1980

All My Children’s second decade began in disaster for Erica Kane when business at her disco dropped suddenly after the opening of a hot, new competitor, The Steam Pit. The final blow came when the city rezoned the area, forbidding Erica’s to play music after midnight. Alone and despairing, she was forced to close the disco. But the inimitable Erica would not accept defeat. She regained her spirit and left town to make it as a movie star in Hollywood. With Erica departed from his life. Tom’s friendship with Brooke grew into something more. But their budding relationship ran into a roadblock when Erica, having failed in Hollywood, returned to Pine Valley. She used a variety of ploys to work her way back into Tom’s life and into his bed. She promised to turn over a new leaf, but her new resolve didn’t last. The allure of fame beckoned once again in the person of cosmetics magnate Brandon Kingsley. Brandon offered Erica a top modeling job with Sensuelle Cosmetics. Fearing Tom wouldn’t approve of her budding new career, Erica lied about her frequent trips to New York. When he discovered her deception, Tom called a halt to their marriage once and for all and headed to the Caribbean for a divorce. He went ahead with plans to marry Brooke despite Erica’s machinations to keep them apart.

View Complete Summary for "All My Children" 1980

Tom Cudahy’s wayward brother Sean arrived in Pine Valley and seduced Ellen Shepherd’s plain Jane daughter, Devon McFadden. Neither marriage to the kind-but-dull Wally nor motherhood could satisfy Devon. She easily became infatuated with the smooth-talking Sean, and they began a sizzling secret affair. While Devon wasn't proud of the sordid affair she carried out in hourly-rate motel rooms, she was having the time of her life. For Sean, the thrill was short-lived. Once Devon became the pursuer, he lost interest. Sean had his eye on sexy nurse Sybil Thorne and set out to seduce her. Devon did her best to compete with Sean’s dazzling new girlfriend. She wondered if a sophisticated new hairstyle or different makeup could win Sean back, but nothing worked. Devon always ended up feeling unattractive and insecure, and Sean did nothing to counter Devon’s lack of selfesteem, often citing Sybil’s sexy attributes. Unable to compete Devon turned to the bottle for comfort. Wally had had enough and told his mother-in-law, Ellen that he was filing for divorce. She told him he was acting rashly, and he reluctantly agreed to support Devon through her alcoholism. Regardless, the marriage was doomed.

On a happier note, Cliff and Nina were reunited when Janice Rollins admitted she had lied to Nina about Cliff ’s fathering her baby. Cliff asked Nina to marry him, but Nina was reluctant. Marriage to Cliff or any man meant facing another overbearing problem. Then Palmer struck again, convincing Nina she had been responsible for the long-ago death of her mother Daisy in childbirth. Nina confided her fears to the family house':eper, Myra Murdoch, who knew of a way to assuage Nina's guilt. While Palmer was away on a business trip, Myra arranged a seance to call Daisy from the dead.

Smoke filled the air as Myra chanted Daisy’s name, and an ethereal figure appeared at the top of the staircase: the ghost of Daisy Cortlandt, who had returned for a fleeting moment to put her daughter’s mind at ease.

In reality, not only was Myra Daisy’s mother, but Daisy was very much alive. Banished years earlier by her husband Palmer after embarrassing him with an extramarital affair. Daisy returned to Pine Valley in 1980. She took on the secet identity of Monique Jonvil and began an affair with the devilish Sean Cudahy. At the same time, Sean set out to work his charms on Daisy’s daughter Nina. They grew close when both were held hostage during a robbery at the Pine Valley Bank.

Still, nothing could keep Nina and Cliff apart. Their love grew stronger as the year passed. Palmer attempted yet another scheme to separate them when he falsely informed Nina she was going blind because of a condition related to her illness called diabetic retinopathy. What Nina didn’t know was that a new non-invasive surgical technique, using a laser beam, could abate her condition. Palmer conveniently neglected to tell his daughter that there was hope for her condition. He wondered aloud how Nina could ever be a real wife to Cliff with such a handicap. He knew Nina wouldn’t want to tie Cliff down to an invalid.

Palmer’s manipulative words sunk in. Nina coldly returned her - engagement ring to Cliff, who was so distraught at losing her that he turned for comfort to Sybil Thorne. Cliff was ripe for seduction and Sybil knew how to stir a man’s passion. They made love.

In time, Nina learned that treatment for her eye problem was possible. With Palmer by her side, she traveled to Baltimore’s Wilmer Eye Institute and underwent a successful procedure to prevent blindness. Happily. Nina reconciled with Cliff, and they planned a fall wedding. But seeds of doom had been planted. Sybil Thorne was pregnant.

The last thing Sybil wanted, of course, was to be a mother. She had no use for babies and considered an abortion. Palmer knew that wouldn't do. In his effort to stop his daughter's impending marriage, he paid the young nurse to keep her child.

After marrying Nina in a beautiful outdoor ceremony on the grounds of Cortlandt Manor, guilt-ridden Cliff knew he couldn't keep his impending fatherhood a secret for long. When he finally broke the news to Nina, she became hysterical. Spurred on by Palmer, she left Cliff and returned home to Cortlandt Manor. The marriage was over for now, but their love, though denied by both of them, survived.

Kelly Cole was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of her manager, Eddie Dorrance. Linc Tyler’s painstaking investigation revealed that the real killer was Claudette Montgomery, who, while trying to flee, was critically injured in a car crash. As her life slipped away. Lincoln begged Claudette to confess With her last breaths, she explained how she had caught Eddie skimming money off the books at The Chateau Eddie had picked up a gun to kill her. but when he turned his back for a moment, she lunged for the gun and grabbed it. Every word of her deathbed confession was captured on tape. Both Eddie and his killer, Claudette Montgomery, were dead. Kelly was free–free to marry Linc.

Billy Clyde Tuggle escaped from prison, drugged and raped his wife Estelle, and later planned to bury her alive in a cemetery with her new love, Benny Sago. Chuck Tyler heroically overpowered Billy Clyde and rescued his dear friends. Benny presented Estelle with an engagement ring, but their happiness was marred when she learned she was pregnant with Billy Clyde’s child. Benny persuaded her to marry him anyway. She accepted and they agreed to tell everyone he was the father.

Donna Tyler failed in her efforts to buy a black-market baby. Frustrated by her inability to give Chuck a child, she left him. Falling under the spell of Palmer Cortlandt, Donna was manipulated into moving in with him at Cortlandt Manor–and obtaining a speedy Caribbean divorce from Chuck. Wealthy snob Palmer and ex-hooker Donna were an unlikely combination.

Source: All My Children: The Complete Family Scrapbook


1980 Episodes / Clips: