**** Thank you to everyone for their good wishes and prayers during my hospital stay.  I am back and feeling like a new woman . . . ready and waiting for those questions to start pouring in again!  Naomi ****

PORT CHARLES

Q:        Joe is being tested for HIV?!  How on earth could he have contracted that?

Buffy Phillips, NC

A:        When Joe and Karen ended their relationship in April, he met Jill, another nurse at GH.  They spent the night together and had unprotected sex.  It wasn’t until the night of the Nurses Ball in June, that Jill told Joe she had tested positive for HIV. Knowing he had been exposed during their one night together, he quickly made the decision to have himself tested.

            The first test came out negative, but Joe still worried that he could infect someone else.  At this time, he was in a very close relationship with another nurse named Gabriella, and because he didn’t want to take any chances, he distanced himself from her until he had another test taken.

            Finally, after having to make up excuses to Gabriella for almost three months, Joe had the second test done, which came back negative. Now only time will tell.

Q:        I’m confused.  I thought Lucy actually gave birth to Serena.  Why is she not legally her daughter?  Pam S. A:        In 1993 Lucy agreed to become a surrogate mother for Scott and his wife Dominique, when they learned that Dominique was suffering from an inoperable brain tumor and would not live to give him a child.  Dominique’s only wish was to give Scott a baby, and Lucy understood that this would be the only way in which it could happen.             Dominique lived long enough to hear her baby’s heartbeat as it grew inside Lucy.  When Lucy went into labor, she and Scott were snowbound in a cabin and he helped deliver the baby.  They named her Serena, in honor of Dominique’s home.

Q:        When I used to see Kevin and Lucy on GH, they were married to one another and had a pet duck named Sigmund.  Now they’re married to different people and there is no sign of Sigmund.  What happened?  Marcella D.

A:        Kevin and Lucy never made it to the altar.    When Lucy became jealous over Eve Lambert’s ever increasing closeness to Serena, she devised a plan to make herself appear the heroine to Serena.  Lucy siphoned gas out of Eve’s car, right before she was to take Serena to her ballet class.  Eve drove Serena to her destination, then left to return to Scott’s firehouse.  When she got there she found a message from Scott reminding her not to be late picking up his daughter. 

Meanwhile, Lucy went to Serena’s class to pick her up, thinking Eve had run out of gas, as Lucy had planned.  When she got there she discovered that Eve had already picked up Serena.   Eve and Serena ran out of gas and were stranded on the side of the road.  Eve could not use her cell phone to call for help, as the battery was dead, so she told Serena to stay in the car and she would go for help.  Serena accidentally knocked the gear lever out of Park and the car started rolling forward.  Before long the car crashed and caught fire with Serena trapped inside.  Eve was hysterical when she saw that there was blood on Serena’s face.  She managed to get her out of the car. Serena was taken to the hospital where they found she had internal bleeding and damage to both corneas.

             Scott was furious with Eve for leaving Serena unattended in the car and told her she would never be allowed to see Serena again.  When Lucy heard this she was stunned and thought back to siphoning the gas. When she saw Kevin she told him that Eve never should have been trusted to take care of Serena.

             While Serena was still unconscious, Lucy went into her room and confessed what she had done, saying that she never meant for that to happen.  Weeks passed and Lucy was still bashing Eve for what happened to Serena.  After a while, Eve started to wonder if Lucy may have had something to do with them running out of gas the day of the accident.  She went to Scott and talked to him.  She told him that she had just filled the tank that day and there was no way she could have run empty unless someone tampered with the gas or the gas lines.  They decided to check the security tapes from the garage where her car was parked.  The tape did not show Eve’s car, as it was out of camera range, but it did show Lucy’s car approaching and slowing down.

          Soon after, Scott told Lucy that he had seen the tapes and questioned her about why her car was there.  Lucy managed to cover herself.  Scott came right out and asked her if she had anything to do with the accident, and Lucy replied that she would never do anything to hurt Serena. 

            Eve decided to talk to Kevin about what she had found out, but he told her that Lucy would never put Serena in danger.  She asked him if he would talk to Lucy and he agreed, because he knew Lucy would never lie to him about something like that. 

            When Kevin next saw Lucy he told her about Eve’s accusations and asked her if she had anything to do with it.  Naturally she denied having any knowledge of what happened and swore to Kevin that she had absolutely nothing to do with Serena’s accident.           

Eve, refusing to give up on Lucy’s part in this, finally tracked down a security tape made by a jeweler across the street from where her car was parked.  Sure enough, it showed Lucy bending down, siphoning gas out of Eve’s car.            

