Helena Cassadine
Encyclopedia
Helena Cassadine is a fictional character
on the American soap opera
General Hospital
, famously originated by film actress Elizabeth Taylor
in November 1981. The character reappeared 15 years later in 1996, and has returned — for periods of varying length — nearly every year since.
Luke Spencer and Laura Webber (Anthony Geary
and Genie Francis
), Taylor called then-Executive Producer
Gloria Monty
in 1981 and asked for a cameo role. She was cast as Helena, the vengeful widow of villain Mikkos Cassadine (John Colicos
), who had died at the climax of that summer's popular "Ice Princess" storyline. Arriving on the canvas on November 10, 1981, Mrs. Mikkos Cassadine sends her Emissary to all the prominent citizens of PC with invitations to attend a reception she is giving. Luke and Laura's November 16, 1981 wedding, featuring Taylor's Helena, was watched by 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history. Taylor's last appearance as Helena aired on November 19, 1981. Though gone, the character was mentioned several times in her absence until Dimitra Arliss
appeared briefly as the character in 1996, and Constance Towers
was later introduced as Helena on December 19, 1997. Towers was a regular presence on the series until April 9, 2002, later returning on October 16 and 17, 2003, in December 2003, and from January 16 to October 2004. Towers' Helena reappeared in January 2005, April and May 2005, October and November 2005, January 2006, and from October 2006 to January 2007. Most recently, Towers returned from April 13 to April 21, 2009, on June 4, 2009. ,September 30, 2009-2010, and June 2011-present.
, Laura, and Robert Scorpio
foil Mikkos Cassadine's plot to freeze the world using a weather machine, and both Mikkos and his brother Tony are killed while their other brother Victor is arrested. Mikkos's widow Helena appears in Port Charles
just in time to curse Luke and Laura from the sidelines of their November 16, 1981 wedding. Laura later vanishes without a trace in 1982, leaving a devastated Luke to search for her. Presumed dead, Laura reappears in 1983, having been kidnapped by the Cassadines in revenge. Told that Luke was dead, Laura had been forced to marry Mikkos and Helena's son Stavros Cassadine, who had fallen in love with her. She had returned to Port Charles upon learning that Luke was alive, followed by Stavros; he is ultimately killed, and Luke and Laura are reunited. Discovering that Laura is pregnant with their first child, she and Luke leave town in 1984. Laura's mother Lesley Webber
is killed in a car wreck later that year.
, Luke and Laura have a daughter they call Lulu
in 1994. In 1996 she is diagnosed with aplastic anemia
. A mysterious young man comes to town hoping to help. Laura is forced to reveal that he is Nikolas Cassadine
, her son with Stavros, born during her captivity. She had been sworn by the Cassadines to leave him behind and keep his existence a secret as a condition of her release, to protect Luke from their wrath. Nikolas saves Lulu's life with a bone marrow transplant
, but Luke and Laura's marriage is destroyed by the revelation of this secret. Around this time, Luke visits a bedridden Helena, gloating at her condition but vowing to have his revenge when she is well enough to fully experience him murdering her. Nikolas had come to town with his calculating but benevolent uncle and guardian Stefan Cassadine (Mikkos and Helena's younger son) and Stefan's adopted cousin Alexis Davis
. Stefan and Laura had been romantically involved while she had been married to Stavros and confined on Cassadine Island. Stefan still harbors feelings for her. With Laura's marriage to Luke faltering, her own feelings for Stefan are rekindled as he comforts her. With Helena no longer a threat, Stefan discovers one of her secrets: Laura's mother Lesley is alive, having been kidnapped by Helena in 1984 and her death faked. Stefan frees Lesley and reunites her with Laura.
Lucky is presumed dead in a fire in May 1999; he reappears in February 2000 having been kidnapped on Helena's orders and brainwashed into serving her. In 2001, it is revealed Stavros has been in cryonic suspension in a secret room below General Hospital since his apparent "death" in 1983, waiting for a time when medical science could revive him. Helena manages to do so. Stefan stirs up trouble in town. Though initially compelled to do Helena's bidding and even hurting his loved ones, Lucky finally manages to break Helena's conditioning. Luke kills Stavros again by pushing him into a bottomless pit in 2001.
