A. J. Quartermaine
| A. J. Quartermaine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Hospital character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Sean Kanan as A. J. Quartermaine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | December 13, 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | April 29, 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Past; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Pat Falken Smith and Margaret DePriest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Book appearances | Robin's Diary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Billy Warlock as A. J. Quartermaine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A. J. Quartermaine is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network. Born on-screen in 1979 as the only biological child of the iconic Drs. Alan Quartermaine and Monica Quartermaine, and A.J. Thought to be Rick Webber’s son but wasn’t "SORASed" in 1991, revising his birth year to 1973. The role has been most notably portrayed by the actors Sean Kanan from 1993 to 1997 and Billy Warlock from 1997 to 2003, with a brief return in 2005. Kanan made his on-screen return as A.J. on October 26, 2012, after a 15-year absence. Kanan announced in March 2014 that he would once again be leaving the series, voicing his disappointment over the writing for the character.[3]
Casting
The newborn A.J. was portrayed by child actor Eric Kroh from 1979 to 1983. Abraham Geary portrayed A.J. April 16, 1983 continuing the part through Spring 1987. The role was also portrayed by Jason Marsden (1986–1988), Christopher Nelson (1988), Justin Whalin (April 1988 – 1989). On June 20, 1991, Gerald Hopkins[4] stepped in the role of A.J. on contract and last appeared on December 30, 1992. The role was recast with Sean Kanan, who made his first appearance in the role on February 16, 1993. Kanan last appeared in the role on June 10, 1997. Kanan received a nomination for the Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Newcomer for his portrayal of A.J. in 1994.
Following Kanan's departure, actor Billy Warlock was hired for the role of A.J., and he made his debut on June 13, 1997. In 2003, Warlock earned a pre-nomination for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of A.J.. Warlock departed from the series in December 2003, amongst rumors that he was fired after disputes with show executives; the network replied his exit was due to lack of storyline.[5]
In early 2005, the network's announcement of Warlock's return as A.J. was briefly put on hold, speculated as contract disputes.
On September 17, 2012, Kanan revealed in an interview with TV Guide's Michael Logan that he was put on contract with General Hospital, but his character was not being announced.[7][8] Rumors arose that Kanan might replace Steve Burton in the role of A.J.'s brother, Jason Morgan; the resemblance between the two fed into the rumors.[9][10] Kanan first appeared on October 26,[7] revealed to be A.J., retconing the character's death. On March 17, 2014, it was announced that Kanan would once again be leaving the role of A.J.[3]
Storylines
1979–1990
Alan James Quartermaine Jr. was introduced in December 1979, during a severe snow storm. At the time, his mother,
A.J. graduates from boarding school in June 1991, which re-establishes his birth year as 1973. In early 1993, A.J. is aged again, re-establishing his birth year as 1969. In 1998, his birthday is celebrated on November 18.
1991–1999
Alan Jr., now going by the name A.J., leaves school and lands in jail for drunk driving. A.J. blames his troubled childhood while his grandmother,
After learning about his father's schemes, A.J. tracks Nikki to Malibu and attempts to win her back, but she has already married another man, prompting A.J. to begin drinking even more. In 1993, A.J. has an affair with Ned's former lover,
In March 1997, A.J. has a drunken one-night stand with the scheming
Carly welcomes her son Michael in December 1997 and fears Tony and A.J. may learn the truth and try to take the boy away from her. Carly lies and claims Jason (Steve Burton) is Michael's father while she leaves town to deal with postpartum depression. In 1998, A.J. meets his son when Jason's girlfriend, Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), asks him to babysit Michael. A.J. decides to patch things up with Carly to please his grandfather, Edward (John Ingle), who is adamant about keeping the Quartermaines together under one roof. A.J. eventually wins Carly over and they marry on May 26, 1999, at the Quartermaine mansion, much to the dismay of both Alan and Monica. However, A.J. has difficulty bonding with Michael, who has become attached to Jason. A.J. always suspects Carly of having an affair with Jason, and when Carly announces she is pregnant, he assumes Jason is the father.
