Leo du Pres and Greenlee Smythe
Encyclopedia
Supercouple
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...
from the American daytime drama All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
. Leo
Leo du Pres
Leonardo "Leo" du Pres is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. The role was portrayed and originated by actor Josh Duhamel, from 1999 to 2002 and for two episodes in August 2011...
was portrayed by Josh Duhamel
Josh Duhamel
Joshua David "Josh" Duhamel is an American actor and former fashion model. He first achieved acting success in 1999 as Leo du Pres on ABC's All My Children and later as the chief of security, Danny McCoy, on NBC's Las Vegas...
, and Greenlee
Greenlee Smythe
Greenlee Smythe is a fictional character from the daytime drama All My Children. She was originally portrayed by actress Rebecca Budig from August 11, 1999 to November 30, 2005, and was portrayed by actress Sabine Singh from April 20, 2007 to January 15, 2008...
was portrayed by Rebecca Budig
Rebecca Budig
Rebecca Jo Budig is an American actress and television presenter, best known for her role as Greenlee Smythe Lavery on the ABC soap opera All My Children.-Early life:...
. The couple is often referred to by the portmanteau "Greenleo" (for Greenlee and Leo) on Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
message boards.
The pairing accumulated significant acclaim and media attention during their reign, 1999 to 2002, including two nominations at the Daytime Emmy Award
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
s for America's Favorite Couple. Their loving but antagonistic relationship is regarded as one of the greatest romances in American daytime television.
Storyline
Schemers Leo du PresLeo du Pres
Leonardo "Leo" du Pres is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. The role was portrayed and originated by actor Josh Duhamel, from 1999 to 2002 and for two episodes in August 2011...
and Greenlee Smythe
Greenlee Smythe
Greenlee Smythe is a fictional character from the daytime drama All My Children. She was originally portrayed by actress Rebecca Budig from August 11, 1999 to November 30, 2005, and was portrayed by actress Sabine Singh from April 20, 2007 to January 15, 2008...
meet when Greenlee is trying to win back college flame Scott Chandler from virgin do-gooder Becca Tyree. Leo wants Becca for himself, so when Greenlee offers him a bet to get Becca into bed, Leo readily takes the challenge. Leo and Greenlee's friendship deepens and as time passes, they learn they have a lot in common. Greenlee eventually moves on to attempting to seduce Ryan Lavery
Ryan Lavery
Ryan Aloysius Lavery is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children, as portrayed by Cameron Mathison from January 12, 1998 to 2002 and from 2003 to 2011. The character is set to come back in January 2012 when the series returns online...
, but gives him up when it becomes obvious that he only loves Gillian Andrassy. Greenlee develops a relationship with Leo. The two fool around, but neither think about becoming a serious couple.
Greenlee's trouble with a criminal named Wade turns dangerous. Wade somehow manages to escape jail and goes after Greenlee for turning him in to the cops. He holds Greenlee at gunpoint and demands that she get him a sizable chunk of cash and a passport out of the country. Greenlee tries her best to get Leo out of the way by telling him that she does not care about him and wants nothing more to do with him. Nevertheless, Leo continues hanging around and almost gets shot in the process. Wade later corners Greenlee and holds her hostage for $1,000,000 in ransom. Woodruff agrees to drop off the money at the boathouse (a placed where Pine Valley residents go for peace) in order to win his granddaughter's freedom. Leo happens upon the scene and tries to muscle Wade into submission. He fails and Wade locks Leo and Greenlee in a faulty elevator. Leo helps Greenlee escape the elevator before its cable snaps; Leo is not as lucky, though he does manage to escape before the elevator totally bottoms out.
