pierre later hired a sharpshooter, Antoine, to murder the heiress but he too failed murdering Crystal Harris. Pierre later forced Hank Bennett into murdering Sheridan. Unfortunately for the drug lord, Sheridan's murder was elaborately staged in order to capture him and his associates. He and his cronies were taken into custody.
Cecil
Arturo Gil (November 1 - December 2002)
Cecil was a magical doll who came to life, created by Cracked Connie to be her boyfriend. Tabitha Lenox, the town witch, disliked the two dolls, however, in part because she was mourning the loss of her doll-turned-real boy, Timmy. Connie and Cecil quickly became a nuisance and told Charity Standish that her boyfriend, Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald, had slept with her cousin, Kay Bennett, before stealing money from Tabitha and skipping town.
Viki Chatsworth
Viki Chatsworth is Esme Vanderheusen's niece. Introduced in August 2007, Viki is shown as having a rather shy demeanor, as she often whispers to Esme and then has Esme repeat what she has said to whoever may be around. Since Viki's arrival in Harmony, this behavior has often been exhibited around Fox Crane. Following her parents' death, Viki becomes Esme's ward. In the January 3, 2008 episode it was revealed that Viki is indeed the murderer of Esme's boyfriends. Viki speaks aloud for the first time on the January 9, 2008 episode. She screams "Leave me alone!" when Alistair Crane grabs her arm after she makes a second attempt to take his life in a hospital room. Alistair tells Viki that he won't tell Sam Bennett that she is the killer if she kills Ethan. Viki refuses but then she sees Esme and Ethan hugging and agrees to Alistair's plan. She tried to murder Ethan twice, but accidentally stabbed Rebecca Hotchkiss Crane, prompting a police investigation at the Crane mansion. In order to distract them, Viki injured Ethan's mother, Ivy Winthrop. Though Viki promised Alistair to kill Ethan, she had a very different victim in mind after noticing how close Esme was becoming to Alistair's son Julian Crane. Esme told her niece, of her plans to marry Julian, and when Viki soon learned that Julian thought it would be best for her raised at boarding school and away from Harmony, Viki decided to murder the wealthy bachelor. After Julian and Esme had sex in the Crane mausoleum, Viki stabbed Julian multiple times in the groin, completely severing his penis. On the June 4, 2008 episode, Viki admitted to Vincent that she herself murdered her own mother and father. She and Vincent plotted to kill everyone in Harmony (Viki wanting to have no one come between her and her aunt Esme) with a toxic mushroom sauce to be served at the wedding rehearsal but Sheridan finds out that Dolly (Vincent) was really alive and realizes that Viki was the killer of all Esme's boyfriends. After Tabitha revives the townspeople by sacrificing her witch powers, Sam arrests both Viki and Vincent for their crimes.
Maya Chinn
Kyrie Maezumi (January 19 - June 14, 2006)
Maya Chinn was the daughter of local Chinese restaurant owner Sally Chinn and the college girlfriend of Noah Bennett. Noah and Maya witnessed a murder in college and broke up shortly thereafter; years later, in early 2006, Alistair Crane blackmailed Maya into breaking up Noah's relationship with his granddaughter, Fancy Crane. Maya told Noah that the people involved in the murder were after them, and Noah was forced to make Fancy believe that he didn't love her and was cheating on her with Maya. Maya and Noah were caught up in Alistair's omega plot in Rome, where it was revealed that Spike Lester had murdered the man in the attic on Alistair's orders. Noah also discovered that Maya had been working with the terrorist organization threatening them, and was furious with her. Maya begged for Noah's forgiveness and swore to help him win back Fancy, but before she could make good on her word, a storm hit Rome, causing Maya to lose her balance and fall from the roof of their hotel to her death on June 14, 2006. In 2008 the Demon Elf briefly considered reviving Maya's spirit to drive a wedge between Noah and his new lover Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald, but later abandoned the idea.
JT Cornell
Michael Sabatino (May 18 - July 18, 2006; October 5 - December 28, 2006)
Joseph Talbot "JT" Cornell (born on or between June 7, 1959 and June 6, 1960- died December 2006)[1] was the editor of a tabloid known as Daily Private Lives; in 2001, he published the shocking revelation that Crane heir Ethan Crane had been fathered, not by Julian Crane, but by Police Chief Sam Bennett, a fact kept secret by his mother, Ivy Crane. Sometime after, JT was forced to flee the United States when the IRS discovered that he had been evading taxes for many years.
In May 2006, JT was hiding in Rome when he was tracked down by Theresa Crane, who wanted JT to tell Ethan that his wife and mother-in-law, Gwen Winthrop and Rebecca Crane, had been the ones to send JT the information about Ethan's paternity and not Theresa herself. JT only admitted the truth to Ethan after Theresa promised him $10 million; Ethan refused to believe JT, however, claiming that JT had only said what he had for the money.
