Wolek family

For related performers, see List of One Life to Live characters.

The Wolek family were one of the fictional core families on the American soap opera One Life to Live when it debuted in 1968. They were the working class reflection of the affluent Lords, with early storylines exploring the ways these families interacted and contrasted. The family was created around the relationships of Dr. Lawrence "Larry" Wolek, a character who appeared from the debut episode in summer 1968^[1] through the spring of 2004.^[2]

Vince

Vince Wolek
One Life to Live
Portrayed by	Antony Ponzini Jordan Charney Michael Ingram
Duration	1968–1981
First appearance	Episode 1 July 15, 1968
Last appearance	July 9, 1981
Created by	Agnes Nixon
Profile
Gender	Male
Cause of death	Poisoned by Ted Clayton
Occupation	Detective for the Llanview Police Department
Residence	Llanview, Pennsylvania
Relationships Sibling(s) Larry Wolek Anna Wolek Spouse(s) Wanda Webb (1975–1981; dissolved) Romances Victoria Lord (as Niki Smith) Wanda Webb Nieces and nephews Daniel Wolek First cousins Jenny Wolek (distant cousin) Karen Wolek (distant cousin)

In 1968, Vincent "Vince" Wolek fell in love with fun-loving party girl Niki Smith; little did he know that Niki was an alternate personality of heiress Viki Lord—the girlfriend of Vince's best friend, reporter Joe Riley. Eventually Vince learned the truth and, though heartbroken, told Viki about her alter ego. Viki sought medical treatment and, as her mental illness seemed under control, she went ahead with her plans to marry Joe. But during the wedding in June 1969, Niki reemerged and fled the ceremony with an ecstatic Vince. When he urged Niki to marry him, however, Niki's own panic resulted in Viki regaining control. She returned to Joe.

In 1970, Vince unwittingly became involved with the Llanview drug trade, and was implicated in a drug-related murder. He was eventually cleared of wrongdoing, but not before Joe, investigating Llanview's increasing drug problem for The Banner, was presumed dead in California. Vince (and Joe's sister, Eileen) had refused to give up the hope that Joe was alive, and both were upset when Viki signed papers declaring Joe dead in 1972. They were vindicated when Joe reappeared; he had returned to Llanview ill, but had been nursed back to health by sassy tell-it-like-it-is waitress Wanda Webb (Marilyn Chris; Lee Lawson). By the time Joe and Viki reunited in 1973, Vince was a cop. Later, he fell in love with big hearted Wanda, and the two married in February 1975. Vince was poisoned to death by Ted Clayton in 1981.

Vince's widow, Wanda, on the other hand, remained in Llanview and ran a restaurant of her own after years of being a waitress. She still did waitressing at her own restaurant. She offered her no-nonsense advice, her delicious food, and a compassionate shoulder to cry on, when needed. Besides Wanda dating various men after Vince's death, She also took in her nephew, Jason Webb, who eventually left town to go to Texas with LeeAnn Demarest. She crossed swords with Dorian Lord, when she had Sloane Carpenter attacked outside her restaurant and with Marty Saybrooke because Marty slept with Jason who was about to marry LeeAnn. Her restaurant, called Wanda's Place, predated Vega's and then the Buenas Dias cafe. Wanda finally left town in 1994 when she remarried and moved to Seattle to open a bookstore.

Larry

Main article: Larry Wolek

Dr. Larry Wolek is a fictional character and an original protagonist on the American serial One Life to Live, appearing from the series inception July 15, 1968 through 2004. The former brother-in-law of central heroine Victoria Lord, the role was notably portrayed for over three decades by Michael Storm, from 1969 through 2004.

Karen

Main article: Karen Wolek

Karen Wolek is a fictional character and housewife on the American soap opera, One Life to Live, appearing from 1976 through 1983. The role was most notably portrayed by actress Judith Light from 1977 through 1983, garnering two consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress during her tenure.