. Nikolas and Emily searched for them and tracked Colleen to Chicago
where she had dyed her hair and gotten a job at a daycare center to save enough and start a new life with "her son". After a few near-misses with Nikolas and Emily, Helena encountered the psycho nanny and took Spencer to St. Petersburg, Russia
. Nik & Em followed her and got there just in time to stop Helena from baptizing Spencer with a different name. When they tried to get him back, Helena threatened to kill him with a dagger. Emily offered to trade herself for the infant. Helena accepted. Emily was able to get away, as was Helena.
On September 30, 2009 Helena returns but she is sick and confined to her bed. Luke comes in and talks to her. Helena tells him another Cassadine is plotting revenge on the Spencers and Cassadines. Luke thinks Helena is faking her illness but he feels her forehead. It is revealed she is not faking her illness. Her nurse Mischa tells Luke's kids Ethan and Lulu there is another Cassadine, named Valentin, whom even Helena fears. Fearing for her life, Nikolas has Helena flown to General Hospital
. After stirring up even more trouble after arriving in Port Charles
, Nikolas uses his position in the hospital's board of directors to have Helena sent back to Greece
.
. The following day, Elizabeth finds out she is pregnant. Believing the baby is Nikolas's, Helena made immediate threats to Elizabeth about the welfare of the child. Believing she is unstable, Nikolas and Lucky pressure her into committing herself into Shadybrook Sanitarium
. In an attempt to keep tabs on Elizabeth, Helena makes a large donation to the institution, getting an upperhand with the staff. While reminiscing with Luke, she reveals the immediate threat from Valentin has passed. Later, when Elizabeth has a paternity test done, Helena pays the lab tech to let her see the results first. She finds out Lucky is the biological father, but has the results switched to make it look like Nikolas is the father. Helena has her Man kidnap Tracy who she thought knew Liz's baby was a Spencer. Luke tries to find Tracy but ends up kidnapped, too. While they are being held hostage, Tracy becomes sick and Luke takes care of her. Later Nikolas and Lucky find Tracy and Luke. Upon returning to Port Charles, Nikolas banishes Helena from Wyndemere for her actions and warns her to stay away from Elizabeth and their son. When the newborn Aiden is later kidnapped, Helena instantly becomes a suspect, and Nik openly threatens to kill her if she is the one who did so. Eventually, Aiden is found unharmed.
Helena is seen in Port Charles secretly watching Nikolas as he boards his jet. Shortly afterward, she confronts Lucky to taunt him, while insisting the whole time that Aiden was really a Cassadine and that Elizabeth's third DNA test was the tampered one. Lucky demands her to leave.
While searching from a recently missing-in-action Luke in Florida, Lulu and her boyfriend Dante
learn from a pimp that Luke is somewhere doing business with Helena. The two arrive on Cassadine Island where they confront Helena about Luke's whereabouts. Helena later threatens to cause the Spencer family pain by making them lose Luke. Helena has a plan to get revenge on Spencers for the deaths of both her sons.
On September 28th, 2011 Ethan (Luke's son) is wandering in Nik's home. While he find a photo of Laura and Is smacked in the head with vase. Which Helena did. While Helena and Ethan talk. Helena sees someone passing by.
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 American 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,...
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....
, famously originated by film actress Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
in November 1981. The character reappeared 15 years later in 1996, and has returned — for periods of varying length — nearly every year since.
Casting
A fan of the series and wildly popular supercoupleSupercouple
A supercouple or super couple is a popular or financially wealthy pairing that intrigues and fascinates the public in an intense or even obsessive fashion...
Luke Spencer and Laura Webber (Anthony Geary
Anthony Geary
Anthony Geary is an American actor. He has starred on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital as Luke Spencer from 1978 to 1984 and from 1993 to present.-Life and career:...
and Genie Francis
Genie Francis
Eugenie "Genie" Francis Frakes is an American actress known for her portrayal of Laura Spencer on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital. She is currently playing Genevieve Atkinson on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless...
), Taylor called then-Executive Producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
Gloria Monty
Gloria Monty
Gloria Monty was an American TV producer working primarily in the field of daytime drama.She died of cancer at the age of 84.-Education:...
in 1981 and asked for a cameo role. She was cast as Helena, the vengeful widow of villain Mikkos Cassadine (John Colicos
John Colicos
John Colicos was a Greek-Canadian actor. He was a distinguished stage actor in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.-Career:...
