Fletcher Reade
| Fletcher Reade | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guiding Light character | |||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Jay Hammer | ||||||||||
| Duration | 1984-1998, 1999, 2009 | ||||||||||
| First appearance | May 1984 | ||||||||||
| Last appearance | September 18, 2009 | ||||||||||
| Created by | Pamela K. Long Jeff Ryder | ||||||||||
| Introduced by | Gail Kobe | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Search Fletcher Reade on Amazon.
Fletcher Reade was a fictional character from the CBS daytime soap opera Guiding Light. The role was portrayed by Jay Hammer from 1984 to 2009.
Casting[edit]
Created by Pamela K. Long and Jeff Ryder, the role of Fletcher was originated by Jay Hammer in May 1984. After fourteen years in the role, Hammer left the series on March 11, 1998. Following his departure, Hammer made further guest appearances from March 19 to May 7, 1999, as well as September 17 to 18, 2009.
Storylines[edit]
Fletcher Reade was introduced in May 1984, investigating the Dreaming Death virus in San Rios. After meeting Hillary Bauer, he helped her escape San Rios and return to Springfield to reunite with her true love, Dr. Jim Reardon. Reardon would soon end up finding a cure for those afflicted by Dreaming Death, finding inspiration in an African medicine man named Zamana. Fletcher soon found himself falling in love with Hillary, but knowing she did not return his feeling, he began seeing Dr. Claire Ramsey. Fletcher and Claire's relationship grew more intense as the began investigating a mysterious property in Barbados belonging to Tony and Annabelle Reardon. Following Hillary's tragic death in an explosion, which brought back memories of the death of his first wife, Leah, Fletcher turned away from Claire. In an effort to prevent Fletcher, Claire and the Reardon's from learning the truth about the mysterious property, realtor Susan Piper convinced Fletcher and Claire to sail on a stormy night. The pair were able to survive their experience and Fletcher soon solved the mystery. Upon bringing the wealthy Alexandra Spaulding to Barbados, the group met with her father, the presumed dead Brandon Spaulding, who had been living there the entire time with a mistress and an illegitimate child. Following their return to Springfield, Fletcher and Claire resumed their relationship and befriended both Ed and Maureen Bauer. Throughout this time, Fletcher struggled to deal with the the death of his daughter, Rebecca, who had been killed in a war in 1981.
In 1985, Claire began making plans to marry Fletcher, prompting him to panic and flee to Beirut. Claire followed in pursuit, recruiting Ed to help her find Fletcher. During Claire and Ed's search, a reporter approached Maureen, having mistaken her for Claire and told her where Fletcher was. Once Maureen had located Fletcher, he revealed the truth of his past with Leah and Rebecca to her. As Maureen attempted to convince Fletcher that he needed to move on from his past, an explosion occurred, prompting both Claire and Ed to believe they were dead.
In an effort to comfort one another, Ed and Claire soon found themselves in bed together. After Fletcher and Maureen turned up alive, the group returned to Springfield, but a tension began to develop between Ed and Claire, as the latter continued to plan her wedding to Fletcher. Claire soon discovered that she was pregnant and that Ed was the father, as Fletcher had a vasectomy years earlier. In an effort to protect Fletcher, Claire left him at the alter, but Fletcher forgave her and the two made an attempt to salvage their relationship. Claire's mood swings while pregnant ultimately ended up being too much for Fletcher and the two broke up.
Fletcher soon found himself involved in an investigation ino the death of a nurse, Charlotte Wheaton, who had died due to blunt force trauma. With Ed and Claire at the top of the suspect list, Fletcher was determined to prove their innocence and set off for Philadelphia to investigate Charlotte. After learning that Charlotte had a sister, newswoman Alicia Rhomer, he was presented proof by Alicia's assistant, Gina, that she had killed her sister. Fletcher soon discovered that Charlotte had blackmailed Alicia with the knowledge that she had falsely accused a local doctor of being an alcoholic in order to launch her television career. With Gina's help, Fletcher was able to lure Alicia to her TV studio late one night, as police officers hid out of sight. Fletcher was able to get Alicia to confess to murdering Charlotte and the police arrested her. Following the birth of her daughter, Michelle, Claire attempted to win Fletcher back but he was no longer interested.
In 1986, Fletcher comforted Maeve Stoddard, publisher of the Springfield Journal, who was in an unhappy marriage to Kyle Sampson. Following Kyle and Maeve's divorce, she gave birth to a son, Ben, but lied that she had suffered a miscarriage. Maeve was eventually forced to admit to her lies. After Kyle had left Springfield a year later, and with Ben and Maeve reunited, Fletcher proposed to her but she rejected him as she wasn't ready to pursue marriage again. Fletcher's sister, Meredith, soon arrived in Springfield, carrying a secret - that she had killed her cancer-stricken mother. When Dr. Rick Bauer wished to pursue holistic avenues of treatment to help treat his cousin, Johnny's, cancer, Meredith brought charges against him to the medical board. This prompted Maeve to threaten to expose Meredith's secret if she refused to drop the charges. Fed up with Meredith's interference, Fletcher left Maeve, but he later forgave her.
This article "Fletcher Reade" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Fletcher Reade. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
