OLTL.....The Life And Times Of Asa Buchanan

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The Life and Times of Asa Buchanan ­ By Logan Scherer ONE LIFE TO LIVE's crusty patriarch Asa Buchanan has had more lives (and wives and deaths) than there are stars over Texas. We take a trip down OLTL's memory lane to celebrate Asa's oh-so-colorful life and times. 1979 The self-made mogul arrived in Llanview, immediately taking Samantha Vernon as an early love conquest. 1981 Asa's wrathful first wife, Olympia, who was kept in captivity while he courted Samantha, appeared at the church during Asa and Samantha's wedding and was attacked before she could interrupt the ceremony. The wedding continued uninterrupted, but flares went off at the reception when Luther Jackson showed up to get revenge on Sam and pointed his gun at Asa, who successfully warded off the lunatic. Olympia's subsequent death appalled Samantha, who quickly left Asa. 1983 Developing a new obsession for Delila Ralston, a woman also loved by Bo, Asa seduced her into marriage. In a scheming plan to test Delila's fidelity, Asa staged his own death. The plot infuriated Delila, who divorced Asa after learning that he lied about Bo's paternity. An embittered Bo severed any connections he had to his father. 1983 After learning that Becky Lee Abbott was pregnant with Bo's child, Asa demanded custody of the child, Drew, and married Becky so Drew would have the Buchanan name. Though the marriage began strictly as an agreement, Asa was convinced Becky would eventually love him. Asa, unexpectedly developing guilt when the final stages of Becky's pregnancy took a turn for the worse, revealed Drew's true paternity to an elated Bo. 1985 Becky miraculously survived a plane crash but developed amnesia, thereby forgetting Asa. She divorced Asa and left Llanview with Drew. Heartbroken over Becky's departure, Asa took out his unresolved anger on the business world. Amid struggle over control of oil profits, Asa became a prisoner in Venice, where Bo rescued him. 1986 Asa's 10-year-old underground marriage to Pam Stuart, who believed Asa was really a man named Jeb Stuart, was revealed during a business trip to the island of Malakeva. Tina Lord reported the truth to Pam, who returned to Llanview, faked a terminal illness so he'd marry her on her deathbed, then demanded a share of Asa's immense fortune before she divorced him. 1986 When Maria Roberts came to Llanview with son Cord, Asa desperately scrambled to hide Cord's true identity as Clint's son. Clint, after discovering Cord's real paternity, came dangerously close to killing Asa, but the two ultimately made peace. 1987 Caught in a dirty plot to take away newcomer Lee Sanders' company, Asa developed feelings for the feisty and charming Renee Divine, Lee's former madam. 1988 Patrick London, the ruthlessly greedy man who disguised himself as Bo in order to gain access to the Buchanan millions, kept Asa and Renee apart, framing Renee in crimes committed against Asa. The two reunited after the truth was revealed, and enjoyed a double wedding ceremony with Tina and Cord 1990 While uncovering his father's history, Max Holden learned that Asa cheated his father, Wingate, out of lucrative oil land many years before. Gabrielle concocted a scheme that painted Asa as Max's real father, coaxing Du Ann Demerest to assert that Asa was Max's father. A stunned Asa reached out to faux son Max, who rejected him. [] Asa and Renee's (Patricia Elliott) wedding ceremony ­ ABC 1991 Asa and Max, who eventually changed his name to Buchanan, began building a bond, while Du Ann started blackmailing Renee, who had just learned that Max wasn't really Asa's son. Renee managed to hide the secret from Asa, but became a prominent suspect in the case of Du Ann's murder. Upon the discovery of new information about Asa's horrendous treatment of Wingate, Max turned on Asa again, vowing final revenge. 