), who had died at the climax of that summer's popular "Ice Princess" storyline. Arriving on the canvas on November 10, 1981, Mrs. Mikkos Cassadine sends her Emissary to all the prominent citizens of PC with invitations to attend a reception she is giving. Luke and Laura's November 16, 1981 wedding, featuring Taylor's Helena, was watched by 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history. Taylor's last appearance as Helena aired on November 19, 1981. Though gone, the character was mentioned several times in her absence until Dimitra Arliss
Dimitra Arliss
Dimitra Arliss , sometimes credited as Dimitra Arlys, is an American actress.Arliss became noticed after appearing in Arthur L. Kopit's Broadway play Indians in the 1960s in which she played a Native American character who spoke with an Italian accent...
appeared briefly as the character in 1996, and Constance Towers
Constance Towers
-Early life:Towers was born in Whitefish, Montana, the daughter of Ardath L. and Harry J. Towers. According to her official Web site, a contract from Paramount Pictures was offered to her at age 11 but was declined...
was later introduced as Helena on December 19, 1997. Towers was a regular presence on the series until April 9, 2002, later returning on October 16 and 17, 2003, in December 2003, and from January 16 to October 2004. Towers' Helena reappeared in January 2005, April and May 2005, October and November 2005, January 2006, and from October 2006 to January 2007. Most recently, Towers returned from April 13 to April 21, 2009, on June 4, 2009. ,September 30, 2009-2010, and June 2011-present.
1981
In Summer 1981, LukeLuke Spencer
Lucas "Luke" Lorenzo Spencer, Sr. is a fictional character in the American television soap opera General Hospital, and has been played by Anthony Geary since 1978.-Early years :...
, Laura, and Robert Scorpio
Robert Scorpio
Robert Xavier Scorpio is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital, played by actor Tristan Rogers. Robert's birthday is September 15.-Appearances:Tristan Rogers originally played the role from December 1980 through February 25, 1992...
foil Mikkos Cassadine's plot to freeze the world using a weather machine, and both Mikkos and his brother Tony are killed while their other brother Victor is arrested. Mikkos's widow Helena appears in Port Charles
Port Charles, New York (Fictional City)
Port Charles, New York is the fictional setting of the ABC Daytime soap operas General Hospital and its spin-offs Port Charles and General Hospital: Night Shift. It was later retroactively revealed as the setting of The Young Marrieds, a short-lived series which ran between 1964 and 1966...
just in time to curse Luke and Laura from the sidelines of their November 16, 1981 wedding. Laura later vanishes without a trace in 1982, leaving a devastated Luke to search for her. Presumed dead, Laura reappears in 1983, having been kidnapped by the Cassadines in revenge. Told that Luke was dead, Laura had been forced to marry Mikkos and Helena's son Stavros Cassadine, who had fallen in love with her. She had returned to Port Charles upon learning that Luke was alive, followed by Stavros; he is ultimately killed, and Luke and Laura are reunited. Discovering that Laura is pregnant with their first child, she and Luke leave town in 1984. Laura's mother Lesley Webber
Lesley Webber
Lesley Webber, M.D. was a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital. She was played by Denise Alexander from 1972-1984 on contract and from 1996-2009 recurring.-Arrival:...
is killed in a car wreck later that year.
1996
Having returned to Port Charles in 1993 with son LuckyLucky Spencer
Lucas Lorenzo "Lucky" Spencer, Jr. is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital. He is the son of legendary super couple Luke Spencer and Laura Webber.-Casting:...
, Luke and Laura have a daughter they call Lulu
Lulu Spencer
Lesley Lu "Lulu" Spencer is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. She is the daughter of supercouple Luke and Laura Spencer. She has notably been portrayed by Julie Marie Berman, who debuted in the role in November 2005...
in 1994. In 1996 she is diagnosed with aplastic anemia
Aplastic anemia
Aplastic anemia is a condition where bone marrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells. The condition, per its name, involves both aplasia and anemia...
. A mysterious young man comes to town hoping to help. Laura is forced to reveal that he is Nikolas Cassadine
Nikolas Cassadine
Prince Nikolas Mikhail Stavrosovich Cassadine is a fictional character on the long-running American soap opera General Hospital. The role was originated by Tyler Christopher, who played the character from 1996–1999, and then after a four-year hiatus resumed the role in 2003 and left the show in 2011...
, her son with Stavros, born during her captivity. She had been sworn by the Cassadines to leave him behind and keep his existence a secret as a condition of her release, to protect Luke from their wrath. Nikolas saves Lulu's life with a bone marrow transplant
Bone marrow transplant
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cell or blood, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells, or umbilical cord blood...
