David Vickers
| David Vickers Buchanan | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One Life to Live character | |||||||||||||||||||||
| File:TucWatkins.jpg Tuc Watkins as David Vickers Buchanan | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Tuc Watkins | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1994-1996, 2001-present | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | May 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
David Vickers Buchanan (born David Bradley Truman[1]) is a fictional character from the daytime soap opera One Life to Live, portrayed by Tuc Watkins.
Appearances
David was originated in 1994 by Watkins, who played the character until 1996[2][3] and then reprised the role briefly in October 2001 and January 2002.[4][5] Watkins returned from August 2003 through November 2006 and then for a five-month run starting March 6, 2007.[3] He reappeared again near the end of May 2007 and left July 26, 2007, returning temporarily in November 2007.[4] Watkins came back from May 7 to August 6, 2008 for another short-term run,[4][5] and Soap Opera Digest subsequently named David their "Most Entertaining Male Character" of 2008, noting that "Time and time again, David's harebrained schemes and Tuc Watkins's side-splitting performances provide amusement we're always sorry to see end."[6] Watkins returned again from December 26, 2008[5][7][8][9] though March 2, 2009,[10] later reappearing on April 7, 2009[11] and on April 22,[12] April 23,[13] and April 27, 2009.[14] Watkins returns again on August 10, 2009 [15], February 2010, April 2010, and June 2010.
Character history
David's early days in Llanview, 1994-1996
David first came to Llanview as Dorian Lord was sent to death row for the 1976 murder of Victor Lord. Dorian was exonerated when David produced the diary of Tina Lord's mother Irene Manning in which Irene admitted to killing Victor. Knowing the entry was fake, Dorian paid David for his assistance. Irene's diary also noted that she had a son with Victor, and David claimed to be that child. The problem started when he met his "sister" Tina and they fell in love with each other. After sleeping with Tina at her sister Victoria Lord's cabin, David admitted that he wasn't her real brother; he was only scamming the family to get the millions Victor had left to his long lost son. Tina cooperated with him and the two got married in Las Vegas.
Dorian found out that Todd Manning was the real Lord heir and told Viki. After Viki found out the truth, her alter Jean emerged. Jean forced David to divorce Tina and have nothing to do with her any more, otherwise she'd go to the police. She also forced him to marry Dorian, who despised him. As Dorian's husband, he lived with her and her niece, Kelly Cramer, in her mansion.
Kelly started falling in love with David and wanted him to be her first. Dorian suspected that David would have an affair and just as David and Kelly were in bed, she got in to the room with a photographer to take picture of him committing adultery. She was horrified to find Kelly with him there. Dorian promised David three fourths of her property if he'd leave Kelly alone and divorce her.
Of course she didn't mean to keep that promise. Dorian schemed with her other niece, Blair, a plan in which Blair would lure David into sleeping with her, would cover his eyes and tie him to the bed. After that Dorian switched places with her and slept with her husband while Todd Manning took pictures of them (without seeing Dorian's face) and published it in his paper. David was forced to give Dorian a divorce without getting a thing out of it.
Right after he signed the divorce papers, Dorian told him all about her scheme and the two made love again for the second time. David thought of a way to get back at Dorian by taking her niece's virginity. He lured Kelly, who wasn't in love with him any more, and when he tried to make a pass on her she hit him on the head with a lamp and carried his body to the woods. She was sure he died, but he wasn't dead at all. He returned, kidnapped Kelly and tied her to a bed in Dorian's yacht. He asked Dorian for ransom and went to take care of it but he didn't notice that as he was leaving a fire started on the yacht. Joey Buchanan came to rescue Kelly and before the police could put their hands on David, he hurried and left town with Ex-mayor Liz McNamara.
Mexico and Morocco, 2001
In 2001, when Blair Cramer went to Mexico to have her child (later named Jack) and Todd followed her, David was at the airport, trying to get on a flight. Todd, thinking the child was Max Holden’s (when it was really his) lied to Blair and told her the little boy had died, and went to the airport, hoping to dump it off on someone. David saw Todd and watched him give the baby to a pair of Spanish nuns. David told the nuns that Todd was his “partner” and got the baby back. He brought the boy to the hacienda where Todd and Blair were staying, and Todd paid him a hefty sum to “get rid of the baby”.