2000–2003, 2005
A.J. agrees to pass the child off as his own, to get revenge on Jason for hiding Michael's paternity. A.J. is furious when he learns that Carly's child is actually fathered by
In April 2002, A.J. marries Courtney and Sonny nearly kills him. A.J. offers to give Courtney a divorce if he gave Michael back but Sonny refuses the offer. A.J. eventually falls for Courtney and gave up his family for her. Sonny instructs Jason to watch over Courtney and A.J. is jealous of their budding relationship. He turns to alcohol and crashes his car through the Oasis strip club. Courtney becomes a stripper at the club to pay off his debt. A.J. burns down the club and Courtney convinces Jason to cover for him. Wanting Courtney to depend on him instead of Jason, A.J. hires the former owner of the Oasis,
A.J. returns in February 2005 to reveal that he and Courtney are still legally married when she announces her engagement to
2012–2014
A.J. resurfaces alive in October 2012, appearing at the Quartermaine Estate to console Monica after Jason's death. It is revealed that after being murdered, A.J. was revived by Monica and
AJ battles for an extended period in 2013 for control of the Quartermaine business, ELQ, with Tracy Quartermaine after Jerry Jacks (Sebastian Roché) ordered Robin Scorpio-Drake to revive his henchman Franco and make him Jerry's look-alike to poison Pickle Lila and Pickle Eddie before the starting of The Chew. After the reveal that Kiki Jerome (Kristen Alderson) is not a Quartermaine, Tracy reclaims the CEO position. A.J. is accused of murdering Connie Falconeri (Kelly Sullivan) when he has a drunken night and the letters AJ is written in blood. Sonny arrives at the Quartermaine mansion with a gun prepared to murder A.J. in retribution, but Michael manages to talk his stepfather down, warning him that if Sonny were to kill A.J. it would mean he's lost both his fathers, as Michael would never forgive him. Sonny leaves, and A.J. is arrested – though he continues to have no memory of committing the crime.
A.J. finally gets his day in court during the November sweeps with Michael and Kiki at his side. He is later acquitted of the crime, as "there was just not enough evidence to convict an innocent man". A.J., torn by the verdict because he feels guilty, continues to drink excessively. Through his drinking, A.J. begins to have flashbacks about the night of the murder. In one of these, he remembers that Ava was there on the night of Connie's murder. When he confronts her, Ava retains her innocence. However, in February 2014, A.J., after seeing Connie in illusions and having survived a botched assassination, begins to become more confident that Ava murdered Connie. In March 2014, after confronting Ava about killing Connie, Sonny walks in and shoots A.J. Julian is mistakenly found over A.J's body when police officers
Reception
In 2023, Charlie Mason from
References
- ^ November 1, 2012, episode
- ^ Jill Farren Phelps (Executive producer); Robert Guza Jr. and Charles Pratt Jr. (Head writers) (April 22, 2005). General Hospital. Season 42. American Broadcasting Company. GH Transcript Friday 4/22/05.
Jax: Well, it's all done. Your ties to A.J. are officially severed.
- ^ CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- ^ Webb Mitovich, Matt (September 17, 2012). "Soaps Shocker: General Hospital Brings Back Sean Kanan, But As Who? Dead A.J.? NuJason?". TVLine. TVLine.com. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- Soapcentral. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ^ a b c Kroll, Dan J. (February 14, 2005). "Warlock Back to DAYS, Ending 14-Year Absence". Soap Central. Soapcentral. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ^ a b Logan, Michael (September 17, 2012). "Exclusive: Sean Kanan Returns to General Hospital". TV Guide. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
- ^ Nobles, Omar (September 17, 2012). "Sean Kanan Returns to 'General Hospital'". TV Source Magazine. TVSourcemagazine.com. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- Soap Opera Network. Soapoperanetwork.com. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
- ^ Cubbal, Kayleen (October 9, 2012). "Soap secret: Return of New Castle native Sean Kanan to 'General Hospital' is shrouded in mystery". New Castle News. NCNewsonline.com. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- ^ a b c "The Story: A Quartermaine Curse". General Hospital Blog. American Broadcasting Company. October 26, 2012. Archived from the original on October 27, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
- Soaps She Knows. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