On Lucy and Kevin’s wedding day, Eve showed up with pictures taken from the security camera.  She got Lucy off to the side and confronted her with the evidence.  Soon both Scott and Kevin were made aware of what Lucy had done.  Kevin called off the wedding, and told Lucy to move out of the home they had been sharing.  He loved Lucy, but could not forgive her for putting Serena’s life in danger. 

            Months later, when there was the possibility of them reuniting, Lucy slept with Scott. When Kevin found out, it killed any possibility of them ever getting back together. 

            As for that gorgeous Sigmund, if memory serves me right, Lucy and Kevin allowed him to go back to the wild by putting him in the lake with all the other duckies.
           

ALL MY CHILDREN 

Q:        I know I’ve seen Mathew St Patrick on another show, but I can’t place where!!  Sissie, WV  A:            Mathew, who plays ex-government agent, Adrian Sword, was cast as Detective Marcus Taggert on General Hospital before coming to Pine Valley.  You may also remember seeing him in guest appearances opposite Jimmy Smits and Dennis Franz in NYPD Blue.  His career, which only spans two and a half years, has been full and quite successful in other shows such as, “Diagnosis Murder” and “Beverly Hills 90210."  Mathew has also shared the screen with such talents as  Billy Dee Williams, Gary Busey,  Michael Madsen,  Ice Cube and Bonnie Raitt.

MATHEW ST PATRICK

Q:        Is the Myrtle Fargate who just recently found her long lost daughter, the same Myrtle Fargate who was involved somehow with Langley Wallingford years ago??  And is she the same actress??  Donna 

A:        Yes Donna, veteran actress Eileen Herlie, has played Myrtle Lum Fargate since the character’s arrival to Pine Valley in 1976.  Over the years, Myrtle has become somewhat of a legend in PV.   

She became a kind of surrogate mother to Erika when Erika’s mother, Mona, passed away, and was right by her side when Erika sought help for her drug addiction at the Betty Ford Center.  When Rae Cummings came to town and confided in Myrtle that she was looking for her daughter, she was the first to lend a hand and found out at the same time that Rae was the daughter she had been separated from when she was a baby.  She has continuously lent an ear to Brooke and has always given good, sound advice.   

 Myrtle continues to help anyone who needs her and is always willing to give her all for her many friends.  She is the kind of woman who is worth her weight  in gold and has proven it countless times, over the many years she has lived in Pine Valley.
 

Q:        This is nosey, but can you tell me if David Canary, who plays both Adam and Stuart Chandler, gets paid double for playing two characters?  Shaun 

A:            According to Stephen Burrow, Executive Director of New York’s AFTRA local (as printed in an old edition of Soap Opera Digest), “When an actor has to double up on his/her workload, the paycheck is negotiable.  Actors are generally paid for both roles,” explains .  “For an ongoing role, the person may actually negotiate for both roles.  For the second role, they’ll get paid not less than minimum.” 

 
ONE LIFE TO LIVE 

Q:        I vaguely remember Max trying to scam Asa about being his son once before.  Can you remind me of the details surrounding the other time?  Also, wasn't a DNA test done then that proved Max was not his son? Carmella Mangieri, NY

A:        I certainly can, Carmella.  Back in 1991, Max found letters from his deceased mother that she had had an affair with Asa years before.  Because Max hated Asa with a vengeance, for cheating his father, Wingate Holden out of some land that was loaded with oil, he confronted Asa with what he had discovered.  Asa refused to admit  his affair with Max’s mother. 

            Max went to Texas and tracked down the nanny who had raised him, Du Ann Demerest.  Du Ann also hated Asa and told Max that Asa had not only had an affair with his mother, but he was actually Max’s real father! 

            Armed with this proof, Max returned to Llanview and demanded the truth from Asa.  Asa admitted the affair, but also told Max that he knew nothing of him being his father.   

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Du Ann had left Texas and followed Max to Llanview.  Max’s wife, Gabrielle wanting some of the Buchanan fortune for herself, plotted with Du Ann to fake Max’s parentage.   

Yes, Max had a DNA test,  but Gabrielle managed to switch the blood sample to insure a match.  Max was horrified when he was told that the test proved a match and he was Asa’s biological son. 