Afterward, Leo and Greenlee are closer than ever. Leo takes Greenlee to the tropics to toast to their new relationship. Greenlee is unaware that Leo is using her grandfather's ransom money to fund the getaway. When Greenlee learns the truth, she and Leo return to Pine Valley and Leo is subsequently arrested for theft. Greenlee asks her grandfather to have the charges against Leo dropped. Woodruff says that he will only talk to Leo. Woodruff visits Leo in his jail cell and tells him that he will drop the charges against him if he agrees to take the rest of the ransom money and fly to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
— and never see Greenlee again. Leo refuses and wins Woodruff's respect in the process. Greenlee, however, thinks that Leo has accepted the offer and severs her ties to Leo. She later learns from her grandfather that Leo has not accepted the offer, but by then Leo is furious with Greenlee and is questioning whether or not he really wants her in his life.
Leo and Greenlee find themselves growing more and more fond of each other. Eventually, Leo and Greenlee's attraction turns to love. In the later winter of 2001, Greenlee asks Leo to marry her. Leo fears accepting her proposal because Roger Smythe, Greenlee's father, learned why he originally came to Pine Valley — to swindle Greenlee out of her fortune. As it turns out, Leo developed true feelings for Greenlee and no longer wants her money. He has a prenuptial agreement drawn up that will prevent him from seeing even one cent of Greenlee's money after a split. Roger catches wind of the agreement and flies in a woman from Verona, Italy named Katerina di Courcey. During his days as a con
Con
Con may refer to:*Con is a Latin preposition abbreviated from Contra meaning "against". It is the opposite of Pro another Latin preposition meaning "for",*Confidence trick, also known as con, scam, or flim flam...
, Leo had taken Katerina for everything she had. Katerina lies and says that Leo asked her for a prenup too. She makes up the story to ruin Leo's happiness, the same way that he ruined hers when he stole her money. Greenlee and Leo promptly split, though it is clear that they both love each other.
In spring, a frantic Brooke English
Brooke English
Brooke Allison English is a fictional character on the television soap opera All My Children. After being originated by Elissa Leeds in 1976, she was portrayed by Julia Barr from 1976 to 1981 and from 1982 to 2006. Harriet Hall temporarily played the role in 1981...
begs Leo to pretend to be interested in her dying daughter, Laura, so that this will spur Laura to fight for her life. Leo initially refuses, but over time he and Laura grow closer. It is suspect if Leo truly loves Laura, but also clear that he does care for her and wants to see her recover fully. On June 18, Leo pops the question to a hospitalized Laura and she accepts. Just two days later, the pair marry in Laura's hospital room with Brooke, Bianca Montgomery
Bianca Montgomery
Bianca Christine Montgomery is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. In June 2010, Christina Bennett Lind replaced Eden Riegel, who portrayed the role from July 2000 to January 2010. Until Riegel assumed the role, the character was portrayed solely by child...
, David Hayward
David Hayward
Dr. David Hayward is a fictional character from the ABC daytime drama All My Children, as portrayed by Vincent Irizarry from: November 27, 1997 - March 2, 1998, July 8, 1998 - November 28, 2006, October 23, 2008 - September 13, 2010, and returned on November 22, 2010.The character has been a top...
(Leo's half-brother), and nurse Zora in attendance. However, in spite of her happiness, Laura's health continues to deteriorate rapidly and the only possible way to save her life is with a heart transplant. In the nick of time, Leo learns that Gillian has been shot in the head and manages to convince her grieving husband, Ryan, to donate her heart to Laura. Laura rapidly recovers, but is quite needy and Leo almost immediately realizes that as much as he wants to, he does not love her. Leo is in love with Greenlee, and cannot even fathom making love to his wife.
Even though he is married to Laura, Greenlee is determined to win back Leo. When Laura recovers from her transplant, Leo finds himself trapped in a loveless marriage. Greenlee seizes her opportunity and is tossed in jail after violating a restraining order to steer clear of the married couple.
Greenlee eventually gives up on Leo, as he is determined to keep Laura happy in his sham of a marriage. Greenlee subsequently moves in with Jake Martin and the two become very close.
Laura eventually begins to go insane, plotting against Greenlee and ultimately guilts Leo into a "proper" ceremony, where Leo comes to his senses and turns Laura down. As he gives her back his ring, Greenlee, who was trapped by Laura in an air duct, sets off the sprinkler system in an attempt to get help. The entire wedding party ducks for cover except for Leo, who feels cleansed of Laura and is ready to win Greenlee back.