1992 After arriving in Llanview, Blair Cramer intrigued Asa with her puzzling beauty. Tensions in his marriage to Renee escalated when Asa became a suspect in Carlo Hesser's murder. The endlessly persistent Blair succeeded in her allurement of Asa. Reeling from the sight of a kiss between Asa and Blair, Renee left him. The couple soon divorced. 1992 Rocky from the start, Asa and Blair’s brief and stormy marriage ended when Asa found out that Blair, who refused to give Asa the child he wanted, had slept with Max Holden on their wedding day. Before Asa could toss her out of his life, however, he suffered a heart attack. 1994 Golddigger Alex Olanov succeeded in her persistent attempts to win over Asa, who married her in an extravagant Cleopatra-inspired wedding in Central Park. 1996 Asa's marriage to Alex crumbled when Asa discovered Alex had been cheating with her not-so-dead former husband Carlo. Faking insanity, Asa teamed up with Max to get revenge on Carlo. Asa, in his typically grandiose manner, crashed Alex's wedding ceremony to Carlo, exposing her fake pregnancy. 1999 Asa began to rekindle his relationship with Renee. The two remarried and Renee revealed to Asa that years ago, she gave birth to their love child. She also admitted that Blair and Max forged documents that falsely proved Max was Asa's son. Renee learned the truth years ago, but failed to tell Asa until now. [] Kelly (Tracy Melchoir) and Kevin (Dan Gauthier) with Asa ­ ABC 2001 After learning that Renee hid Max's false paternity, Asa divorced her. A heated feud with the Rappaport-Davidson family drove Asa to coax Grace into breaking up with Kevin, as Asa threatened to reveal her shameful past. Grace fell into Llantano River during a storm and died. Asa's attempts to keep Grace's whereabouts a secret resulted in absolute warfare between Asa and Ben Davidson. Asa ordered a hit man to murder Ben before Renee and Asa discovered that Ben was really the son she had given birth to many years ago. The emotional turmoil of the bombshell spurred a heart attack in Asa. 2001 Seeking revenge on Max, Asa brought back Gabrielle Medina, Max's former wife, and shocked Llanview by marrying her. In order to frame Max for his murder, Asa staged his own death. His stunning reappearance in Llanview botched the scheme, however. Gabrielle and Asa soon divorced. 2002 Sentenced to court-ordered therapy, Asa began seeing psychiatrist Rae Cummings. Coerced into marriage under the threat that Rae would go public with incriminating information about him after her identity fraud was exposed, Asa worked feverishly to end his nightmarish union with Rae. She eventually gave in, and the two divorced. 2004 Asa and Renee rediscovered their mutual feelings. The two became close as they grieved over the tragic death of their son Ben. 2004 After unearthing an error in some documents, Todd and Blair learned that they were the rightful owners of Asa's land. Todd and Blair dumped Asa's body in the woods, but the indestructible Asa made his way back to Llanview, where he shot Todd. Kevin struck a deal that momentarily ended Asa's rampage against Todd and Blair. 2004 Asa found himself at odds with lifelong enemy Adam Chandler when it was revealed that Kevin and Kelly's baby was really the son of JR Chandler. Despite Asa's best efforts, JR was reunited with his son. 2004 In an attempt to permanently get rid of Blair, Asa had her kidnapped to a mental institution. Asa fled to Argentina in order to escape the prospect of jail. Upon his return to Llanview, he framed Carlo for Blair's kidnapping. Asa's war with Blair tapered off as he waged Margaret Cochran, Todd's violent stalker, against the two. 2005-’07 Immediately suspicious of newcomer Dr. Spencer Truman, Asa had a heart attack after Spencer showed him a picture of his mother, a former lover of Asa's. Asa hid his inner fears about Spencer's paternity, which wouldn't be calmed until a DNA test confirmed that Spencer was, in fact, not a Buchanan. Asa paid David to murder Spencer. Payment was suspended, however, once it was revealed that David was not Spencer's true killer. The unknown identity of Spencer's killer and David's real connection to the Buchanans haunted Asa in his last days.