JT was later roped into Alistair Crane's omega plot, but ended up stealing the chalice and fleeing. Chad Harris caught JT, however, and, in exchange for his freedom, JT gave Chad his birth certificate, which he had found in Alistair's office in the catacombs — Chad's birth certificate showed that his parents were Alistair and Liz Sanbourne and not Julian Crane and Eve Russell as he had previously been told. JT further explained that Eve's half-sister, Liz, had been adopted, meaning that Chad and Whitney's three-year relationship had not been incestuous.
Despite escaping Chad, Theresa eventually caught up with JT. Hoping to catch Theresa off-guard, he revealed to her that, according to his research, Ethan, and not Julian, had fathered Theresa's ten-year-old son, Little Ethan. Theresa was floored, and JT was able again to escape. With money provided by Gwen Winthrop, JT fled Italy.
JT arrived in Harmony in October 2006, hoping to extort many of its residents for money in exchange for not revealing their secrets. Along with the fact that Gwen and Rebecca had outed Ethan as a Bennett and that Theresa was hiding Little Ethan's paternity from Ethan, JT also knew that Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald had been involved in the massacre of the Vasquez family in Mexico numerous years earlier and that Chad was having an affair with JT's colleague, Vincent Clarkson; JT also apparently knew certain secrets about Vincent, perhaps that he was really Julian and Eve's son or that he was planning to begin a reign of terror in Harmony at Alistair's behest.
JT demanded that Gwen and Theresa each bring him money; whomever brought him more would get to decide whether or not he told Ethan the truth about how he received the information of his paternity. Theresa brought JT a scant $100 more than Gwen, and it appeared that Theresa would be the victor; Julian Crane, however, convinced JT to side with Gwen with the hope that he could leverage Theresa's desire to be with Ethan as a means to gain more custody of Little Ethan, whom he believed to be his son.
JT soon realized that someone was out to get him; he began dressing in drag to disguise himself and placed all of his secrets on a USB stick, sending it to the Daily Private Lives headquarters. On December 26, 2006, Vincent, dressed in a Santa suit, murdered JT and placed his body inside of Chad and Whitney's wedding cake. JT's USB stick never made it to the office, however; Rebecca and Gwen eventually found it hidden in Theresa's office at Crane Industries.
Cracked Connie
Kacie Borrowman (September 9 - December 25, 2002)
Cracked Connie was the second doll come to life created by the zombie Charity [not the witch, Tabitha]. Connie turned out to be much more sinister than Timmy had been, and deeply aggravated Tabitha. Connie created herself a boyfriend named Cecil, and they attempted to release the witch Hecuba. Connie and Cecil stole some of Tabitha's money and left town in late 2002.
Demon Elf
Danny Woodburn (June 20 - July 18, 2007; February 11 - August 7, 2008)
The Demon Elf is a mischief-maker from the dark side that has appeared on several occasions as a side-effect of Kay's attempts at doing magic. He is portrayed by Danny Woodburn.
The Demon Elf was played by Danny Woodburn on a recurring basis from June 20, 2007 to July 18, 2007 and returned on February 11, 2008 until August 7, 2008.
Doc
Victor McCay (October 4, 2001 - June 4, 2002)
Doc was a local doctor in Bermuda, and a long-time friend of both Liz and Brian. It was he who treated Diana when she was washed up on the beach. He strongly believed in aliens and the powers of the Bermuda triangle. When Liz decided she wanted to stay in Harmony, Doc purchased her hotel from her.
Reese Durkee
Bruce Michael Hall (July 21, 1999 - January 10, 2003)
Seth Hall (April 11, 2003 - March 19, 2004)
Reese Durkee, is the son of an accountant, a good friend of Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald and a stereotypical nerd whose reliance on the Internet was also a source of on-screen humor. Reese was notable in the early years of the soap for his crush on Kay Bennett, who had eyes only for Miguel and found Reese to be loathsome. Reese eventually ended up dating Kay's younger sister, Jessica, who had had a crush on Reese for some time, in 2002. Thanks to Kay and Tabitha's machinations, Reese nearly wound up sleeping with Kay and Jessica's cousin, Charity Standish, in early 2004. Jessica was furious with Reese and broke up with him, and Reese dropped off canvas shortly thereafter. In March 2008, Ivy Winthrop mentioned that Jessica Bennett and her infant son, Samuel Bennett visited Reese and his new girlfriend. On the July 16, 2008 episode, Jessica revealed that she and Reese had reunited and were again in a relationship.
Esmeralda
Esmeralda is a good witch who went to school with Tabitha Lenox many years ago. She now runs a good witch school that Endora Lenox attended for a brief time.
Esmeralda was portrayed by Georgia Engel. In a flashback to her younger days, she was portrayed by Melissa Fahn.
