Ray Gardner (All My Children)

Infobox soap character
series = All My Children
name = Ray Gardner
first= 1977
last= 2001
cause= Died in an explosion


caption1 =
creator = Agnes Nixon
gender = Male
parents =
siblings = Robert "Rob" Gardner (brother)
spouse = Opal Gardner Purdy Cortlandt (divorced)
children = Thaddeus "Tad" Martin (son, with Opal)
Jenny Gardner (daughter, with Opal, deceased)
grandchildren = James "Jamie" Martin (grandson, via Tad)
Kathleen "Kathy" Martin (granddaughter, via Tad)
Jennifer "Jenny" Martin (granddaughter, via Tad)
portrayer = Gil Rogers

Ray Gardner was a character on the American television soap opera "All My Children" from 1977 to 1983. In 1993, 1994, and 2001, Ray appeared as a spirit. Gardner, played by Gil Rogers, was married to Opal and was the biological father of Jenny Gardner and Tad Martin.

Character history

Ray Gardner was a rotten apple to the core. He abused his former wife Opal throughout their marriage. We first see him in 1977 when he came to Pine Valley sniffing around respectable Martins for cash. Years earlier he abandoned his oldest son, Tad, in a park. Figuring he would exact his revenge on the Martins, he showed up to terrorize a 15 year old Tad and raped Tad's adoptive mother Ruth Martin, brutally assaulting her.

He was apprehended when Estelle La Tour, a hooker, recognized him and alerted the authorities. He was apprehended by Phil Brent who was knocked unconscious by the loathsome Gardner. He was then stabbed by another despicable character, Billy Clyde Tuggle. Ray was finally sent to prison for rape.

Ray found a way to escape by digging an escape tunnel with his cell mate and then turning him in to look like a hero. Now he was determined to make the Martins pay for sending him to prison. He held Edna Thornton, Chuck and Donna Tyler hostage. The police caught up to him once more and he was carted back to prison.

A few years later his daughter Jenny Gardner paid him a visit in prison and questioned him about his vendetta against the Martins. After his release, he coerced a frightened Opal into giving him a job at the Glamorama, while building a bomb with the intent of blasting the Martins sky high! Ray was seriously hurt when the bomb accidentally went off. Afterward Ray feigned the loss of his sight.

Ray still held on to his spiteful ways and built yet another bomb, this time set to go off on New Years Eve. Ray realized that Jenny was inside the Martins house and carried the bomb away as it exploded!

After all of his hateful deeds, Ray managed to get into heaven. Because he died saving Jenny's life, it was considered a selfless act. Years later in 1993, Rays spirit visited earth and tormented an amnesiac Tad and a year later in 1994, Tad Martin met up with Ray Gardner, Jesse Hubbard (at the time was presumed dead after being shot) , Jenny (who was killed in 1984 in a jet ski accident), and Nola Ornasi (Tad's surrogate mother) when he had an out-of-body experience following a head injury during a tornado and traveled to heaven. In 2001, when Gillian Lavery was shot and killed she arrived in heaven were she met Ray, Jesse Hubbard, Jeremy Hunter, Natelie Marlowe, Cindy Chandler, and Harold the dog.

Family members

* Tad Martin (son, with Opal; adopted by Joe and Ruth Martin)
* Jenny Gardner (daughter, with Opal, deceased)
* Jamie Martin (grandson via Tad)
* Kathy Mershon (granddaughter via Tad)
* Jenny Carey (granddaughter via Tad)
* Robert "Rob" Gardner (brother)