A. J. Quartermaine
Encyclopedia
Alan James "A.J." Quartermaine, Jr. is a fictional character
on the popular ABC
daytime drama, General Hospital
. The son of the wealthy Dr. Alan and Dr. Monica Quartermaine
, A.J.'s storylines centered on his battle with alcoholism, his family's preference for his brother, Jason Morgan, and his failed attempts to regain custody of his son, Michael. The character was played by a variety of child actors from 1979–1989, and then as an adult from 1991 until the character was killed off in 2005. Notable actors who played the role included Sean Kanan
(1993–1997) and Billy Warlock
(1997–2003, 2005).
and Justin Whalin
from 1979 until 1989. In March 1991, the character was brought back as a contracted role, with Gerald Hopkins playing the character as an adult for a year, and then Sean Kanan
taking over the role until June 1997. Billy Warlock
then assumed the role until December 2003, and again briefly from February to April 2005, when the character was killed off.
. But after A.J.'s birth, an unusual birthmark and a rare blood type help prove that he is a Quartermaine. During childhood, A.J. is sent to a boarding school in Switzerland with younger brother Jason, Alan's son by a mistress but adopted by Monica after the mistress dies. Monica, along with most of the family, favors Jason over A.J.
, cousin Ned Ashton, and grandmother Lila Quartermaine. Jason goes to work for mobster Sonny Corinthos
as a hitman. The Quartermaines blame A.J. for the loss of Jason.
During college, A.J. also develops a relationship with Nikki his half-sister Dawn's half-sister (Nikki and Dawn shared the same father. AJ and Dawn shared the same mother). Nikki is not related to A.J. by blood, but the Quartermaines do not like this close connection. A.J.'s father Alan pays off Nikki to leave town.
, who is involved with Dr. Tony Jones. When Carly learns she is pregnant, she is unsure which man is the father, but goes to great lengths to keep A.J. from becoming suspicious. A.J. has stopped drinking and is attempting to straighten out his life, but Carly drugs him, hefts him into a laundry cart, dumps him in a back alley behind a bar and pours alcohol all over him. She wants him to think he's been drinking so he will go to a rehabilitation facility out of state, as she does not want him around when the baby is born. Her efforts backfire, and A.J. becomes suspicious. He demands a DNA test and tells Carly he wants custody of the baby if it's his. Carly persuades Jason, another of her ex-lovers, to assume paternity of the baby. When Michael is born, A.J. misunderstands a doctor's explanation about the baby's blood type and mistakenly believes Michael could not be his. A few years later, Jason's girlfriend Robin Scorpio
tells A.J. that he is, in fact, the father. A custody battle between Jason and A.J. follows. A.J. marries Carly and takes Michael to live with him, but finds it difficult to connect with the toddler, who is closely bonded to Jason. Ultimately, Carly has an affair with Sonny Corinthos
, becomes pregnant by him, and Jason leaves town. A.J. initially offers to raise Sonny's child as his own, but the marriage breaks up. Carly miscarries after she falls down a flight of stairs during a fight with A.J. She marries Sonny, who blackmails A.J. with his knowledge that A.J. hired an arsonist to burn down Sonny's warehouse, also in an attempt to regain custody of Michael. Sonny has his henchmen hang A.J. from a meathook, and threatens to kill him unless A.J. signs away his rights.
, thinking he can use her to gain revenge against Sonny and perhaps regain custody of Michael. A.J. falls in love with Courtney and is happy for a time. When faced with the choice of choosing Courtney or the Quartermaines, he chooses his wife, and is cut off financially from the family. Faced with endless ridicule at his new job, he gets drunk one night and drives into Coleman Ratcliffe's strip joint, with Courtney a passenger in the car. Courtney starts working as a stripper to pay off A.J.'s debt and to keep A.J. out of trouble with the law. However, Sonny assigns Jason to be Courtney's bodyguard and Courtney slowly falls in love with Jason. A.J. burns down the strip joint when he learns that Courtney was stripping, but Jason pulls him out of the rubble. Hurt and angry that Courtney has fallen for his brother, "the golden boy," A.J. hires Ratcliffe, who is obsessed with Courtney, to stalk her. After various other financial and illegal misadventures, A.J. steals money from the Quartermaine family and leaves the country with heiress Lydia Karenin.
