Hank Gannon
Encyclopedia
Henry "Hank" Gannon is a fictional character
on the ABC
soap opera
One Life to Live
. The role was originated the role in February 1992 by Nathan Purdee
. Purdee portrayed the role from 1992 through 2003, returning to the role in April 2009.
Raised in Chicago
and dubbed "The Cannon" Gannon as a star football player in high school, Hank met Nora Hanen
as law students at Midwestern University
. There, they fell in love, married, and bore their daughter Rachel
. The two divorced five years after the birth of Rachel, where Nora gained full-custody
of their daughter.
Hank, along with Nora and Rachel, relocated to Llanview
in 1992. In 1993, as District Attorney of Llantano County, he soon found himself head-to-head against Nora in the infamous Marty Saybrooke
rape
trial, pushing for the conviction of Todd Manning
, who his ex-wife defended. Nora threw the case upon uncovering evidence implicating Todd in the rape, although Todd never served jail time.
Prosecuting some of Llanview criminals like Carlo Hesser
to Dorian Lord, Hank left his post as District Attorney in 2003 upon bad publicity concerning his handling of a Mitch Laurence
murder investigation. He returned to Llanview with his daughter Rachel in April 2009, upon the news that Nora's son and Rachel's brother was paralyzed in a car accident
.
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 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
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
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...
. The role was originated the role in February 1992 by Nathan Purdee
Nathan Purdee
Nathan Purdee is an American serial actor. Purdee's father was an officer in the United States Air Force, and the family moved around many times. After spending formative years in Washington, D.C., Bakersfield, California, and Kaiserslautern, Germany, he graduated from high school in Denver,...
. Purdee portrayed the role from 1992 through 2003, returning to the role in April 2009.
Raised in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and dubbed "The Cannon" Gannon as a star football player in high school, Hank met Nora Hanen
Nora Hanen
Nora Hanen Buchanan is a fictional character on the long-running American soap opera One Life to Live. The role was originated by Hillary B. Smith in September 1992.-Casting:...
as law students at Midwestern University
Midwestern University
Midwestern University is a graduate degree-granting institution specializing in the health sciences with eight colleges and two campuses....
. There, they fell in love, married, and bore their daughter Rachel
Rachel Gannon
Rachel Gannon is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. The daughter of attorneys Nora Hanen and Hank Gannon, the role was originated and most notably portrayed by actress Ellen Bethea.-Casting:...
. The two divorced five years after the birth of Rachel, where Nora gained full-custody
Child custody
Child custody and guardianship are legal terms which are used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and his or her child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parent's duty to care for the child.Following ratification of the United...
of their daughter.
Hank, along with Nora and Rachel, relocated to Llanview
Llanview, 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...
in 1992. In 1993, as District Attorney of Llantano County, he soon found himself head-to-head against Nora in the infamous Marty Saybrooke
Marty Saybrooke
Dr. Margaret "Marty" Saybrooke is a fictional character on the American daytime drama One Life to Live. The role was originated by Susan Haskell, who portrayed Marty from January 24, 1992 through September 16, 1997 and made brief appearances on February 16, 2004 and February 2005...
rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
trial, pushing for the conviction 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 his ex-wife defended. Nora threw the case upon uncovering evidence implicating Todd in the rape, although Todd never served jail time.
Prosecuting some of Llanview criminals like 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...
to Dorian Lord, Hank left his post as District Attorney in 2003 upon bad publicity concerning his handling of a Mitch Laurence
Mitch Laurence
Mitchell "Mitch" Laurence is a fictional character, portrayed by Roscoe Born, on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live, from 1985 to 1987 and again from 2002 to 2003...
murder investigation. He returned to Llanview with his daughter Rachel in April 2009, upon the news that Nora's son and Rachel's brother was paralyzed in a car accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
.