Liza Colby

Infobox soap character
name = Liza Colby


caption =
first= 1981
last= January 11 2005
occupation=Business Executive
portrayer = Marcy Walker (1981-1984; 1995-2004; 2005); Alice Haining (1984)
creator = Agnes Nixon
children= Colby Chandler (daugter; with Adam (unnamed child with Ryan Lavery)(Deceased)

Liza Colby (formerly Chandler) was a resident of the fictional town of Pine Valley, Pennsylvania on the soap opera "All My Children". She is best known as having been portrayed by actress Marcy Walker, although the role was also briefly portrayed by Alice Haining.

Fictional history

Liza made her first appearance in 1981 as a snobbish upper middle-class teenager with a crush on Greg Nelson. However, Greg's heart belonged to Jenny Gardner, a warm-hearted working-class girl. Liza engaged in numerous schemes to steal Greg from Jenny. Her two most heinous acts occurred at about the same time. Liza blackmailed Jenny, threatening to reveal to Greg that Jenny's father Ray Gardner was a convict who had raped Ruth Martin years earlier. After Jenny's best friend Jesse Hubbard confronted her, Liza falsely accused him of attempted rape, subtly using old stereotypes about Black men and White women as a means of making her story seem credible. With Jenny humiliated and Jesse eager to avoid arrest, the two fled to New York City, where they remained for weeks until Liza's accusations against Jesse were discredited.

After Liza failed in her schemes to win Greg, she started a relationship with Tad Martin, Jenny's biological brother. However, Liza was crushed when she discovered Tad was also having an affair with her mother, Marian Colby. Later, partly as a result of her "easy" reputation, Liza actually was raped. Initially, no one believed her except Dr. Cliff Warner. However she mistook his compassion for romantic intereset and actually attempted to steal him from his wife Nina. Liza left town a few months later.

Liza made a triumphant return to Pine Valley in September 1995. Now a strong careerwoman, Liza got revenge on Tad by seducing him into bed, breaking up the marriage of Tad and Dixie Cooney. Liza then moved on to Jake Martin, Tad's adopted brother. Liza then found herself in strange predicament when she got pregnant with what she thought was Jake's baby. In actuality, it was multi-billionaire Adam Chandler's child, for Adam had switched Jake's sperm at the sperm bank with his. In May 1999, Liza gave birth to a daughter, Colby Marian Chandler, and eventually fell for Adam and married him. However, Adam's controlling nature and penchant for lying led to their divorce...and remarrying...and divorce.

Liza got the shock of her life in 2001 when Mia Saunders revealed herself to be her half-sister. Eventually, Liza & Mia formed a sisterly bond and Liza even financed the money to upstart Fusion, the new cosmetics company that Mia co-founded in late 2002 with Greenlee du Pres, Kendall Hart, and Simone Torres. In late 2004, Liza, with Tad's help, went on the run with Colby in tow. Her last appearance was in early 2005. However, Colby eventually returned (rapidly aged to her teenaged years) to Pine Valley to live with Adam. Initially, she has exhibited all of Liza's worst character traits from the 80s, including consistent spoiled behavior, and a false statutory rape allegation against Erica Kane's son Josh Madden. However, Colby has put most of such behavior behind her, and has recently emerged as a more sympathetic character.