Anna

In 1969, Dr. Jim Craig fell in love with Vince and Larry's sister, Anna Wolek. They married, and Anna soon clashed with Jim's rebellious teen daughter, Cathy. Cathy soon started abusing drugs, eventually persuading Jim to take her to Odyssey House in New York City for treatment. Anna left town to live in Florida following the death of her husband Jim and brother Vince Wolek.

Jenny

Jenny Wolek Renaldi
One Life to Live
Portrayed by	Katherine Glass Brynn Thayer
Duration	1975–1986
First appearance	June 1975
Last appearance	May 1986
Created by	Agnes Nixon Gordon Russell
Profile
Gender	Male
Cause of death	Killed in an avalanche
Occupation	Secretary Former nun
Title	Dr.
Residence	Switzerland
Relationships Sibling(s) Karen Wolek (sister) Spouse(s) Tim Siegel (1976; widowed) Brad Vernon (1978–1981; divorced) Peter Janssen (1981–1982; widowed) David Renaldi(1984–1997; dissolved) Romances Tim Siegel (deceased) Brad Vernon Dr. Will Vernon David Renaldi Children Mary Vernon {daughter; with Brad; deceased) First cousins Larry Wolek (distant cousin) Anna Wolek (distant cousin) Vince Wolek (distant cousin; deceased)

Jenny Renaldi (née Wolek; formerly Siegel, Vernon, and Janssen), a distant cousin of Anna, Vince, and Larry, came to Llanview in 1975. She was a novitiate nun who was preparing to take her final vows. Fate had something different for her though, and she fell in love with blue-collar worker (and half-Jewish) Tim Siegel. When Jenny announced she was leaving the order to marry Tim, her cousin Vinny heatedly objected - he thought Tim was 'stealing Jenny from the church'. Vinny got into a fist-fight with Tim, one that aggravated a latent brain aneurysm in Tim. Jenny ended up marrying Tim on his deathbed! Even though it was an accident, it was a long time before Jenny forgave her cousin for his actions (or before Vinny forgave himself.)

No longer a nun, Jenny took a secretarial job with Dr. Will Vernon, and found herself in a tortured Oedipal love triangle as both Will (married at the time) and his son Brad fell in love with her. Jenny chose to be with Brad and married him. But only after vows were exchanged did Jenny realize what a cad he really was. Despite a rocky marriage, Jenny became pregnant and looked forward to motherhood. Unfortunately, she lost her baby under extremely bizarre circumstances (she went into early labor after discovering that Brad had raped her sister Karen). The baby died in the maternity ward, and sister Karen (displaying well-meaning, but remarkably misguided judgement) switched the dead baby with that of someone else's living baby. For several years, Jenny reared another woman's baby, actually thinking it was her own child. During that time, Jenny left Brad for good and married Dr. Peter Janssen, only to become widowed. It was only a short time after losing her husband Peter that Jenny learned the truth about Karen's baby-switcheroo, and made the extremely painful decision to give the child back to her rightful mother Katrina. Unbeknown to all both the child that Jenny had lost and the child she had reared were fathered by her ex-husband Brad Vernon.

Jenny next fell in love with David Reynolds, also known as David Renaldi, the former lover of Dorian (and father of Dorian's daughter Cassie). Despite being married to Herb Callison at the time, Dorian did her level best to split up Jenny and David. After finally resolving that feud, Jenny and David wed. Only then did Jenny discover that David was a spy and a double agent, pretending to be working for the Soviet Union but actually reporting to the U.S. government on communist espionage activity. Jenny relocated to Switzerland with David in 1986. Years later, David Renaldi returned to Llanview with the news that Jenny had been killed while skiing by an avalanche. (By then, however, the Wolek family had largely been written out of the storyline and was a distant memory to most of the characters still on the show.)