Gabrielle became even more involved with shady dealings when she started doing Carlo Hesser’s dirty work.  It wasn’t long before Renee found out everything about what Gabrielle was involved in.  During a Fourth of July party at the Buchanan mansion, Renee overheard a conversation between Gabrielle and Du Ann.  Later, she confronted Du Ann and demanded that she tell Max that he really was not Asa’s son.  Du Ann told Renee that she was leaving the country and they had an altercation. 

When Du Ann was discovered lying dead of a bullet wound, Renee became the prime suspect.  An investigation into the murder brought to light the fact that Gabrielle’s mother, Julia Medina had shot Du Ann, and Renee was declared innocent. 

Because of all this, Max finally learned that he was not Asa’s son and they parted company – both relieved.   

However, now they are right back to where they started.  Maybe poor old Asa has acquired a lapse in memory and needs to be given a good slap in the face to bring him back to his senses!  Any volunteers?
 

Q:        I don't remember ever hearing anything mentioned about who the fathers are of Blair and Kelly.  I know that Addie and Melinda are their mothers, respectively, but who are the dads??  Pauline Jacobson, NH  A:        Here is the only information I have found that relates to Blair and Kelly’s parentage:              Blair was born after her mother, Agatha “Addie” Cramer was raped by a psychiatric hospital worker while she was institutionalized.  When Blair was older she decided to change her last name to Daimler because she liked the way it sounded.

KASSIE DEPAIVA (Blair) and GINA TOGNONI (Kelly)

            Kelly’s mother, Melinda Cramer had an affair with a man whose name has never been brought out.  This affair produced Kelly.  Melinda was married to Dr Peter Janssen in 1980 and he became Kelly’s father, but not biologically of course.

             FYI, the character of Kelly was invented by the writers in 1995.

GENERAL HOSPITAL 

Q:        Is the woman who now plays Lesley, Laura’s mother, the same actress who played the character when she was married to Rick?  I remember her as having dark hair, not red.  Cindy M.  A:            Actually, Denise Alexander began playing the role of Dr Lesley Williams in 1973 before her marriage to Rick Webber, which took place in 1977.  Her hair was dark auburn at the time.  In 1984, Lesley's car was run off the road and she was presumed to be dead.  Helena had ordered her killed after Laura made a secret attempt to see her son, Nikolas while she and Luke were near the Greek Isles.  Helena had promised that if Laura tried to see Nikolas or Stefan, that people she loved would die.  Little did Helena know that Stefan had secretly injected Lesley with a drug to feign death and had taken her to a clinic in Switzerland to recover.  He kept her sedated there until Laura learned the truth and rescued her mother in 1996, which is when we discovered that she now had reddish-blond tresses.  Hey, these things happen.

DENISE ALEXANDER (Lesley) with CHRIS ROBINSON (Rick Webber) in 1983 Denise today with lighter hair.

Q:        How many people has Laura killed, or been accused of killing?  I’ve lost count.  Susan Paine, FL 

A:        As surprising as it may sound, what with everything Laura has been through, there have only been three incidents.   

The first was in 1978, when David Hamilton, an old friend of Rick’s, came to live with them in the Webber home.  As a teenager, Laura immediately found a fascination with him and he led her on to believe he cared for her.  He actually had his sights set on her mother, Lesley, who promptly rejected him with the first pass.  After David moved into his own apartment, Laura visited him and he told her that he had no romantic interest in her.  She became so enraged that she pushed him with everything she had in her and ran out in tears, not knowing that he fell and hit his head, which killed him. 

           In 1995, during the time that Luke and Sonny were in business together.  A mob had sent a hitman to the Spencer’s home and as he was climbing up the stairs to kill the family, Laura heard him, somehow managed to get a shotgun, and killed him.

            The third incident occurred in 1996 when Damian Smith was killed after he broke into the Ward house to set it on fire.  He was discovered by Justus, who knocked him unconscious.  Damian died in the fire.  Laura was arrested and charged with the murder, but with help from Justus, she was acquitted.  

Q:        Did Billy Warlock, who plays AJ Quartermaine, used to be on Days of Our Lives?  Michelle Griner, KY 

A:            Billy Warlock has had extensive TV appearances, including Days of Our Lives, playing the character of Frankie Brady from 86-88, and Francois von Leuschner from 90-91.  

 A little bit of trivia about Billy…he worked as a stunt double for Robin Williams in the 1978 TV series Mork and Mindy. 

Q:        Am I losing my mind, or was Faison once on Loving as the same character?  Amanda 

A:        Not to worry Amanda.   Anders Hove, who plays  GH’s mysterious and evil villain, Cesar Faison, also  appeared in the ABC soap drama Loving, as the same character in 1993.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!!