David gave him to some rich Texas couple, and when Todd found out the child was his, forced David to tell him. Todd got the baby back, saying he was “adopted.” David seized the opportunity and blackmailed Todd into giving him money or he would tell Blair everything. Todd tricked David into meeting him at the waterfront and had the Moroccan police arrest him. David was hauled away, but not before he told Todd what he thought of him.
David's 2003 return
Two years later, David turned up again when he held Dorian hostage in an effort to get the Badhra diamond. However, it didn't take long for Dorian to talk David into pooling their resources and they plotted together to "steal" the necklace to get the insurance money. As the con progressed, David fell in love with Dorian and the feeling appeared mutual. When Dorian refused to marry him until he had a job, David secured a job. However, to his surprise, Dorian backed out of marrying him. David stood by her side, though, when she revealed the truth about Adriana, the daughter she had given up to save her from Manuel Santi.
Spencer Truman and the murder of Thomas McBain
After Dorian continued to put the brakes on their marriage, though, David finally had enough. Tired of watching Dorian obsess over her family, David decided it was time to end it, and moved out, esconcing himself at Kelly's place. Dorian and David made their way back together, though, and planned to finally marry. Around the same time, Spencer Truman showed up in Llanview. David eventually revealed to Dorian that Spencer was his older brother and that he had changed his name years earlier to get as far away from the Trumans as he could. What he didn't tell Dorian was that Spencer was blackmailing him with a secret from his past—David thought he had killed a man. Spencer blackmailed David into jilting Dorian at the altar, and although David tried to explain later to Dorian why he did what he did, she couldn't forgive him.
David knew the only way to get Spencer to leave him alone (and to continue to protect his secret) was to get something equally damaging on Spencer. Convinced that Spencer knew more than he was saying about Margaret Cochran, David pumped Spencer's ex-wife Paige for information, and finally put two and two together and realized that Spencer was connected to Margaret's death. But all he had to go on was supposition, while Spencer finally clued David in on the "truth" -- the man David supposedly killed was Thomas McBain, father of John and Michael McBain. David had been a scared sixteen-year-old when he had been doing a favor for Spencer and had shot blindly, supposedly hitting Thomas. The secret went even further though—Paige was the doctor in the operating room that night, and Thomas supposedly died on the table because she had been drinking.
However, it was later revealed that Spencer was the one who shot Thomas McBain and then murdered him in the hospital after the operation. Also, the gun David used when he shot at Thomas McBain was filled with blanks, or as David himself put it "I was shooting blanks, just like Kevin Buchanan". So both David and Paige were innocent after all.
Not knowing that John McBain was learning the truth about his involvement back in Llanview, David headed to Thailand looking for clues on Margaret's disappearance, and was shocked to find Margaret alive and well, but with no memory of her son or her life in Llanview. Before he could get her back to Llanview, John and Natalie showed up looking for him. John saved David from being killed by Denton, a man Truman had hired to follow him, and the four returned to the States—John was determined to see David pay for his alleged crimes, but also determined to make sure that an innocent man (Todd Manning) didn't die for a crime he didn't commit (the murder of Margaret Cochran). The entirety of Llanview soon knew about David's alleged crime, and he was arrested, but Spencer soon bailed him out of jail. David was all set to flee town when he had a change of heart and plead guilty to Thomas McBain's murder. However, David later learned that Spencer was the one who murdered Thomas McBain, and John ultimately managed to prove it.
After Spencer's trial, David made a quick exit from Llanview, only having a telephone conversation with Dorian on Christmas.
The murder of Spencer Truman
An unhinged Spencer managed to escape police custody and turned up in Blair's Llanview hospital room. As he staged a wedding ceremony with an unconscious Blair, Spencer was stabbed from behind with a pair of scissors and killed. David soon confessed, and it was revealed that Asa Buchanan had promised David $10 million to kill Spencer. Eventually John McBain ferreted out the truth and released a furious David. With no money and nowhere to go, David ended up on the doorstep of Viki Lord Davidson; always amused by David's charm (and always happy to annoy Dorian), Viki invited David to stay with her at Llanfair.