, but Luke and Laura's marriage is destroyed by the revelation of this secret. Around this time, Luke visits a bedridden Helena, gloating at her condition but vowing to have his revenge when she is well enough to fully experience him murdering her. Nikolas had come to town with his calculating but benevolent uncle and guardian Stefan Cassadine (Mikkos and Helena's younger son) and Stefan's adopted cousin Alexis Davis
Alexis Davis
Alexis Davis is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera, General Hospital. Nancy Lee Grahn originated the role in April 1996. She is the daughter of Mikkos Cassadine and Kristin Bergman. She is also the mother of Sam McCall, Kristina Davis and Molly Lansing...
. Stefan and Laura had been romantically involved while she had been married to Stavros and confined on Cassadine Island. Stefan still harbors feelings for her. With Laura's marriage to Luke faltering, her own feelings for Stefan are rekindled as he comforts her. With Helena no longer a threat, Stefan discovers one of her secrets: Laura's mother Lesley is alive, having been kidnapped by Helena in 1984 and her death faked. Stefan frees Lesley and reunites her with Laura.
1997-2002
Helena appears in 1997 in an attempt to reassert control over Cassadine heir Nikolas and his fortune. She loathes Stefan, whom she views as weak, and seeks to thwart his influence over Nikolas by distracting Stefan with Laura. Meanwhile, Alexis had discovered she was actually Mikkos' illegitimate daughter. Helena terrorizes her. Alexis remembers - as a little girl she had watched Helena slit her mother's throat. Luke and Alexis plot to kill Helena in 1998, but Stefan's fiancée Katherine Bell is accidentally killed instead. They attempt to frame Helena, but Stefan is arrested; Katherine is revealed to be alive, saved by Helena as part of her plans. In Helena's debt, Katherine seduces Nikolas to put a wedge between him and Stefan. Meanwhile, Luke discovers evidence Nikolas is actually Stefan's son, making him no longer the Cassadine heir and allowing Helena to take control of the Cassadine fortune. She next plans to eliminate Stefan and Laura, but Stefan manages to poison Helena, rendering her paralyzed and mute. Katherine is murdered for real. Laura is charged; it is ultimately revealed an antidote had allowed Helena to recover. She had crept out of her bed to kill Katherine and frame Laura. Later it is also discovered Helena had faked the DNA results. Nikolas is Stavros' son and the rightful heir.Lucky is presumed dead in a fire in May 1999; he reappears in February 2000 having been kidnapped on Helena's orders and brainwashed into serving her. In 2001, it is revealed Stavros has been in cryonic suspension in a secret room below General Hospital since his apparent "death" in 1983, waiting for a time when medical science could revive him. Helena manages to do so. Stefan stirs up trouble in town. Though initially compelled to do Helena's bidding and even hurting his loved ones, Lucky finally manages to break Helena's conditioning. Luke kills Stavros again by pushing him into a bottomless pit in 2001.
2006
In 2006 Helena placed a nanny in Nikolas' home, Colleen McHenry, in hopes of getting Nikolas' son Spencer. For a while, everything was going according to plan, until Colleen turned on Helena with her own agenda. She had fallen for Nikolas. When her feelings weren't returned because Nikolas and Emily had gotten back together, she lost it. Colleen overpowered Helena and held her captive in a tower near Wyndemere for a couple days. She then kidnapped baby Spencer on Christmas EveChristmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
. Nikolas and Emily searched for them and tracked Colleen to 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...
where she had dyed her hair and gotten a job at a daycare center to save enough and start a new life with "her son". After a few near-misses with Nikolas and Emily, Helena encountered the psycho nanny and took Spencer to St. Petersburg, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Nik & Em followed her and got there just in time to stop Helena from baptizing Spencer with a different name. When they tried to get him back, Helena threatened to kill him with a dagger. Emily offered to trade herself for the infant. Helena accepted. Emily was able to get away, as was Helena.