Daniel

Dr. Daniel Wolek
Michael Palance as Dr. Daniel Wolek (1990)
One Life to Live
Portrayed by	Neal Holland Eddie Moran Michael Palance (and others)[3]
Duration	1971–1979, 1983–1987, 1989–1991
First appearance	November 17, 1971
Last appearance	August 1991
Created by	Agnes Nixon
Profile
Nickname(s)	Dan, Danny
Gender	Male
Occupation	Physician
Title	Dr.
Joshua Cox as Dr. Daniel Wolek (1986)
Relationships Parents Larry Wolek Meredith Lord (deceased) Sibling(s) Unnamed twin sister Romances Dorian Lord Allison Perkins Brenda McGillis Andy Harrison Laura Jean Ellis Grandparents Victor Lord (deceased) Eugenia Lord (deceased) Aunts and uncles Victoria Lord Tony Lord (deceased) Todd Manning Victor Lord Jr. Tina Lord Vinny Wolek (deceased) Anna Wolek Craig First cousins Megan Gordon (deceased) Kevin Buchanan Joey Buchanan Jessica Buchanan Natalie Buchanan C.J. Roberts Sarah Roberts Starr Manning Danielle Manning Jack Manning Sam Manning Brian Kendall (deceased)

Dr. Daniel Wolek, later known as Danny or simply Dan, was the only son of Dr. Larry Wolek and his wife Meredith Lord, born on-screen November 1971. His twin sister was stillborn, causing his mother to suffer post-partum depression. In 1973, Daniel's mother dies of a cerebral hemorrhage following a freak accident during an attempted robbery at the Lord estate, Llanfair. Larry raises Danny as a single father with help from his sister, Anna, and brother, Vince. Danny later attends to boarding school overseas.

Danny returns on several occasions, returning to Llanview on an on-going basis in 1986 as Dr. Dan Wolek, an resident physician at Llanview Hospital. He dated shy Allison Perkins briefly before she fell under Mitch Laurence's spell. Dan returned again in 1989 and soon became a rival to his own father for the affection of nurse Brenda McGillis. Later, when the nefarious Michael Grande sought to woo Brenda, Michael rigged a malpractice case so that Dan was fired from the hospital. He then ran a clinic for low-income Llanview residents and fell for Laura Ellis, the estranged wife of one of Carlo Hesser's mob lieutenants. Dan left town with little fanfare in 1991.

Family tree

• Unknown Wolek (distant relative; deceased)
  • m. Unknown [dissolved] (deceased)
    • c. Anna Wolek
      • m. Jim Craig [1970-1981; dissolved]
    • c. Vince Wolek [deceased 1981]
      • m. Wanda Webb [1970-1981; dissolved]
    • c. Larry Wolek
      • m. Karen Martin [1969; divorced]
      • m. Meredith Lord [1970-1973; dissolved] (deceased)
        • c. Danny Wolek [b. 1971
        • c. Daughter (b. 1971) (deceased 1971)
      • m. Karen Wolek [1977-1979; divorced]
      • m. Laurel Chapin [1985; dissolved] (deceased)
• Unknown Wolek (distant relative; deceased)
  • m. Unknown [dissolved] (deceased)
    • c. Jenny Wolek [deceased 1997]
      • m. Tim Siegel [dissolved 1976]
      • m. Brad Vernon [1978-1981; divorced]
        • c. Mary Vernon [stillborn 1979]
      • m. Peter Janssen [1981-1982; divorced] (deceased)
      • m. David Renaldi [1984-1997; dissolved] (deceased)
    • c. Karen Wolek
      • m. Larry Wolek [1977-1979; divorced]

References

1. ^ "One Life to Live recap (1968)". ABC. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080423033131/http://abc.go.com/daytime/onelifetolive/episodes/1968-69/1968.html. Retrieved November 13, 2011. 
2. ^ "One Life to Live recap (May 2004)". ABC. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080423041058/http://abc.go.com/daytime/onelifetolive/episodes/2004-05/20040503.html. Retrieved November 13, 2011. 
3. ^ The character was portrayed by Neal Holland from 1974 through 1976, by Eddie Moran from 1976 through 1979. The character reappeared in 1983 portrayed by Timothy Owen Waldrip briefly in 1983 and 1985, played by Steven Culp in the intermediate period between 1983 and 1984. Ted Demers stepped into the role briefly in 1984. Joshua Cox stepped into the role from 1986 through 1987, and Michael Palance plays the role for the longest duration, from 1987 through 1991.

External links

• Wolek family tree - SoapCentral.com