Viki's daughter Jessica was rushed to the hospital as her body rejected her recent liver transplant. When David was determined to be a match to donate part of his liver, he saw his chance; David made a deal with Jessica's father Clint Buchanan to go through with the transplant in exchange for the $10 million he had been promised by Asa. Anxious to save Jessica, Clint reluctantly agreed to the deal, and to not tell Viki. Finding out about the deal, Dorian also promised not to tell Viki, but let David know that she would someday cash in a big favor from him. Later, Viki did find out from Clint. After Viki ended their friendship, David felt guilty as he had grown to respect and admire her, so he returned the money and asked Viki for her forgiveness. Viki forgave him; David shared a somewhat heartfelt goodbye with Dorian, and made yet another quick escape from Llanview. A few weeks passed before Dorian and Viki each got a postcard from David.
The Buchanan heir
In October 2006, David had discovered that long ago Asa had engaged in an affair with David's mother, Emma Bradley. Asa had denied it. Later, Spencer claims to be Asa's son, but a DNA test proves otherwise. On August 17, 2007 during Asa's funeral, his longtime butler Nigel Bartholomew-Smythe tells Max Holden that Asa has another son: David. An eavesdropping Alex Olanov overhears, and begins a search for David herself.[16] On November 2, 2007, Alex finds David working at a rehabilitation clinic;[17] acting the part of a wealthy widow with a sex addiction, Alex preys upon old acquaintance David's greed to convince him to marry her, never mentioning his true parentage. They wed on November 9, 2007[18][19] and Alex ultimately brings her new husband to Texas, where Asa's will is being read. Desperate to protect the family and keep the secret that con-man David is a Buchanan, Nigel turns his own inheritance over to Alex in exchange for his silence. Alex annuls her marriage to David, who is still unaware of his paternity, and Nigel reluctantly conspires with Jared Banks to pass off Jared as Asa's son.
On May 7, 2008, David is revealed to be an employee at the Bon Jour Café in Paris, Texas, working as a dishwasher. Escaping the watchful eyes of Llanview, Jared and Natalie Buchanan — who know knows Jared is not her uncle, and has fallen into an affair with him — arrive at the Bon Jour. Overhearing their secret, David follows them back to Llanview and blackmails them. As they plan to reveal their ruse to the family rather than pay David, Dorian reveals the secret as part of her takeover of Buchanan Enterprises. Jared is arrested, but Natalie secures his freedom by offering her father Clint his real brother's identity in exchange for dropping the charges. Clint and his brother Bo Buchanan reluctantly agree to her terms on June 18, 2008, and are shocked (and suspicious) at the news that David is their brother. Meanwhile, David marries Dorian's sister Addie Cramer to secure his financial future but reluctantly divorces her in exchange for Dorian saving Viki's life after a car crash. He tries to continue his relationship with Addie as leverage to force Dorian into relinquishing the renamed Cramer Enterprises back to Clint. However, Addie dumps David, as both marriage and divorce were part of an eccentric "to do list" that Addie had created after being released from St. Ann's sanitarium.[6]
David reappears on December 26, 2008,[7][8][9] calling himself "David Vickeroshi" and having "found peace" and renounced all worldly possessions as a Buddhist monk.[20] Meanwhile, a codicil of Asa's will is executed based on his heirs' failure to raise the Buchanan Enterprises stock price, and the entire estate is left to David — if Asa's lawyer Beaver Calhoun can find him.[21] Dorian learns of David's paternity and pending inheritance,[22] and plots to marry him or gain his power-of-attorney before he learns the truth himself. They marry on February 9, 2009.[23] With David's paternity revealed publicly, Dorian manages to convince David to shed his Buddhist ways and take his inheritance; the couple soon throw the rest of the Buchanans out of Asa's mansion out of spite for withholding the secret. However, on February 25, 2009 a new paternity test determines that David is actually Bo's son, as Bo had slept with Emma once in 1968 (indirectly caused by Rex Balsom, who represented Bo when he was trapped in the past).[24][25] After talking to Viki about what would truly make him happy, David decides to pursue his dream of an acting career in Los Angeles.[10] Dorian chooses to stay in Llanview to seek her revenge against Clint, and David leaves town on March 2, 2009.[10]
Returns
David returned to Llanview in August 2009 after his acting career fails. His teenage half-brother Matthew Buchanan, crippled in an accident, is suing his parents Nora Hanen and Bo for the right to proceed with a dangerous surgery that can cure him. David is revealed to be the one paying for Matthew's legal fees, and later helps Matthew escape from the British boarding school where Bo and Nora have sent him to thwart the legal decision against them. David bonds with Bo but remains in London, later helping Kelly Cramer in February 2010. In an attempt to protect the family, David returns to Llanview once again on April 2, 2010 and blackmails Clint Buchanan's new wife Kimberly Andrews into leaving Llanview. He reappears on June 3, 2010 for Bo and Nora's remarriage. He begins hanging around Viki again much to the chagrin of her husband, Charlie Banks. Meanwhile, Viki offers him a fashion job at The Banner because Charlie and Dorian are working very closely together on another project. Charlie and Viki come up with a plan to help David and Dorian realize they still love each other.
