Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris are fictional character

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...

s and a supercouple

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 CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 daytime drama Guiding Light

Guiding Light

Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

.

Actors

Roger was portrayed by Michael Zaslow

Michael Zaslow

Michael Joel Zaslow was an American actor. He was best known for his role as villain Roger Thorpe on CBS's Guiding Light, a role he played from 1971 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1997.-Life and career:...

 from 1971-80, and from 1989-97; Joel Fabiani

Joel Fabiani

Joel Fabiani is an American film and television actor.Fabiani was born in Watsonville, California. He co-starred in the British espionage series Department S as Stewart Sullivan in 1969-1970...

 filled in for Zaslow on occasion during the 1990s, and Dennis Parlato briefly played Roger from 1997-98, after Zaslow's departure from the show.

The role of Holly was originated by Lynn Deerfield, who played the character from 1970-76, but is most often identified with Maureen Garrett

Maureen Garrett

Maureen Garrett is an American actress.Garrett played the role of Holly Norris Bauer Thorpe Lindsey Reade on Guiding Light, a role she inherited from Lynn Deerfield in 1976...

, who took over the role in 1976, playing Holly through March 1981; Garrett resumed playing the character from 1988-2003, and then sporadically continued in the role on a recurring basis from 2003-2006. Garret returned to play Holly during Guiding Lights final weeks on the air in 2009.

Maureen returned to Guiding Light

Guiding Light

Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

 on August 26-September 18, 2009, when the show was canceled.

Storyline

Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris met in 1971. Roger worked for Holly's father Stanley Norris' company. Stanley chose Roger to date his 19-year old daughter Holly to keep her out of his hair. Roger saw it as a way to get ahead in the company so he agreed to date Holly. Holly lost her virginity

Virginity

Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...

 to Roger but he had eyes for Holly's sister-in-law Janet instead. Roger became a suspect in Stanley Norris' murder after it was found out the gun used to kill Stanley was bought with Roger's credit card. But when Holly announced that she had seen Roger with Janet the night of Stanley's murder (which he was), the charges against Roger were dropped. Soon after that Roger left town.

Roger returned for his father Adam Thorpe's (Robert Milli) wedding to Holly's mother, Barbara Norris (Barbara Berjer

Barbara Berjer

Barbara Berjer was a well-known American television actress born in Seattle, Washington.Among her many soap opera credits were her roles as alcoholic actress Lynn Franklin on From These Roots ; Claire English Lowell Cassen Shea #4 on As the World Turns ; Barbara Norris Thorpe #2 on Guiding Light...

). Roger tried to convince everybody he was a changed man. By this time Holly was married to Dr. Ed Bauer (Mart Hulswit) but she still had strong feelings for Roger and they started having an affair. Not wanting to return to his old "playboy" ways Roger broke off the affair with Holly and started dating nurse Peggy Fletcher (Fran Myers

Fran Myers

Frances Myers is an American television soap opera writer. She has written for soaps for nearly 25 years. She also had a contract role on CBS soap opera Guiding Light as Peggy Scott Fletcher from 1965-1980. She is the widow of actor and writer Roger Newman...

) and became a father figure to her son Billy Fletcher. Roger asked Peggy to marry him but she was still married to Billy's father Johnny Fletcher. Peggy wasn't ready to divorce Johnny even though Johnny had left Springfield long ago. Roger grew tired of waiting for Peggy's answer and started having an affair with Holly again. Peggy finally decided to divorce Johnny and accepted Roger's marriage proposal. After that Roger broke off the affair with Holly. Holly soon found out she was pregnant with Roger's child but led her husband Ed to believe she was having his child. In July 1975, Holly went into labor in the cafeteria at Cedars Hospital and gave birth to a baby girl she named Christina. When Christina became sick and needed a blood transfusion to live Holly was forced to tell Ed the truth that Christina was Roger's daughter not his. Ed forced Roger to tell Peggy the truth about Christina's paternity leading Peggy to break off the engagement. Roger once again left Springfield. Ed filled for divorce and started seeing a new woman in town, Rita Stapleton

Rita Stapleton

Rita Stapleton Bauer was a fictional character on the CBS soap Guiding Light. The character was played by Lenore Kasdorf, and was created by Bridget and Jerome Dobson, shortly after they became Guiding Light's head writers in 1975. Rita was written out in 1981, when Kasdorf announced she was...

