The Children of One Life to Live

Ariella and Natalie Jamnik

Starr Manning

Febuary 1996 - January 1998

When Starr was born her father was thought to be dead, so Blair went through the pregnancy all alone. When Todd came back he decided not to let everyone know he was alive and he kidnapped Starr. Todd was stopped, but after Blair lost her baby and was paralyzed, Todd asked for custody of Starr. They stopped the battle when Starr was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. Eventually they found a donor, Alex, for Starr and she got well. But then Todd thought of a new way to get custody of her; he married his lawyer, Tea, and together they made it look like Starr would be better with them. They succeeded and Todd got custody of her.

Ariella {left} and Natalie {right} began acting when their mother's friend, a talent agent, needed twins to send out on auditions. They were born in 1996 and began on the show when they were 6 weeks old. Their mom, Esther, spoke about life on the set. She said when the girls are on camera, with toys or blankets, those "realistic" props are theirs. Regarding their costars, Esther commented that "Kassie plays with the babies a lot" but, "Roger Howarth doesn't do too much of the goo-goo, ga-ga stuff on the set, because I think he always wants to be fresh with the babies once they start taping." In general, when on the set, "These actors, whom you see on-screen as really mean and nasty people, all of the sudden see this baby and they turn into mush. It's very funny to see people completely go out of character when a baby is around." If a scene called for a lot of passing around, or one of the babies would have to be waken up, Esther always chose Natalie, who was known to "wake up better." Otherwise, both girls shared screen time fairly equally. Esther was very pleased with how friendly her girls became because of their experience on the set. {Photo and info courtesy SOW}

Ariella and Natalie played Starr for two years. They were recast with a slightly older actress, who was replaced two months after that with an even older actress. Ariella and Natalie have not worked on any other projects since leaving OLTL. Pictured to the left and right with on-screen mom {Blair-Kassie DePaiva} and dad {Todd-Roger Howarth}. Left photo courtesy of The Todd, Blair and Starr Page, right photo courtsey of The Manning Building

Ryan Janis

Kevin Riley Buchanan

1982-1990

Kevin was glad to attend Vki and Clint's wedding and was happy when Clint offered to adopt him. Since then he has become a real Buchanan. As a child he needed to deal with his mother's Multiple Personality Disorder and Niki divorcing Clint. Later he had the joy of attending his parents' second wedding and welcoming his new sister Jessica into the world. He also earned another brother when it turned out Cord was Clint's son from an earlier relationship. There was a time when Clint was thought to be dead, but fortunately he wasn't. He gained another sister when Megan turned out to be Viki's long lost daughter.

Ryan played Kevin longer than any other actor (8 years!). He was born on May 18, 1976. After he left OLTL he participated in two movies: In & Out in 1997 (along with Chris McKenna) and A Civil Action in 1998.

Eddie Karr

Alonzo (Al) Holden Buchanan

Eddie was born on October 16, 1987. His role on OLTL was his first big break after appearing modeling in print ads. He later appeared on Saturday Night Live in a comedy skit. In recent memory, he appeared on the Gerald McRaney drama, Promised Land, which ran for one season in 1996. He played Nathaniel Green on that show. {Photo on left courtesy Star Galaxy, photo on right and some info courtesy promised.com}

Ty Keegan

John Cramer "Jack" Manning

late 2001-early 2002

Ty was a backup baby in the role of Jack during his first few months. Since screen time for infants is so limited, OLTL had to use additional babies if they needed the baby in scenes for a longer time than the law allowed. So, Ty stepped in on at least two occasions. (The first is on the left and the second was a scene with Todd, where Jack was sitting on his lap as Todd had a conversation with him about their family.) Ty is no stranger to showbiz. He also originated the role of Jude Bauer on GL. His modeling includes work for Simplicity, Macy's, Lilly's Kids and Price Waterhouse. {pics courtesy http://tykeegan.actorsite.com/}

John Paul Learn

Joey Buchanan

1983-1990

While John was on OLTL he took a part in the movie Agent on Ice in 1985.

Joey needed to deal with his mother's Multiple Personality Disorder and support her through this ordeal. He was glad to attend his parents' second wedding and welcom his new sister Jessica into the family. He was granted another sibling when it tuned out Cord was Clint's son from a previous affair. There was a time when Clint was thought to be dead, but fortunately he wasn't. He gained another sister when Megan turned out to be Viki's long lost daughter.

