| 10/11/08 11:25 PM |
#429
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Jeffrey Murphy
Duke Lavery and Anna Devane were a couple on the American soap opera General Hospital. Duke was played by Ian Buchanan and Anna was played by Finola Hughes.
In 1986, Anna Devane became Co-Police Chief of Port Charles following the departure of her ex-husband Robert Scorpio. Anna became increasingly concerned about mob activities in the city, but was surprised to find herself intrigued by newly-arrived mobster Duke Lavery, who charmed her and was good to her daughter Robin. The two soon became lovers, and Duke ended up turning against his mob superiors and helping Anna bring down Operation Tumble Dry, an extortion and money laundering scheme run by her co-police chief Burt Ramsey, who felt he should have been made police commissioner and was embittered that he had to share the Police Chief title with Anna. Duke was sentenced to four months in prison for his involvement in the initial phases of Operation Tumble Dry, but was later released on appeal because of the part he played in exposing the ring.
Duke and Anna then faced problems from Duke's half sister Camellia, who had become a nun upon learning that Duke was supposedly her half brother. Years ago, Duke and Camellia had a brief flirtation before they learned they were related, and Camellia was devastated their flirtation could not be more. Later it was revealed that Camellia and Duke were not siblings after all, but Duke choose to stay with Anna. Camellia inadvertently revealed the secret of L'Orlean which was that Duke and his father Angus had covered up Camellia's murder of rival mob kingpin Evan Jerome when he attempted to rape her. Because she'd had a mental breakdown after the murder, Camellia did not remember everything that had happened. In an attempt to break up Anna and Duke, she sent a newspaper reporter on a hunt for the story, thinking Anna would want nothing to do with Duke once the story came out. The reporter uncovered everything, including Camellia's role, and Anna did indeed break off her relationship with a heartbroken Duke. Camellia and Duke were cleared of all charges in the murder, but it took a little time for Anna to get over her hurt, although she never stopped loving Duke. After some WSB adventures in the Biscayne Islands and Mount Rushmore where they helped expose a terrorist plot, Duke and Anna were happily reunited and married. Anna was given away at the wedding by her ex-husband Robert, who had returned to Port Charles some months before.
In 1988, Anna was kidnapped by an old enemy of Robert's named Grant Putnam. Duke and Robert tried to work together on the case, but eventually Duke's frustration with Robert's secrecy about the case got the better of him and he attempted to find Anna on his own, using his mob connections. This proved to be a big mistake. Duke did locate Anna, but by now as a result he was heavily indebted to the Jerome's, a mafia crime family. Duke agreed to work with them to help turn the mob legitimate, which was the dream of his friend Julian Jerome, who died saving Duke's life from a mob hit. Anna found out about Duke's renewed mob ties and they separated. Shortly thereafter, Olivia Jerome turned up in town and attempted to seduce Duke, and eventually tricked him into believing that they had slept together one drunken evening in New York City. Anna and Duke reconciled, and worked together to bring the Jerome and Carter families down. Olivia began stalking the Lavery's.
Anna fell pregnant, but Olivia caused her to miscarry when she had an elevator in Duke's club rigged to crash and kill Duke. An attempt was made on Olivia's life and Anna was framed for the crime. Anna stood trial for the attempted murder of Olivia, but she was soon cleared. Duke eventually grew concerned for Robin and Anna's safety and decided to join the witness protection program with Anna and Robin. On the night they were to enter the program, the warehouse where they were supposed to meet up exploded with Duke inside, as Anna and Robin watched in horror. The Witness Protection agents had prepared for such an event and took Duke to a safe area below the warehouse. Duke agreed to stay "dead" for the sake of Anna and Robin's safety, and he entered the program a broken and devastated man. Later, he arranged to have plastic surgery in Brazil. In 1990, Duke returned with a different face. He was reunited with Anna, but soon died in a shootout with Julian Jerome.
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