Faux Martin Fitzgerald
The Martin Fitzgerald Impostor (died January 1, 2000) was hired by Alistair Crane in 1999 to impersonate the real Martin Fitzgerald in order for Alistair to institute an insurance scam and play with the vulnerable emotions of the Lopez-Fitzgerald family. Apparently Julian Crane believed that the impostor was the real Martin. The impostor, enraged for being used by the Cranes, decided to finish them off one by one, first targeting Sheridan Crane during a New Year's Eve party. However, he accidentally died while struggling with Sheridan and Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald near a glass roof and fell to his death. Later DNA tests proved he was a fraud.
The impostor was played by William Bumiller from November 26, 1999 until the character's death in January 2000. Bumiller also played the real Martin in flashbacks in that year until July 31.
Fluffy
Fluffy is the (offscreen) pet cat of Tabitha Lenox. Fluffy, based on her growl alone seems to be a gigantic cat who loved to pester Timmy Lenox. Fluffy was seen only once when Endora Lenox transformed her into a kitten. Fluffy, apparently does not bother the other main characters with the exception of Spike Lester. To escape the impending disaster in Harmony, Tabitha sent Fluffy to stay on Skull Island until she could retrieve him after her trip to visit Precious. Fluffy briefly returned after that, no longer recognizing Tabitha, who had become human.
Crystal Harris
Crystal Harris was a jazz singer who had been one of Eve Russell's closest friends when Eve was in the same profession. Crystal had been Eve's confidante during Eve's relationship with Julian Crane and subsequent pregnancy. When Crystal came to Harmony to perform at the Blue Note, she met Chad Harris. She told Chad that she had information about his parents. Unfortunately, the French drug cartel's assassin, Antoine, mistook Crystal for Sheridan Crane, and fatally shot her on the docks before she could give Chad a folder of information about his mother. Eve dropped the folder into the water, destroying its contents. It is unknown if Crystal's information was accurate.
Brenda Epperson Doumani portrayed Crystal in May 2000.
Hecuba
Hecuba, a witch, was an old friend of Tabitha Lenox until Tabitha imprisoned Hecuba over three hundred years ago. Kay Bennett, Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald, and the evil incarnation of Charity Standish freed Hecuba, and Kay sold her soul to Hecuba in order to break up Miguel and Charity. Kay's scheme failed, though, resulting in Hecuba causing ravens to attack her house on new year's, blood dripping from the walls and her cousin Charity being trapped in hell. Kay at first did not tell where Charity was when she was missing but realizing that Hecuba only used her to destroy Charity she confessed to everything. Miguel, Kay and everyone tried to save Charity from hell but were constantly stopped by Hecuba. they threw a ladder into hell to try and save Charity and Miguel but Hecuba cut the rope trapping Charity and leading to Miguel escaping. when saving Charity from hell failed Miguel and Kay tried to destroy Hecuba but failed. Tabitha and Timmy then tricked her and trapped her in a bottle and threw it into the water. During that Hecuba used Julian as her pawn to do evil work. After that Miguel and Kay went into hell to save Charity but were being dragged to the 10th level of hell. Timmy, having a big crush on Charity found out from Tabitha that only a certain power which was a demons claw could save Charity. Timmy used the demons claw and threw it into hell resulting in the demons in hell to be destroyed and the Bennett house being sucked and destroyed. Tabitha, Timmy, Kay, Charity and Miguel all survived. Kay got her soul back after Timmy heard Charity pray. Trapped in a bottle, Hecuba did attempt to have Cracked Connie free her in 2002.
Hecuba was portrayed by veteran soap actress Robin Strasser on a recurring basis from October 23, 2000 to October 16, 2002.
The character also won the 2001 Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Female Scene Stealer[2]
Matilda Matthews
Matilda Matthews, a deceased witch, was an old friend of Tabitha Lenox who wasn't lucky enough to live through the last few hundred years. She occasionally returned from the dead in ghostly form in 2000 when Tabitha got into a fix.
Matilda was portrayed by Alice Ghostley in multiple guest appearances in 2000.
Lena
Lena, also known as the Dragon Lady (died June 14, 2006), was a criminal who worked for Alistair Crane; she was classified as a terrorist by the FBI. Lena and Spike Lester were responsible for a murder that then-couple Noah Bennett and Maya Chinn witnessed when they were in college. Alistair, who hated the fact that his beloved granddaughter, Fancy, was dating the blue-collar Noah, used this to orchestrate an elaborate hoax designed to break the two up. Noah and Maya were forced to pretend to be a couple so that Lena would not harm Fancy, leading Fancy to believe that Noah was cheating on her. Lena eventually revealed that she and Maya had been working for Alistair right before she prepared to shoot Noah; Noah and Maya escaped, however, and fled to the roof. Lena grabbed a metal bar and prepared to spear Noah and Maya with it, but she was struck by lightning and killed on June 14, 2006,[3] before she could do so.
Lena was portrayed by Meredyth Hunt on a recurring basis from January 26 to June 14, 2006.
Little Angel Girl
The Little Angel Girl is the divine embodiment of a statue of an angel in St. Margaret Mary's Church in Harmony. The Angel Girl would often appear to the women in the Standish family, warning them of danger or giving them advice. She has also been known to appear to Father Lonigan from time to time, and occasionally would also appear to the witch Tabitha Lenox to taunt her. She was also the one who changed Timmy from a doll to a real boy.