Ryan Marsini

River Carpenter

1996-1999

Ryan was born in June 15, 1992 and he was 4 years old when he came to the show. After he left he had a part in the movie The Confession in 1999.

River was found on the Church's doorstep on Christmas Eve. Cassie, who was broken from the death of her child, decided he was god's gift to her and decided to keep him. It wasn't so simple though, since his birth mother, Beth changed her mind and wanted him back. However ,she suddenly got very sick, and her dying wish was to have Cassie and Andrew raise her son. River had to deal with his parents' divorce and his mother being committed to mental institution.

River enjoyed his time on OLTL. In an interview with SOD in 1998 he was asked "What is the worst thing about being on a soap?" He said, "The worst is when I don't remember my lines and I have to start all over and I can't go and play with my friends." When asked who he liked best on the set, he said that he liked them all but Laura Koffman {Cassie-on screen mom, pictured to the right} was his best-friend on the set. One time he forgot his line and she hugged him and told it to him. {Photographed by left: Tammy Marsini, right: Ann Limongello.}

Ryan liked working with his co-star Michael Zaslow, who played his grandfather, David. Ryan said, "He is cool. I like how he talks with his computer, and he let me ride on his wheelchair." River called his grandfather "The Machine Man".

FYI: Michael Zaslow suffered from ALS, {Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease}. It's a neuromuscular disease that robs people of their ability to speak, move and finally to breathe, while the mind remains unaffected. The disease affects different parts of the body at different times. Michael Zaslow lost his voice first and then the muscle tone in his arms and legs. The great baseball player, Lou Gehrig lost his arm muscle tone first, then legs and last his voice. Michael succumbed to ALS on December 6, 1998, little more than a year after his diagnosis. A note from Cain: My father Michael Gary Cain also died of this disease. He lived four years with it and was only 44 years old when he died. It is a horrible disease no one should ever have to suffer from it. He lost his muscle tone in his legs first, then his arms and last his voice. The life span is different for everyone. It depends on how strong the body is and what area it strikes first. It is not a rare disease as most people think. The incidence of ALS is about equal to Multiple Sclerosis, but because ALS is brutal and brief, there are fewer voices to advocate for treatment. However, ongoing scientific breakthroughs are bringing us closer to a cure for ALS and its sister diseases, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Click on the link ZazAngels.com and learn more about the disease and how you can help find a cure. Thanks Cain, in loving memory of my father Michael Gary Cain, 05/31/44-02/06/89. {Photograph by Tammy Marsini}

Chris McKenna

Joey Buchanan

1990-1993

Chris was born in Queens, New York, USA on October 10, 1977. After he left he had a part in the movie In & Out in 1997 (along with Ryan Janis). He also played Rob in the series The Opposite Sex in 1999.

Joey supported his mother through her stroke and helped as much as he could. He defended his gay friend Billie Douglas {played by Ryan Phillipe} when the entire town was appalled by him. He needed to deal with death when Cord was thought to be dead and when Megan died. On the other hand, there were happy things as well, like his first girlfriend, Alana.

Chris is pictured on the right with his mother, Mary Ann and brother, Ryan. {Photo by Robert Milazzo}

Regan McManus

Mary Vernon Karr

1982-1983

Jenny & Kat gave birth at about the same time, but when Jenny's sister Karen went to visit her niece, she saw she was dead. Quickly she switched the names and Mary was thought to be Jenny's. This secret was revealed years later when Mary was old enough to understand and it was very painful to give up the family she'd known. Kat joyously reunited with her daughter. To everyone's surprise Kat announced that Brad was Mary's father. Later on, Kat and Mary decided to leave town.

Morgan K. Melis

Kevin Buchanan

1976-1981

Kevin had a childhood full of events since he was born. At first there was the fear he inherited the heart defect his deceased sister had, fortunately he didn't. Afterward he was kidnapped by Cathy Craig in order to get back at Viki. He was returned, but then his father found out he had a tumor in his head. Kevin had to deal with his father's death but later he welcomed his new brother, Joey, when he was born.

Gary and Keith Meredith

Clinton James Roberts

1990-1991

Gary and Keith shared the role of C.J. for just about two years. They are shown here with on-screen father Cord {John Loprieno).

Ryan Morris

Joey Riley Buchanan

1982-1983

Joey never got to know his biological father because he died before he was born. He was adopted by Clint Buchanan after he married his mother and since then he has become a real Buchanan.