, a man who he was blackmailing, for years ago having attempted to kill Jason at A.J's request. After A.J's murder, his son Michael is a suspect for awhile, but then eventually cleared.
Jason regretted his decision to keep Michael away from AJ increased after Michael was shot and fell into a coma because of Sonny. He felt that, with AJ, Michael would have been safer. Michael awoke from his coma in the summer of 2009. Carly asked Jason's mother Monica and grandfather Edward if Michael can live in the Quartermaine house. The main reason Carly hadn't originally wanted Michael living there was because the Quartermaines back-stabbed each other and constantly bickered with each other.
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...
on the popular 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...
daytime drama, General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
. The son of the wealthy Dr. Alan and Dr. Monica Quartermaine
Monica Quartermaine
Dr. Monica Quartermaine is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera, General Hospital. She is a member of the wealthy Quartermaine family. Her various affairs and quarrels with her husband Dr...
, A.J.'s storylines centered on his battle with alcoholism, his family's preference for his brother, Jason Morgan, and his failed attempts to regain custody of his son, Michael. The character was played by a variety of child actors from 1979–1989, and then as an adult from 1991 until the character was killed off in 2005. Notable actors who played the role included Sean Kanan
Sean Kanan
-Early life:He was born Sean Perelman in Cleveland, Ohio and was raised in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He attended Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, Boston University and UCLA where he earned a degree in political science....
(1993–1997) and Billy Warlock
Billy Warlock
Billy Warlock is an American actor best known for playing Eddie Kramer, a lifeguard on the original three seasons of Baywatch and in the reunion movie in 2003, as well as for numerous daytime roles, most notably Frankie Brady on Days of our Lives and A.J...
(1997–2003, 2005).
Casting
The character was portrayed by various child actors including Jason MarsdenJason Marsden
Jason Christopher Marsden is an American screen and voice actor who has done numerous voice roles in animated films, as well as various television series.-Early life:...
and Justin Whalin
Justin Whalin
Justin Garrett Whalin is an American actor best known for his role as Jimmy Olsen in the American television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.-Early life:...
from 1979 until 1989. In March 1991, the character was brought back as a contracted role, with Gerald Hopkins playing the character as an adult for a year, and then Sean Kanan
Sean Kanan
-Early life:He was born Sean Perelman in Cleveland, Ohio and was raised in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He attended Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, Boston University and UCLA where he earned a degree in political science....
taking over the role until June 1997. Billy Warlock
Billy Warlock
Billy Warlock is an American actor best known for playing Eddie Kramer, a lifeguard on the original three seasons of Baywatch and in the reunion movie in 2003, as well as for numerous daytime roles, most notably Frankie Brady on Days of our Lives and A.J...
then assumed the role until December 2003, and again briefly from February to April 2005, when the character was killed off.
- Eric Kroh (from 1979–1983) {recurring}
- Abraham Geary (1983) {recurring}
- Jason MarsdenJason MarsdenJason Christopher Marsden is an American screen and voice actor who has done numerous voice roles in animated films, as well as various television series.-Early life:...
(from 1986–1988) {recurring} - Christopher Ren Nelson (1988) {recurring}
- Justin WhalinJustin WhalinJustin Garrett Whalin is an American actor best known for his role as Jimmy Olsen in the American television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.-Early life:...
(April 25, 1988 to 1989) {recurring} - Gerald Hopkins (from June 26, 1991 - December 30, 1992) {contract}
- Sean KananSean Kanan-Early life:He was born Sean Perelman in Cleveland, Ohio and was raised in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He attended Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, Boston University and UCLA where he earned a degree in political science....