The role was played by Chea Courtney on a recurring basis from July 5, 1999 to December 26, 2002 and later by Diandra Newlin from October 13 to December 9, 2003.
Frank Lomax
Frank Lomax was a private detective and sketch artist hired by Ethan Crane to find the woman who was stalking him. While investigating, Frank began dating Whitney Russell, who was incidentally the best friend of Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, Ethan's stalker. Frank and Whitney's relationship eventually fell apart when Whitney was forced to lie to him to protect Theresa. Eventually Ethan discovered Theresa was his stalker and, feeling badly for her, chose to give Frank another job outside of Harmony to keep him from contacting the police.
Frank was played on a contract basis by Jason Olive from August 9 to September 23, 1999.
Father Lonigan
Father Lonigan is the main Roman Catholic priest at St. Margaret Mary's Church in Harmony. Over the course of the program's nine years he has heard the confessions of many of the people of Harmony; but, as a priest, he is unable to reveal any of these secrets. Father Lonigan lost his sight in a fire many years ago when he tried to save the statue of the angel at St. Margaret Mary's; in 2004 it was revealed that Alistair Crane had deliberately set the fire, attempting to murder the priest after he had made a confession and began to fear that Father Lonigan would reveal his crimes.
After Passions moved to DirecTV in September 2007, Father Lonigan was referenced several times but would not be seen until the following year. He returned on July 21, 2008, to perform a series of four wedding ceremonies, beginning with Kay and Miguel. On the final episode of Passions, in order to save Harmony from being destroyed in a volcanic eruption, he baptized Tabitha (who had given up her magical powers previously) and also performed Ethan and Theresa's wedding ceremony. Endora restored Father Lonigan's eyesight shortly before the ceremony.
Father Lonigan was portrayed by Bruce French on a recurring basis from August 5, 1999 to August 9, 2007 and from July 21, 2008 to the series' end on August 8, 2008.
Jean-Luc Moulin
Jean-Luc Moulin (died August 1999) was the ex-fiancé of Sheridan Crane. When Sheridan discovered that Jean-Luc was a member of the French drug cartel and planning to marry her only for her money, she left him and Paris and returned to her home town of Harmony in New England. Jean-Luc was killed in a car bomb meant for Sheridan along with his adulterous lover, Mimi.
Jean-Luc was played for thirteen episodes by Eric Bizot in July and August 1999.
Orville Perkins
Orville Perkins (died c. 2001) was a minor character on the NBC soap opera Passions. The character was played by Owen Bush from November 15, 1999 until March 31, 2000.
Orville was a mysterious, senile old man who seemed to know the secrets of Chad Harris and Eve Russell. He was briefly hospitalized after he was involved in a hit-and-run. Orville warned that Chad was dangerous to Eve's daughters, Whitney and Simone. Orville also seemed to know about Chad's birth mark and about the circumstances around his birth parents and adoption. Fearing that her secrets could destroy her family, Eve was terrified of the evidence Orville admitted he possessed and burned his apartment. Orville was then forced to live in a retirement home until his death.
Phyllis
Phyllis (died October 24, 2006) was one of the more prominent maids who worked for the Crane family. A young, widowed mother, Phyllis worked the low-pay job to support her young daughter, Lonnie. She was first seen in 2002 and was promoted to the position of Theresa Crane's maid after Theresa won her court battle to be declared Mrs. Julian Crane. Theresa's benevolent personality, so unlike most of the other Cranes, touched Phyllis, and she became her staunch supporter. Once Theresa gave birth to her son, Little Ethan, Phyllis doubled as both Theresa's maid and Little Ethan's nanny. After Julian and Theresa's wedding was revealed to be invalid, Julian married Rebecca Hotchkiss, and they seized custody of Little Ethan; Phyllis felt sorry for Theresa and helped her sneak into the mansion to see her son, despite the fact that Rebecca had put a restraining order on Theresa. Rebecca discovered what Phyllis had done and fired her as Little Ethan's nanny, though she was allowed to remain a part of the mansion's staff. Phyllis eventually became Sheridan Crane's personal maid at her cottage. While cleaning the cottage, Phyllis discovered a document bearing the omega symbol and revealing Sheridan's husband Chris's connection to the plot. Before Phyllis could tell anyone, Spike Lester, also a part of the scheme, broke into the cottage and strangled Phyllis to death, stealing the document. Phyllis's murder remains unsolved.
JT Cornell later lied to Ethan and told him that Phyllis had been the one to send him the information about his paternity; Ethan believed JT as Phyllis was unable to defend herself. Phyllis' name was cleared in August 2008 when Ethan learned that his supposed wife Gwen Hotchkiss, and mother-in-law Rebecca had in fact revealed his paternity.
