By Paula Hendrickson
Evil or not, twins are a staple of daytime dramas. Indeed, General Hospital has three sets of twins that have all been impacted by the fallout from a decades’ old twins study performed on Anna and Alex (Finola Hughes), Kevin and Ryan (Jon Lindstrom), and the no-longer-identical-thanks-to-plastic-surgery Jason and Drew (Steve Burton and Billy Miller, respectively). Some characters have endured multiple doppelgangers—sometimes not even twins. Meet ten of our favorites:
- Marlena & Samantha & Hattie (Deidre Hall & Andrea Hall), Days of our Lives — Not all soap actors have real-life identical
Samantha & Marlena
twins to play their look-alikes, but Deidre Hall’s twin sister, Andrea, played Marlena’s twin, Samantha, from 1977 until 1982, when she was killed off by a serial killer. Andrea later returned as Hattie Adams, a waitress who resembled Marlena; once Hattie had plastic surgery to impersonate Marlena, Deidre assumed that roll, too. - Luke & the Flukes (Anthony Geary), General Hospital — Not only did Luke have an identical cousin
Luke & Fluke
named Bill Eckert who worked for the Cartel back in the day, he also had a far more sinister doppelganger in Eckert’s former Cartel colleague, Cesar Faison, who drugged Luke and held him captive while assuming his identity. - Vicky & Marley (portrayed at various points by Ellen Wheeler; Anne Heche; Jensen Buchanan), Another World— Separated at birth by their own grandfather, Vicky and Marley were soon vying for the same man, Jake. When Marley needed a bone marrow transplant Vicky came through for her, but Marley later kidnapped Vicky and staged Vicky’s death, an act that eventually landed Marley in a psychiatric facility.
- Tony & Andre (Thaao Penghlis), Days of Our Lives – These cousins weren’t even really cousins, according to the show’s complicated history, but they thought they were. Andre, who turned out to be a serial killer, had surgery to enhance their resemblance, and reveled in committing crimes and causing chaos while posing as Tony.
- Kevin & Ryan (Jon Lindstrom) General Hospital —Ryan arrived in Port Charles long ago harboring a dark secret: He was a murderer. When he was arrested for attempted murder, Kevin, a psychiatrist, arrived in town intent on treating his mentally ill twin, and Ryan swapped places—a trick he repeated 20-some years later, after having long been presumed dead.
- Adam & Stuart Chandler (David Canary), All My Children — As underhanded, brusque, and calculating as businessman Adam
Adam& Stuart
was, Stuart was his polar opposite. They just happened to look alike. Stuart was artistic, kind, and remarkably forgiving, considering his twin held him against his will and isolated him in a separate wing of the family mansion for years. - Frannie & Sabrina (Julianne Moore; Claire Beckman), As the World Turns — When Frannie was
Frannie & Sabrina
studying abroad at Oxford, she encountered her lookalike half-sister Sabrina. Frannie’s father’s love child was thought to have been stillborn, but was instead sold to a wealthy family. Sibling rivalry ensued, but Sabrina kept in touch long after departing Oakdale. - Rick & Blade (Michael Tylo), The Young and the Restless — Blade never told his wife he had a twin, possibly because he’d stood passively by as he watched his brother drown. But Rick survived to wreak havoc on Blade’s life—including requisite twin impersonations—revealing his true identity only after Blade was killed in an accident.
- Jeremy & Gilbert (Jean LeClerc), Loving —Upon moving from All My Children to Loving in 1991, LeClerc’s popular character, Jeremy, gained an evil twin. By the end of Loving’s run in 1995, many characters were murdered in crazy ways. Some fans may have wondered which twin was really killed off by being turned into a statue, but officially, it was Jeremy.
- Kristin & Susan & Sister Mary Moira & Penelope & Thomas (Eileen Davidson), Days of Our Lives— Many soap stars have played dual roles, but the record for most characters played by a single actor probably goes to Davidson, who played non-twin Kristin DiMera who hired the loopy Susan Banks to impersonate her and have a child. She wasn’t counting on Susan’s identical triplet sisters Sister Mary Moira and Penelope—plus their brother Thomas (also played by Davidson)—to become part of the storyline.