(from February 16, 1993 - June 10, 1997) {contract} - Billy WarlockBilly WarlockBilly Warlock is an American actor best known for playing Eddie Kramer, a lifeguard on the original three seasons of Baywatch and in the reunion movie in 2003, as well as for numerous daytime roles, most notably Frankie Brady on Days of our Lives and A.J...
(from June 13, 1997 - December 11, 2003, February 4, 2005 - April 26, 2005) {contract}
Childhood
A.J.'s mother, Monica, initially thinks that A.J's father is her lover, Dr. Rick WebberRick Webber
Rick Webber was a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital. He was portrayed by Michael Gregory from 1976 - 1978, and by Chris Robinson from 1978 - 1986, and again briefly in 2002, when the character was killed by Scott Baldwin....
. But after A.J.'s birth, an unusual birthmark and a rare blood type help prove that he is a Quartermaine. During childhood, A.J. is sent to a boarding school in Switzerland with younger brother Jason, Alan's son by a mistress but adopted by Monica after the mistress dies. Monica, along with most of the family, favors Jason over A.J.
College years
When the boys return to Port Charles as teenagers, A.J. battles a drinking problem that grows worse over the next years. He starts a loan shark operation in college and has an affair with Nancy Eckert, the ex-wife of Spencer cousin Bill Eckert. He pays someone to have her beat up to keep quiet about his misdeeds. During his college year, he is arrested twice for drunken driving, and his brother Jason is injured while trying to prevent A.J. from driving drunk. Jason falls into a coma, and when he recovers, no longer remembers anyone. He becomes estranged from every Quartermaine except younger adopted sister Emily Bowen-QuartermaineEmily Bowen-Quartermaine
Dr. Emily Quartermaine is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. The role was originated on January 20, 1995 by Amber Tamblyn, who portrayed the role until July 11, 2001...
, cousin Ned Ashton, and grandmother Lila Quartermaine. Jason goes to work for mobster Sonny Corinthos
Sonny Corinthos
Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr. is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera General Hospital. Maurice Benard has played the role, that of a manic depressive Mob boss living in Port Charles, since the character's storyline originated on August 13, 1993...
as a hitman. The Quartermaines blame A.J. for the loss of Jason.
During college, A.J. also develops a relationship with Nikki his half-sister Dawn's half-sister (Nikki and Dawn shared the same father. AJ and Dawn shared the same mother). Nikki is not related to A.J. by blood, but the Quartermaines do not like this close connection. A.J.'s father Alan pays off Nikki to leave town.
The battle over Michael
A.J. has a drunken one-night stand with Carly CorinthosCarly Corinthos
Caroline Leigh "Carly" Corinthos Jacks is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. Originated by Sarah Brown on April 8, 1996, the role of Carly has been portrayed by Laura Wright since 2005...
, who is involved with Dr. Tony Jones. When Carly learns she is pregnant, she is unsure which man is the father, but goes to great lengths to keep A.J. from becoming suspicious. A.J. has stopped drinking and is attempting to straighten out his life, but Carly drugs him, hefts him into a laundry cart, dumps him in a back alley behind a bar and pours alcohol all over him. She wants him to think he's been drinking so he will go to a rehabilitation facility out of state, as she does not want him around when the baby is born. Her efforts backfire, and A.J. becomes suspicious. He demands a DNA test and tells Carly he wants custody of the baby if it's his. Carly persuades Jason, another of her ex-lovers, to assume paternity of the baby. When Michael is born, A.J. misunderstands a doctor's explanation about the baby's blood type and mistakenly believes Michael could not be his. A few years later, Jason's girlfriend Robin Scorpio
Robin Scorpio
Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake is a fictional character from the ABC soap opera General Hospital and its prime time SOAPnet spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift, originated and portrayed by Kimberly McCullough since 1985. The character came to mainstream attention when she was diagnosed as HIV-positive...
tells A.J. that he is, in fact, the father. A custody battle between Jason and A.J. follows. A.J. marries Carly and takes Michael to live with him, but finds it difficult to connect with the toddler, who is closely bonded to Jason. Ultimately, Carly has an affair with Sonny Corinthos
Sonny Corinthos
Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr. is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera General Hospital. Maurice Benard has played the role, that of a manic depressive Mob boss living in Port Charles, since the character's storyline originated on August 13, 1993...