Phyllis was portrayed by Cynthia Mann Jamin for nine episodes between April 10, 2002 and May 13, 2002 and Renee Raudman from July 17, 2002 to March 2003. Raudman returned to the role in early 2004 and continued to make small guest appearances until the character was murdered in October 24, 2006.
Precious
Precious was a live-in nurse and caregiver for the elderly Edna Wallace. She was also an orangutan; unable to afford a human nurse for her disabled mother's care, Beth Wallace employed Precious instead. During her stay in Harmony Precious developed an unrequited crush on Beth's love interest, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, which was often depicted in elaborate fantasy sequences.
Precious eventually left Harmony in 2005 to take care of a sick aunt of hers, Divinity; while leaving Harmony on a train, Precious took a picture of Luis and let it fly out a window - symbolizing that she had given up Luis once and for all. After the character's departure, Precious was spoken of frequently by both Edna and Tabitha Lenox; at one point Tabitha was planning to visit Precious and Divinity shortly before the series finale.
The character, while identified as female, was portrayed by a trained male orangutan named BamBam from March 14, 2003 to March 24, 2005. Though the character was portrayed as a competent caregiver with implied medical credentials, she was intended for comic effect. The use of an orangutan as a nurse drew intense criticism from animal rights activists including famed scientist and ape researcher Dr. Jane Goodall.
In 2003, Passions submitted BamBam for a Daytime Emmy Award. In early 2004, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which administers the awards, disallowed the entry, with the following statement:
Our ruling is based on the belief that the Academy must draw a line of distinction between animal characters that aren't capable of speaking parts and human actors whose personal interpretation in character portrayal creates nuance and audience engagement that uniquely qualifies those performers for consideration of television's highest honor.
Maureen Preston
Maureen Preston (died July 2005) was the biological mother of James Boothe. Sheridan Crane met Maureen in the park in July 2005 and was drawn to her young son, then known as Mark Preston, due to his resemblance to her own missing son. Maureen and Mark were with Sheridan when a tsunami hit, killing Maureen; with her last breath, she begged Sheridan to care for her son.
Upon his arrival to Harmony in August 2005, Chris Boothe claimed that he and Maureen had been married, and that Maureen had left him when he had become involved with the mob, taking their son and changing his name from James to Mark; Chris was later revealed to have been hired by Alistair to make Sheridan forget about Luis, and he was never married to Maureen, nor is he James's biological father. Maureen's true backstory is thus unknown.
Muareen was portrayed by Cynthia Holloway in July 2005.
Judge Reilly
Judge James E. Reilly[4] is a corrupt judge in Harmony who has been on the Crane family's payroll for many years. At Julian Crane's request, Reilly separated Julian's son, Little Ethan, from his mother. Later, in 2007, at the Blackmailer's threats, Reilly essentially forced guilty verdicts upon Luis and Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald and sentenced Luis to death without any appeals.
In a bit of humor, Reilly shares his name with Passions head writer James E. Reilly. Reilly has been portrayed by Bruce Gray in a recurring capacity since 2004. The character was occasionally referenced before his initial appearance.
Roberto
Roberto was the long-time boyfriend of Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald; they began dating at least by May 2004. Roberto and Paloma met in Puerto Arena, Mexico; Roberto is a Mexican citizen, while Paloma is American and was sent to live with her aunt Maria for financial reasons. Paloma moved to Harmony in mid-2004, and Roberto joined her there about a year later. During their relationship, Roberto enlisted Paloma's help in smuggling prescription drugs to senior citizens in the United States, and Paloma had Roberto pretend to be a john once in order to bring Paloma's troubled friend Jessica Bennett home to her family for Christmas.
Roberto proposed to Paloma in the summer of 2006, but she rejected his proposal, not quite ready to settle down. Roberto was heartbroken and went back to Mexico, as his green card was set to expire.
Roberto was played by Jorge Alberti on a recurring basis from June 29, 2004 to September 14, 2006. The role was recast with Jean Paul San Pedro in a recurring capacity beginning April 1, 2008 and ending later that May. The character was hastingly written out of the series in June 2008.
Roger
The right-hand man of Pierre, Roger planted the bomb that killed Jean-Luc Moulin, and his lover Mimi. He blackmailed Hank Bennett into assisting the French drug cartel. He was arrested along with Pierre after Hank assisted the FBI in staging Sheridan's murder.
Roger appeared in forty two episodes, portrayed by Francois Guetary on a recurring capacity from July 16, 1999 until December 18, 2000.
Siren
Siren was a mermaid conjured from a storybook by Endora Lenox in April 2006 in order to woo Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald away from Kay Bennett, who was engaged to Endora's half-brother Fox Crane. Siren rescued Miguel from drowning in the ocean and instantly fell in love with him. As a result, Siren and Kay, who thought that there was something "fishy" about Siren, immediately developed an adversarial relationship with one another. Siren was determined to sleep with Miguel, knowing that doing so would put him under the mermaid's curse and prevent him from ever having sex with another woman other than Siren again. Kay found out and, horrified, tried to stop her, so Siren slept with Fox in retaliation. Kay eventually rid Fox of the curse, however, and Fox complained to Endora about how Siren had complicated his relationship with Kay. As a result, Endora turned Siren into a mermaid doll, put her in a fishtank, and made the fish tank disappear.
