Actress Catherine Burns originated the role of Cathy Craig from 1969 until 1970. The role was then assumed by actress Amy Levitt from 1970 through May 1971, when she was replaced by actress Jane Alice Brandon. Brandon appeared on One Life to Live from May 1971 through October 1972, when series creator Agnes Nixon recast the role again to Dorrie Kavanaugh. Dorrie Kavanaugh played Cathy longer than any other actress in the role, from October 1972 until June 1976, until she was fired by executive producer Doris Quinlan. In late 1975, actress Robin Strasser was offered a long-term contract with the series to take up the role but declined upon the knowledge that Kavanaugh would be fired to accommodate the recast. Strasser would later go on to be the permanent replacement of Claire Mallis following a brief recast in the role of Dr. Dorian Lord.
Storylines
Cathy is initially introduced as the unseen child daughter of Llanview Hospital chief-of-staff Dr. Jim Craig in 1968. When the character debuts on-screen in January 1969, she is aged to a seventeen-year-old teenager. Harboring an Electra complex toward her father, Cathy grew increasingly jealous of the time her prospective stepmother Anna Wolek was spending with her father. Cathy rebelled against Jim and Anna by using drugs, eventually becoming an addict and killing her dealer Artie Duncan in an LSD-fueled maniacal episode. Cathy seeks treatment for her addiction at the culturally relevant Odyssey House in New York City in 1970. She soon begins reporting stories for The Banner when Victoria "Viki" Lord Burke hires her, becoming the character's first active nemesis. Cathy briefly engages in an affair with Bannerchief editor and Viki's then-fiancé, Steve Burke. Later, just before Viki remarries first husband Joe Riley after returning to town following his apparent death, Cathy becomes pregnant by Joe from a brief romance in 1973. Joe insists on marrying her but she declines and resigns to single motherhood. Joe and Viki remarry in September, and months later Cathy gives birth to her and Joe's daughter, Megan Craig Riley, December 2, 1974. Joe is told that baby Megan is born with a congenital heart defect that ensures she would never live to adulthood; fearing she would not take the news well, Joe keeps Megan's condition from Cathy. While caring for stepdaughter Megan, Viki is involved in a car accident while rushing an ailing Megan to the hospital during a storm in October 1975. The accident leaves Viki in a coma and assures baby Megan's death. Believing Viki intentionally caused the accident, Cathy swears vengeance on the newspaper heiress. Emotionally reeling and plotting, Cathy marries Viki's newly arrived brother and maternal cousin, Tony Lord, in 1976; unknown to Cathy, Tony was truly in love with sweetheart Pat Ashley. Adding to Cathy's emotional strife was the fact that Viki became pregnant herself, and gives birth to baby boy Kevin Lord Riley that year, but the child does not inherit the heart condition that plagued Megan. Cathy's mental state wavers at this point, and she becomes obsessed with having a baby with Tony. Cathy miscarries her second child and proceeds to fall into psychosis. She then kidnaps baby Kevin and disappears for several months. When she is finally located in 1977, Cathy is found in catatonia but without baby Kevin. Many more months go by before Cathy recovered sufficiently to tell Joe, Viki, and Tony the location of the baby. After completely recovering from her breakdown, Cathy grants Tony a divorce and leaves Llanview.
Reception
The role of Cathy was created by series creator Agnes Nixon as one of the first feminists on American soap operas. Amy Levitt's portrayals of an increasingly drug-addled Cathy earned national coverage by media outlets who praised the show for its realistic showcase of addiction and drug rehabilitation. The last actress to play Cathy, Jennifer Harmon, earned a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1978, the first nomination in the category for the show.