On August 17, 2010 Dorian and David admit their love for one another and make love. David "proposes" and Dorian accepts. On August 18 Dorian and David and Eli and Blair plan on having a double wedding, but that plan was thwarted by Clint who kidnapped David and, by letter, made Dorian believe that David had left her again.
David is eventually rescued from his prison cell and is soon reunited with his father and Rex Balsom, who in now his cousin. Upon his return he and Dorian reunite and he saves her from the clutches of Cutter Wentworth. Dorian and David then re-marry for the third time. He also develops a film based on his life and has Langston write the script for it, while her ex-boyfriend, Markko Rivera, is set to direct it, leading to the pair's romantic reconciliation.
References
- ^ David's birth name is stated on-air on September 12, 2005; he had changed it at age 18.
- ^ Waggett, Gerard J. (November 1997). "One Life to Live". The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Harper Paperbacks. pp. 163–188. ISBN 0-06-101157-6.
- ^ a b "SOAP STAR STATS: Tuc Watkins (David, OLTL)". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
- ^ a b c "David Vickers profile". SoapCentral.com. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
- ^ a b c "David Vickers profile". Soaps.com. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
- ^ a b "The Best & Worst of 2008". Soap Opera Digest. December 16, 2008 (Vol. 33, No. 51). p. 84.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "Comings and Goings: Tuc Watkins (David Vickers)". Soap Opera Digest. December 23, 2008 (Vol. 33, No. 52). p. 16.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Gore, Scotty (December 19, 2008). "One Life Casting Carousel". SoapOperaNetwork.com. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
- ^ a b One Life to Live recap (12/26/08) - ABC.com
- ^ a b c One Life to Live recap (3/2/09) - Soaps.com
- ^ One Life to Live recap (4/7/09) - Soaps.com
- ^ One Life to Live recap (4/22/09) - Soaps.com
- ^ One Life to Live recap (4/23/09) - Soaps.com
- ^ One Life to Live recap (4/27/09) - Soaps.com
- ^ One Life to Live recap (8/10/09) - Soaps.com
- ^ "One Life to Live recap (8/17/07)". ABC.com (Internet Archive). August 17, 2007. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
- ^ One Life to Live recap (11/2/07) - Soaps.com
- ^ One Life to Live recap (11/9/07) - ABC.com
- ^ One Life to Live recap (11/9/07) - Soaps.com
- ^ "Performer of the Week: Tuc Watkins (David, One Life to Live)". Soap Opera Digest. February 3, 2009 (Vol. 34, No. 05). p. 37.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ One Life to Live recap (12/29/08) - ABC.com
- ^ One Life to Live recap (1/7/09) - Soaps.com
- ^ One Life to Live recap (2/9/09) - Soaps.com
- ^ "OLTL: David is Bo's Son!". Soap Opera Digest. Vol. 34, No. 9. March 3, 2009. p. 8.
- ^ One Life to Live recap (2/25/09) - Soaps.com