Siren was portrayed on a contract basis by Brandi Burkhardt from April 21 to September 25, 2006.
Rae Thomas
Rae Thomas (died February 12, 2007) was Simone Russell's first and only girlfriend. Simone had just realized that she was a lesbian and declared her love to Rae; however, Rae, claimed that she was not interested in a steady relationship and Simone, heart-broken, left. After months of absence, Rae resurfaced in December 2005 when Alistair Crane claimed that he had paid Rae to seduce a sexually confused Simone. Simone's father was enraged and tried to convince Simone that she wasn't really gay, but Simone told him that, paid or not, she was a lesbian. Rae later set the record straight - she had borrowed money from Alistair to start her lesbian club, but had not been hired to "turn" her gay.
Rae and Simone eventually reunited, but things were cut tragically short when Rae suddenly realized that she knew the identity of the person framing Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald for his girlfriend Fancy Crane's rape. Luis and Rae were to meet at the Blue Note, but the Blackmailer found her first and stabbed her to death on February 12, 2007.
She was played by Jossara Jinaro.
Syd Valentine
Sydney "Syd" Valentine was a singer in Los Angeles who had a crush on Chad Harris, her record producer. Fox Crane hired Syd to help him break up Chad's relationship with Whitney Russell. In a deal between Fox and Puff Dog, Chad's estranged wife's cousin, Syd was traded to Puff Dog's recording company.
Syd was portrayed on a contract basis by Alisa Reyes from July 22 to September 24, 2003.
Esme Vanderheusen
Esme Vanderheusen is the best friend of heiress Fancy Crane. Introduced in November 2005 as a minor obstacle to Fancy's relationship with Noah Bennett, Esme was later featured as Fancy's confidante and a comic relief for the show. In May 2007, she permanently moves to Harmony in August with her fifteen-year-old niece and ward, Viki. Some time between May and August, Esme's life undergoes a major upheaval. After losing his entire fortune in a series of bad financial investments, Esme's brother-in-law commits suicide after murdering his wife, Esme's sister; as a result, Esme becomes the legal guardian of Viki. Esme faces financial troubles of her own, however - Esme's parents are furious with her for ruining her engagement with Lord Sarny, and this, coupled with her detested step-mother Brenda's machinations and her guardianship of Viki, who painfully reminded them of their dead daughter, led the Vanderheusens to cut Esme off financially.
After moving into the Crane mansion, Esme finds herself deeply attracted to Fox, and vice versa; after Esme's long list of conquests and the end of Fox's messy marriage to Kay Bennett, the two believe that they have found true love with one another. The two have just consummated their relationship when Fox is shot in the chest by an unknown assailant, resulting in his death on September 17. Esme is deeply traumatized by Fox's death and briefly goes into mourning. In an attempt to cheer herself up, Esme sleeps with two men (Pete and Jake), but they both are murdered following their sexual outings with Esme. Esme is devastated by her lovers' deaths and becomes determined to catch their murderer. After Fox, Pete, and Jake's deaths, Esme decides to sleep with Julian Crane, Fancy's father, believing that no one will dare to try to murder someone as powerful as Julian; the attacker does attempt murder, but fails. Esme gets the idea to sleep with evil people — namely Alistair Crane, Fancy's grandfather — in order to bring about their deaths. Alistair sees through Esme's act, however, and is attempting to rape her when he is stabbed in the back and the attempted murderer is revealed to the audience as Viki, who fears being sent away to boarding school if Esme marries.
A financially motivated Esme enters into a complicated and largely physical relationship with Julian; who is still in love with Eve Russell and expecting a child with Valerie Davis. Esme has also enlisted Ethan Winthrop's help to legally adopt Viki. During the summer of 2008, Esme befriended town witch Tabitha Lenox who subsequently revealed her secret to her, as well as the fact that her niece murdered all of her lover's, contributed to the death of Alistair, and was responsible for severely injuring Julian. A devastated Esme confronted Viki, who along with Vincent Clarkson-Crane poisoned many of the citizens of Harmony with a deadly mushroom sauce. Viki further admitted that she killed her parent's for trying to send her away to boarding school, and admitted all of the murders were so she would not be parted from Esme. A furious Esme struck her niece, informing her that she loved her, and did not have to resort to murder just to stay in Harmony. She convinced Tabitha to help save the citizens of Harmony by sacrificing her powers. With everyone restored, Viki and Vincent were arrested, leaving Esme to turn to liquor as usual. In the series finale, an intoxicated Esme showed up late for the four consecutive wedding ceremonies. However, she did view Ethan's marriage to Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, the downfall of Gwen and Rebecca Hotchkiss, and the baptism of her friend Tabitha into the Catholic faith.
Esme is portrayed by actress Erin Cardillo, who joined the cast in a recurring capacity on November 2005; Cardillo later went on to make appearances in 2006 and 2007 before becoming a contract cast member upon the show's DirecTV debut in September 2007.
Juanita Vasquez
Juanita Vasquez (Spanish: Juanita Vásquez) was Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald's childhood best friend. Though both Juanita and Pilar dreamt of love, Juanita, being very materialistic, wanted wealth too.
As a young woman, Juanita became engaged to Carlos Alejandro Vasquez, a member of and the heir to the Vasquez drug cartel. Pilar worried for her friend marrying into a criminal family. Juanita was at first skeptical about marrying Carlos after finding out about his family's criminal background, but she slowly did not care because she was obsessed with wanting a luxurious lifestyle that included a wealthy husband and a big mansion. Carlos had convinced Juanita that he was going to leave the crime family business and become a lawyer, which Juanita reassured Pilar.
Juanita and Carlos got married and had a son and at least two daughters,[5] while Pilar immigrated to the United States, married Martin Fitzgerald, and had two sons, Antonio and Luis.
Juanita and Pilar kept in touch, though Juanita never knew where in the United States Pilar was living. One time Juanita wrote a letter to Pilar and asked Pilar's sister Maria, who still was in Mexico, to forward it to Pilar. The letter, an update about her own life and her family, invited Pilar to visit Juanita's home in Mexico, which Pilar agreed to do. At this time, they both were young mothers in the early 1980s. It was presumed that Carlos had left the family crime business and was a lawyer, which Juanita had stated in the letter to Pilar as well as when Pilar arrived to Juanita's home. In that moment, Juanita was shown to be happy with a bubbly demeanor.
Before leaving Mexico, Pilar stopped by Juanita's home to say goodbye. There, she stumbled upon Carlos talking on the phone in the living room and overheard he had become the head of the drug cartel, has been lying to Juanita about being a lawyer, and that he has ordered a massive murder of another family.[6] Pilar tried to walk away to look for Juanita and warn her, but Carlos noticed she had been overhearing him and grabbed her. Pilar confronted Carlos about his deceit and lies to Juanita. Carlos carelessly attempted to seduce Pilar and make her his secret lover, stating that one more deceit would not matter. He tried to kiss Pilar, but she resisted by smacking him and threatening to call the police. Carlos knocked her and other items onto the ground and threatened her husband will become a widower if she calls the police. Pilar attempted to escape and cry loudly for help, but Carlos knocked her unconsciously and raped her. Pilar woke up and struck him in the head with a candlestick in self defense, accidentally killing him. She called the police, hoping that they could stop the hit that Carlos had ordered.
Juanita, coming home from her carefree shopping spree, noticed a bruised Pilar and asked her what happened. Pilar only said something awful happened. Juanita saw Carlos lying on the floor and initially thought an intruder came into the house and attacked both of them. Pilar tried to tell Juanita what had happened, but Juanita did not believe her, accusing her of lying and purposely killing Carlos.
The police then arrived and opened fire on the estate, killing the entire Vasquez family, including Juanita's young children. Juanita witnessed the bloody event from the living room window. Juanita was the only Vasquez to survive. Because of her relationship to Carlos, she was placed under arrest in handcuffs, sitting in the living room getting ready for the police to send her to prison.
Although Pilar attempted to apologetically explain to Juanita she never meant for any of her family members to be killed and only wanted to stop the violence that Carlos had ordered, Juanita did not care to listen; she only saw Pilar as the only blame for her troubles. She eventually warned Pilar to start running as far away as she can swearing that when she gets out of prison, she will find and kill Pilar along with her entire family.
After her prison release, Juanita found out that Pilar had been right about Carlos being in the drug cartel. At first she was horrified, but her unstable mentality and her difficulty with accepting the truth slowly led her to believe that the cartel was just a way of making a living, a way of supporting her luxurious lifestyle for her and her family, and a means of having the power and connections to find and kill Pilar.
Juanita still did not believe Carlos raped Pilar, though. Rather, she developed delusional beliefs that Pilar seduced and murdered Carlos. In addition, Juanita convinced herself that Pilar envied her luxurious lifestyle to the point where she wanted to intentionally destroy her happiness.
As an unhealthy way of coping with her trauma, Juanita slowly began enjoying the cartel lifestyle, learning self-defense techniques and using destructive weapons. She rose to the head of the cartel, taking her husband's place and establishing a reputation as one of the most violent and cold-blooded criminal bosses in Mexico. She developed much pleasure and humor in torturing and killing those who offend her.
For many years afterward, Juanita sought information on Pilar's whereabouts, but was unsuccessful until finally, in the autumn of 2007, Juanita received a phone call from Rebecca Hotchkiss. Due to the bad connection, Juanita only heard that Pilar was in New England. Juanita kicked up her search, eventually finding and murdering Pilar's sister and two nephews.