Once Leo leaves Laura, Greenlee becomes torn between Jake and Leo. Neither man wants to be "the other man." Leo proposes to Greenlee and she accepts, but the engagement is later broken when Leo tries to give her the ring in front of Jake and Laura, which Greenlee takes as an attempt to show up Jake. The two quickly get back together however, but the happiness is short-lived. Greenlee ends up trapped on an island with Jake after she is drugged and left for dead on a sinking boat by Leo's mother, Vanessa Cortlandt, who sets it up to make Leo think Greenlee has left him for Jake. Greenlee and an also-drugged Jake escaped their near-watery grave, but Greenlee's unwillingness to commit to Jake results in Jake walking away and Leo and Greenlee happily reunite.
Leo spends most of 2002 coping with his bizarre and criminal family. First comes Vanessa kidnapping and nearly killing Greenlee, and the reveal that Vanessa has long been Proteus, head of an international drug cartel. Leo begins to wonder about the drug money she has stashed away somewhere, seeing the cash as a way for he and Greenlee to eventually move to their favorite city, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Vanessa develops a split personality, is admitted to the hospital as a psych patient, and Leo is drawn into her needs in spite of his better judgment. He also distrusts her new lawyer, Trey Kenyon, and with good reason, as Trey is plotting against him and Vanessa, both out of revenge and to get his hands on the Proteus money. Unknown to everyone, Trey is Leo's long-lost half-brother, and wants revenge for what he feels was abandonment by his family.
As Greenlee tries to deal with Leo's need to stay in Vanessa's life and the constant revolving door of his new-found relatives (cousins Frankie
Frankie Stone
Mary Frances "Frankie" Stone is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. She was portrayed by actress Elizabeth Hendrickson....
and Maggie Stone
Maggie Stone
Mary Margaret "Maggie" Stone is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. She was portrayed by actress Elizabeth Hendrickson, who also portrayed Maggie's identical twin sister, Mary Frances "Frankie" Stone. The character comes to Pine Valley in early 2002 after the...
), she and Leo finally manage to marry in the summer. Even this is marred, due to former associates of Vanessa's (who also want the drug money) crashing the wedding
Wedding crashing
Wedding crashing is the act of coming to a wedding without an invitation.-In real life:Some of the most common reasons for crashing a wedding in real life are:...
with her in tow. Greenlee's father, Roger Smythe, who continues to worm his way back into her life, even after disappointing her countless times, is shot by drug operatives. A few hours before he dies, he accidentally lets it slip to Greenlee that he was sleeping with her bridesmaid and close friend, Simone Torres
Simone Torres
Simone Torres is a fictional character from the long-running American soap opera All My Children. The character was originated by actress Terri Ivens, from October 2001 to December 2006, and guest starred on June 8, 2007, June 20, 2007, and November 1, 2007 as a ghost.-Arrival:Simone Torres...
. After he dies, Greenlee's pain is intensified when she overhears her grandfather telling her mother, Mary Smythe, who has come back into her life claiming to want a reconciliation, that he knows she is only interested in Greenlee because she wants to be put back into his will. Greenlee's dependency on Leo magnifies and they go off on a brief honeymoon. Their happiness is not to last.
When they return to town, the couple becomes embroiled with Trey and Kendall Hart, both of whom Greenlee despises, in a quest to track down the missing Proteus drug money. The paper trail ends in worthless stocks, and with Vanessa being shipped off to a federal location, Greenlee seizes the opportunity to convince Leo to move to Paris with her. However, Vanessa goes into a coma, "dies" for a few seconds, and comes back to life as the calm, sweet mother Leo never had, calling herself Nessa. Leo feels close to her for the first time. He discovers that he has another long-lost relative — Trey is actually his older brother, Ben Shepherd. Trey assumed his dead best friend's identity and dedicated his life to wreaking havoc on the mother who had abandoned him at birth. Leo, also a lost soul, quickly accepts Trey and forgives the many misdeeds Trey had perpetrated on him in the past months. Working with Greenlee and Kendall, they find the Proteus "stash", which are worthless stocks. They think that the trail has finally reached a dead end, and can only laugh.