, becomes pregnant by him, and Jason leaves town. A.J. initially offers to raise Sonny's child as his own, but the marriage breaks up. Carly miscarries after she falls down a flight of stairs during a fight with A.J. She marries Sonny, who blackmails A.J. with his knowledge that A.J. hired an arsonist to burn down Sonny's warehouse, also in an attempt to regain custody of Michael. Sonny has his henchmen hang A.J. from a meathook, and threatens to kill him unless A.J. signs away his rights.
Marriage to Courtney
A few years later, A.J. marries Sonny's half-sister Courtney MatthewsCourtney Matthews
Courtney Matthews was a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital. She was the daughter of Mike Corbin and Janine Matthews, and the half sister of mobster, Sonny Corinthos. Courtney was portrayed by Alicia Leigh Willis from December 20, 2001 until February 21, 2006...
, thinking he can use her to gain revenge against Sonny and perhaps regain custody of Michael. A.J. falls in love with Courtney and is happy for a time. When faced with the choice of choosing Courtney or the Quartermaines, he chooses his wife, and is cut off financially from the family. Faced with endless ridicule at his new job, he gets drunk one night and drives into Coleman Ratcliffe's strip joint, with Courtney a passenger in the car. Courtney starts working as a stripper to pay off A.J.'s debt and to keep A.J. out of trouble with the law. However, Sonny assigns Jason to be Courtney's bodyguard and Courtney slowly falls in love with Jason. A.J. burns down the strip joint when he learns that Courtney was stripping, but Jason pulls him out of the rubble. Hurt and angry that Courtney has fallen for his brother, "the golden boy," A.J. hires Ratcliffe, who is obsessed with Courtney, to stalk her. After various other financial and illegal misadventures, A.J. steals money from the Quartermaine family and leaves the country with heiress Lydia Karenin.
Kidnapping and death
A.J. resurfaces in 2005 with another plot to get Michael back. He hires Faith Rosco to kidnap Sonny's children. The two younger children, Kristina and Morgan are rescued by Jason Morgan, and Sam McCall, but Michael is presumed dead. A.J. plans to take Michael out of the country. Alan, who is sympathetic, initially helps A.J. but turns him in after seeing A.J.'s willingness to commit violence to get his own way. When Jason tries to apprehend him, A.J.'s back is broken and he is hospitalized. Jason realized he had been wrong about his decision to help Sonny and Carly keep Michael away from AJ, because he had taken away his brother's chance to be a father and to get to know who his son was. While in the hospital, he is smothered by Dr. Asher ThomasAsher Thomas
Dr. Asher Thomas is an evil doctor who killed Aj quartermaine in the year 2005. He is played by Larry Poindexter. - Arrival :Dr.Asher Thomas first came to Port charles on June 3, 2005 as a pyschiatrist who had tried to help Michael corinthos III figure out how his biological father Aj quartermaine...
, a man who he was blackmailing, for years ago having attempted to kill Jason at A.J's request. After A.J's murder, his son Michael is a suspect for awhile, but then eventually cleared.
Jason regretted his decision to keep Michael away from AJ increased after Michael was shot and fell into a coma because of Sonny. He felt that, with AJ, Michael would have been safer. Michael awoke from his coma in the summer of 2009. Carly asked Jason's mother Monica and grandfather Edward if Michael can live in the Quartermaine house. The main reason Carly hadn't originally wanted Michael living there was because the Quartermaines back-stabbed each other and constantly bickered with each other.