Sister Act

TV Guide

By Michael Logan

That dazzling, much-missed actress Susan Haskell - who won an Emmy as heroine Marty Saybrooke on ABC's One Life to Live - has rarely been seen [sic] since she and her OLTL costar Thorsten Kaye fell in love and left the soap together in 1997. On April 18, the due, still romantic off-screen, will be reunited on-screen by ABC's Port Charles. Kaye, who played Marty's swashbuckling beau Patrick, joined PC last year as Dr. Ian Thornhart, Patrick's odd, moody [sic] brother. Haskell will play Granya, a sister of Patrick and Ian, who died several years ago while undergoing an abortion (Ian was away saving lives in Africa at the time of her death and has been overwhelmed with guilt ever since).

"I won't be in a white robe and a halo," Haskell assures us. "Nor is Granya a ghost. [She] is played very real. She's someone Ian keeps in his thoughts and relies on for advice. There's a lot about his past that needs explaining. This is nicer than the alternative - having him talk to himself." Haskell will be on-air for a month or so, then she departs for Canada to star oppositve David Caruso in the film "Black Point." But she may return to the soap if her stint is well received.

The latest PC plot twist, while intriguing, does raise questions: Won't OLTL fans - who've never heard of Granya - be wondering why Patrick never once said to Marty, "Jeez, you look just like my sister"? And won't this put a rather twisted taint on their saintly love story? After all, this means the dude had a sexual attraction to his sister's dead ringer. ABC had initially planned to avoid the "ick" factor by dramatically changing Haskell's appearance, then dropped the idea.