Even though Vanessa has supposedly given way to a kinder, gentler split personality, Greenlee does not trust her for a second. In truth, "Nessa", who is now in federal custody, has reverted back to being Vanessa, and knows that the real treasure happens to be a fortune in diamonds. Greenlee is increasingly frightened by Nessa and never believes for a second that she is kind or sweet. She demands that Leo finally give up his "loser" family for good, and he agrees. But moments before their flight to Paris, he receives a call from David, whom he had been helping out after his latest arrest and imprisonment. Unfortunately, while he was absent, Vanessa kidnapped Greenlee. She took her to waterfall Miller's Falls. Vanessa informs Leo that he has to find and give her the diamonds before she will release Greenlee. In a panic, Leo finds the jewels and races to the falls with Trey. When Vanessa refuses to release her, Leo begins dropping the priceless gems over the falls, one by one. Vanessa agrees to do as he wishes, but actually plans to kill her hated enemy. When Vanessa threatens to shoot Leo if he does not give up the diamonds, Greenlee fights with Vanessa for the gun but is knocked off the edge, falling onto a ledge 20 feet below. Leo thinks Greenlee is dead and attacks Vanessa, but Greenlee's call gives him hope and he starts to climb down to her. When Vanessa realizes Greenlee survived the fall, she begins shooting at her. Leo rushes at Vanessa and wrestles with her for the gun, but their combined weight pushes mother and son over the falls. His body is never recovered. His beloved "Greens" and his family, who saw him as their moral center, are devastated. As much as they try to move on with their lives, they feel an inescapable ache. Greenlee lost her soul mate and one true love. Pine Valley and Greenlee would never quite be the same without him.
On August 4, 2011, Leo and Greenlee briefly reunited for the first time in 9 years. On August 5, They share a kiss which causes Greenlee to wake to find that in Leo's place is Zach.
Greenlee was brought back by The Orpheus Project.
Impact
Leo and Greenlee were acclaimed among All My Children viewers and soap opera television critics, and were dubbed "GreenLeo." In 2000, the pairing were named "Best New Couple" by magazine Soap Opera DigestSoap Opera Digest
Soap Opera Digest is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional information...
, and in 2001, as well as 2002, were nominated for the Daytime Emmy
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
fan award America's Favorite Couple. The couple were a top contender in NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's
2002 Soap Chat Viewers Choice Awards Cyber-Ceremony, and in 2003, the duo's part in a young Bianca Montgomery
Bianca Montgomery
Bianca Christine Montgomery is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. In June 2010, Christina Bennett Lind replaced Eden Riegel, who portrayed the role from July 2000 to January 2010. Until Riegel assumed the role, the character was portrayed solely by child...
"coming out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
" as gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
was documented in C. Lee Harrington's book Homosexuality on All My Children: transforming the daytime landscape. In 2000, Soap Opera Digest stated:
In 2007, Soaps In Depth
Soaps In Depth
Soaps In Depth is a series of magazines created in 1997 by Bauer Publications to give American soap opera viewers more variety in their soap-related magazine purchases...
listed the pairing among the ten perfect couples for the magazine's tenth anniversary issue. Originally, the couple were considered as being "on the verge of" supercouple status, but in February 2009, soap opera columnist Carolyn Aspenson stated that Leo and Greenlee were a "supercouple redefined". She argued that tragic couples such as Leo and Greenlee are a better love story than if they had stayed together with a "boring" everyday life. "They loved, they lost. Their love ‘ended’ tragically but the love itself didn’t die. The death of Leo saddened and frustrated the fans but left them with the thought that these two were meant to be together," she said. In 2011, with the return of Josh Duhamel as Leo, the pairing were also referred to as a supercouple by Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Lynette Rice.