 (Lenore Kasdorf

Lenore Kasdorf

Lenore Kasdorf is an American actress.-Biography:Kasdorf was born in New York City to an army colonel father. She is best known for her role as the alluring and promiscuous nurse Rita Stapleton Bauer, whom she played from 1975 to 1981 in the soap opera Guiding Light, and for her performance as Mrs...

), a nurse at Cedars Hospital. Even though Ed and Holly were divorced he continued to raise Christina as his own child.

But Roger soon returned and started to bond with Billy and Christina. Peggy forgave Roger and they finally got married. But Roger and Rita had a secret, they'd had an affair before Rita moved to Springfield. Rita went on trial for the death of Cyrus Granger but on the night in question Roger and Rita were making love. Roger convinced Rita to keep their night together a secret even though it was costing Rita her freedom. (Rita had by this time become engaged to Ed and, aware of the animosity between Ed and Roger, Rita herself was also in no hurry to divulge her sordid past with Roger.) Rita's lawyer Mike Bauer (Ed's older brother) found out the truth and forced Roger to confess the truth in court. The charges against Rita were dropped but Peggy was tired of Roger's secrets and lying and divorced him. Once again Roger left town and not to long after that Peggy took her son Billy and left Springfield also.

Roger wasn't gone for to long and returned to Springfield and took a job at Spaulding Enterprises. Roger started dating Ed's sister Hillary Bauer

Hillary Bauer

Hillary Bauer was a fictional character that lived in the town of Springfield on the CBS daytime drama Guiding Light. She was a member of the core Bauer family, being the daughter of Bill Bauer and his Canadian mistress Simone Kincaid, thus half-sister to Mike and Ed Bauer and step-daughter of Bert...

. But that didn't last because she knew Roger still had feelings for Holly. Roger was becoming angry and jealous of all the time Christina was spending with Ed and wanted to get back at him. He tried to sleep with Rita (Ed's fiancee at the time) but she rejected his advances. Roger's anger erupted and he raped Rita. Afraid that no one would believe her, Rita remained silent. Not long after that Roger was hit by a car and while injured Roger convinced Holly to marry him for Chrissy's sake. Roger and Holly got married. But trouble in their marriage started when Holly began to suspect that Roger was having an affair. But Holly really knew that the only reason Roger married her was to get close to Christina. Holly refused to tell Christina that Roger was her real daddy and she stopped having sex with him too. Roger thought that Holly was still in love with Ed and that she made him feel like less than a man. All of this boiled over and Roger raped Holly.

Unlike Rita, Holly came out and pressed marital 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...

 charges against Roger. Roger was arrested and he blackmailed his boss Alan Spaulding (Christopher Bernau

Christopher Bernau

Christopher Bernau was an American actor.-Life and career:Bernau trained in the drama department at the University of California before getting his big break, appearing in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Antony and Cleopatra in 1962...

) into hiring him a lawyer, Alan hired Ross Marler (Jerry verDorn) to be Roger's attorney. During the trial Ross tried to make it look like Holly misunderstood and that it wasn't rape but just wild sex. Rita, who could no longer live with the guilt of not having come forward earlier, finally admitted that Roger had also raped her and told Ed. Ed went after Roger and the got into a fight in Roger's office. Holly soon arrived and saw Roger beating on Ed. Holly grabbed the gun Roger kept in his office and told them to stop fighting. When Roger started to walk towards Holly she began having flashbacks of the rape, Holly shot Roger three times. Roger was declared dead and Holly was arrested for his murder. But really Roger blackmailed Alan again and Alan helped Roger fake his death and sent him to a private clinic in Puerto Rico to be treated. With Roger believed to be dead and Holly in prison, Chrissy was sent to live with Ed and Rita.

Holly had trouble dealing with prison life though she got to work with an old flame of hers, Dr. Peter Chapman. Peter and Holly worked together in the prison infirmary where Peter fell back in love with her. But Holly was being bullied by another inmate named Gail. But she befriended another inmate named Carla Jones who would help her deal with Gail. Gail was extremely jealous of Holly's relationship with Peter and her "cushy" job in the infirmary. One day Gail and Carla got in a fight and Gail pulled out a knife. Holly begged Gail to put away the knife but Gail just ended up stabbing Holly in the abdomen. Peter had Holly sent to Cedars Hospital for treatment. Mike Bauer (Holly's lawyer) got a temporary injunction so Holly wouldn't have to go right back to prison. Mike believed Roger was still alive and that Roger's old boss Alan Spaulding helped Roger fake his death. Holly was finally cleared of Roger's murder and released from prison. Holly convinced Mike to handle her friend Carla's case and Mike was able to get Carla released from prison too.