Pilar's daughter, Theresa, traveled to Mexico in January 2008 to beg Juanita to end the vendetta. Juanita captured Theresa and used her as bait to lure Pilar to Mexico, but the two women escaped. Juanita, who had no names to go on other than "Pilar Lopez" and "Theresa", hit another dead end.
Later on, Juanita finally found out where Pilar lives. She and her henchman arrived in Harmony. Juanita went to Tabitha's house in disguise and asked Tabitha for details about the Lopez-Fitzgerald family. Under the alias "Amelia Hernandez", Juanita offered to buy Tabitha's house. Tabitha accepted because she was planning to leave Harmony anyway, knowing the town was soon to be destroyed by supernatural forces.
On June 17, 2008, Juanita bumped into Pretty Crane at the hospital during an attempt to kill her and Luis' unborn baby, unexpectedly exposing Pretty's secret: She was not pregnant at all.
Juanita and her henchman learn of the quadruple wedding ceremony centered around the Lopez-Fitzgerald family, as well as Pilar's plan to flee Harmony immediately thereafter. They plant a bomb in the church's basement and plan to set it off during the wedding. On August 4, 2008, during the final week of the series' run, Theresa discovered the bomb and was confronted by Juanita. Juanita attempted to shoot Theresa, but the gun exploded in her hand. The wedding attendees soon arrived in the basement. Luis and Sam apprehended Juanita while Ethan defused the bomb.
Juanita has likely been sentenced to life in prison for her crimes. Following her arrest, Gwen and Rebecca no longer had any leverage to blackmail Pilar and Theresa or preventing them from telling everyone in the church of their crimes and misdeeds, leading to Gwen and Rebecca's downfall and deserved incarceration.
Juanita has been portrayed by Jill Remez since November 12, 2007 until August 5, 2008.
Edna Wallace
Edna Wallace is the mother of Beth Wallace through an adulterous liaison with Alistair Crane. Originally called simply "Mrs. Wallace", the character was given the name Edna after a vote by fans.
Edna was a terrible mother to Beth - she was a prostitute, and her boyfriends and johns would often molest Beth - and she constantly degraded and emotionally abused her daughter. By the time Edna was introduced in 2002, her days of lust had long ended and she was incontinent and relied on a walker to move around. Charged with caring for her mother, Beth was equally awful towards her, frequently threatening to kill her if she did not keep quiet about Beth's numerous schemes - including an infamous plot to kidnap Sheridan Crane, steal Sheridan's son Marty once he was born, and raise him as her own.
After Beth actually managed to abduct Marty and fled Harmony with him in 2005, Edna discovered that Tabitha Lenox was a witch and blackmailed her into using a spell to make her youthful and attractive again; when Edna demanded more magic to prolong the spell, the women and Endora Lenox's daughter were involved in a magical accident that unleashed a tsunami on Harmony. Edna was literally washed out of town and, later, thrown into a psychiatric ward for claiming that Tabitha was a witch; it was there that she first met Norma Bates, and the pair teamed up to kill Tabitha. When their Christmas 2005 plan failed, the two women left Harmony, became lovers, and moved to Rome, where they ran a pizzeria. In Rome, they briefly became involved in Beth's father Alistair Crane's omega plot before discovering their talent as lesbian bar singers. They traveled the world before returning to Harmony around Christmas 2006 and claiming to want a truce with Tabitha; really, the women hoped to lure her into complacency and murder her. Tabitha discovered their plot and forced them into her basement, which was effectively a portal to Hell.
Norma and Edna escaped Tabitha's basement in July 2007 and began living in the Lenox home peacefully. After reconciling with the Lopez-Fitzgerald family Edna joined Norma in September to visit Norma's old hotel but both returned briefly in December to work as Santa Claus and one of his elves. In late March 2008, Norma and Edna sent word via letter to Tabitha that they were on a tour of Europe, and residing in Berlin, Germany.
Norma and Edna returned to Harmony in April in order to visit Tabitha. During this time they befriended socialite Esme Vanderheusen, who enlisted their help in helping "sustain" Julian Crane from straining himself. On the July 8, 2008, episode Tabitha told Edna and Norma that they were safe from the fate of Harmony because they still have the stench of Hell on them. On July 22, 2008, Tabitha married Edna and Norma in a symbolic wedding ceremony.
Edna was portrayed by Kathleen Noone on a contract basis from February 24, 2003 to May 12, 2004 and a recurring basis from June 28, 2002 to February 23, 2003 and from May 13, 2004 until the series' end in August 2008.
References and footnotes
- JT claimed to be 46 years old on June 6, 2006; he also revealed at that time his full name.
- "Awards for Passions". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
- Transcript Archived 2008-02-07 at the Wayback Machine from Maya's and Lena's deaths on June 14, 2006
- Screencap of Reilly's name plate
- In the January 21, 2008 episode, Juanita tells Pilar that "My daughters. My son. Died."
- In the January 28, 2008, episode, Juanita and Pilar remember that it is the anniversary of Juanita's family's deaths.