2009
Helena reappears in Port Charles at the General Hospital grand re-opening on April 13, 2009 demanding Nikolas return a painting of Saint Gregoire to her, which he does. Alexis voices her suspicions. Helena has actually orchestrated the recent arrival of Rebecca Shaw, who resembles Nikolas's deceased wife Emily Quartermaine; Nikolas is inclined to agree when he later sees Helena and Rebecca talking. As Helena leaves town on her jet, she tears the paper off the backside of the painting and reveals a birth certificate. She returns again on June 4, 2009 and soon tries to lure Rebecca away from her "current partner" and assist in Helena's plans; Rebecca angrily refuses. After their conversation, Helena disappears.On September 30, 2009 Helena returns but she is sick and confined to her bed. Luke comes in and talks to her. Helena tells him another Cassadine is plotting revenge on the Spencers and Cassadines. Luke thinks Helena is faking her illness but he feels her forehead. It is revealed she is not faking her illness. Her nurse Mischa tells Luke's kids Ethan and Lulu there is another Cassadine, named Valentin, whom even Helena fears. Fearing for her life, Nikolas has Helena flown to 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....
. After stirring up even more trouble after arriving in Port Charles
Port Charles
Port Charles was a daytime soap opera which aired on ABC from June 2, 1997 to October 3, 2003. It is a spin-off of the serial General Hospital, which has been running since 1963 and takes place in the fictional city of Port Charles, New York...
, Nikolas uses his position in the hospital's board of directors to have Helena sent back to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.
2010
Helena showed up in Port Charles again on February 10, following her learning of Nikolas' affair with Elizabeth WebberElizabeth Webber
Elizabeth Spencer may refer to:*Lady Elizabeth Spencer , wife of Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke*Elizabeth Spencer, Baroness Hunsdon*Elizabeth Spencer , American novelist...
. The following day, Elizabeth finds out she is pregnant. Believing the baby is Nikolas's, Helena made immediate threats to Elizabeth about the welfare of the child. Believing she is unstable, Nikolas and Lucky pressure her into committing herself into Shadybrook Sanitarium
Port Charles, New York (Fictional City)
Port Charles, New York is the fictional setting of the ABC Daytime soap operas General Hospital and its spin-offs Port Charles and General Hospital: Night Shift. It was later retroactively revealed as the setting of The Young Marrieds, a short-lived series which ran between 1964 and 1966...
. In an attempt to keep tabs on Elizabeth, Helena makes a large donation to the institution, getting an upperhand with the staff. While reminiscing with Luke, she reveals the immediate threat from Valentin has passed. Later, when Elizabeth has a paternity test done, Helena pays the lab tech to let her see the results first. She finds out Lucky is the biological father, but has the results switched to make it look like Nikolas is the father. Helena has her Man kidnap Tracy who she thought knew Liz's baby was a Spencer. Luke tries to find Tracy but ends up kidnapped, too. While they are being held hostage, Tracy becomes sick and Luke takes care of her. Later Nikolas and Lucky find Tracy and Luke. Upon returning to Port Charles, Nikolas banishes Helena from Wyndemere for her actions and warns her to stay away from Elizabeth and their son. When the newborn Aiden is later kidnapped, Helena instantly becomes a suspect, and Nik openly threatens to kill her if she is the one who did so. Eventually, Aiden is found unharmed.
2011
Over time, Elizabeth suspects that Aiden is Lucky's son, not Nikolas', and confirms this with a third DNA test. After delaying this revelation when Elizabeth's middle child Jake is killed in a hit-and run accident, she finally reveals the truth to Lucky and Nikolas. Nikolas does not take the news well, and decides to leave Aiden with Elizabeth and Lucky, then prepares to leave town.Helena is seen in Port Charles secretly watching Nikolas as he boards his jet. Shortly afterward, she confronts Lucky to taunt him, while insisting the whole time that Aiden was really a Cassadine and that Elizabeth's third DNA test was the tampered one. Lucky demands her to leave.
While searching from a recently missing-in-action Luke in Florida, Lulu and her boyfriend Dante
Dante Falconeri
Dante Angelo Falconeri is a fictional character on the popular daytime soap opera General Hospital. Dante is the son of the popular character Sonny Corinthos and his old flame Olivia Falconeri. He has been portrayed by contract player Dominic Zamprogna since June 22, 2009.-Character description...
learn from a pimp that Luke is somewhere doing business with Helena. The two arrive on Cassadine Island where they confront Helena about Luke's whereabouts. Helena later threatens to cause the Spencer family pain by making them lose Luke. Helena has a plan to get revenge on Spencers for the deaths of both her sons.
On September 28th, 2011 Ethan (Luke's son) is wandering in Nik's home. While he find a photo of Laura and Is smacked in the head with vase. Which Helena did. While Helena and Ethan talk. Helena sees someone passing by.