After months of faking his death Roger returned to Springfield with plans to kidnap Christina and take her away so that he could raise his daughter. Roger hid out at the Reardon boarding house disguised with a beard and glasses going by the name Professor Schneider who had a European accent. Roger saw his chance to take Christina at the "Cedars Winter Carnival." Disguised as a clown Roger's plan was to abduct Christina. But the plan fell apart when at the carnival, Roger's voice was recognized by Rita. Rita, who was eight months pregnant at the time, tried to get to Ed to tell him Roger was alive and there at the carnival. But Roger started chasing after her and chased her right into the "Hall Of Mirrors." The loud disco music inside the "Hall Of Mirrors" muffled Rita's screams and Roger finally caught her. At gunpoint Roger took a pregnant Rita to a cabin outside of town. When Ed, Mike, and the police found out Roger was alive they sent Holly and Christina to Santo Domingo with Peter Chapman. When Roger found out Ed and Mike were on their way to the cabin he rushed out the back door and knocked over a lit kerosene lamp. The cabin caught on fire with Rita tied up inside. Ed and Mike were able to save Rita from the fire but Rita suffered from smoke inhalation and ended up losing her and Ed's baby. As a result of this, Ed hated Roger even more than he already had.

While listening to a bug he had planted in Ed's house Roger found out Holly and Christina were hiding out in Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...

. Roger went down to Santo Domingo to get Christina. But his attempt to get her failed and he took Holly as a hostage instead. Roger dragged Holly through the jungles of Santo Domingo with Ed and Mike hot on their trail. Ed and Mike finally found Roger and Holly. Roger shot Ed and went after Mike. Roger and Mike were struggling when Ed shot Roger in the back. As Roger tried to reach for Mike's gun Ed kicked him over a fence that covered the edge of a cliff. Ed grabbed on to Roger's arm and tried to pull him up and save his life. But Roger lost his grip and slipped out of Ed's hands. Roger fell over the cliff to his presumed death.
After a while Holly took Christina and left Springfield and moved to Switzerland.

Roger was alive and well but stayed away from Springfield and away from Holly and traveled the world by joining the CIA. While Holly married a rich man named Dietrich Lindsey in Switzerland.

In 1989, Holly and Roger's daughter Christina (now called Blake) was engaged to marry Phillip Spaulding

Phillip Spaulding

Phillip Granville Spaulding is a fictional character on the popular CBS daytime soap opera, Guiding Light. The character is the adopted son of business mogul, Alan Spaulding, and his first ex-wife, Elizabeth. Phillip has been portrayed by three different actors with Grant Aleksander the most recent...

. Roger, who showed up on a remote island, disguised himself as Adam Malik. As this new character, he was able to get to know his daughter.

During Blake and Phillip's wedding, Alan threatened Roger, telling him that a bomb had been planted and that all the people at the wedding were going to be killed. Roger attempted to stop the bomb from going off by swinging down on a vine, but before he could, Alan shot him. Now back in Springfield, Roger caused trouble, not just for others but for Holly too. Holly eventually was aided in getting herself out of trouble by Fletcher Reade whom she married. Fletcher and Holly where able to bring Roger up on charges and had him flee Springfield.

Holly and Roger wouldn't have contact again in 2004 when Sebastian Hulce (Roger's alleged son) lured Holly and Blake to Roger's island. Their, Holly learned Roger had died of a lingering illness as Sebastian coerced Blake to leave as he locked Holly up. Eventually, Blake would go on to rescue Holly as they'd have Sebastian imprisoned in his own lockup cell. Holly had feelings for Sebastian, but this went nowhere, and Holly had little left in Springfield, especially after close friend Ross died in 2006. She left town, starting a new life for herself.

In August of 2009, Holly came back to Springfield at Blake's request. She rekindled her friendship with Ed, who had also recently returned to town. A few weeks later, Holly agreed to accompany Ed Bauer

Ed Bauer

William Edward "Ed" Bauer Jr. is a fictional character on CBS's daytime drama Guiding Light. While having been portrayed by five different actors, Ed has been portrayed by a number of actors, including Robert Gentry, Mart Hulswit and Peter Simon....

 (Peter Simon

Peter Simon

Peter Simon is an English shopping television presenter and former children's television personality.-Career:Simon's career began at the age of 12, when he became a presenter for Yorkshire Television's Junior Showtime...

) on a worldwide trip.