Lindsay Rappaport is a fictional character from the American daytime drama One Life to Live. The role was originated and portrayed by Catherine Hickland, who debuted May 14, 1998, and played her continually through October 2008. Hickland briefly reprised the role in July 2009. Hickland returned to the role of Lindsay from January 4 through 6, 2012, for the show's ABC Daytime finale.
Character background
Lindsay Rappaport is the perennial. Lindsay is born Lindsay Farrell off-screen to a stern and disapproving father, Dennis Farrell, who doted on her younger sister Melanie while shunning Lindsay. Even after Lindsay falls in love and marries hotshot lawyer Sam Rappaport and raises his two children, Lindsay is disappointed and angered when Sam's falls out of love with her and in love with Nora Hanen. A series of desperate affairs followed for Lindsay, including one with brother-in-law Colin MacIver, and the loveless marriage of Sam and Lindsay finally ended as their two children reached adulthood.
Storyline
1998–2009
Lindsay arrives in fictional Llanview following ex-husband Sam, immediately sparking a rivalry with Nora Hanen. She soon befriends and marries Clint Buchanan, but the marriage falls apart. Obsessed with the woman she blamed for ending her marriage, Lindsay engages in a vendetta against Nora, aiming to break up her then-marriage to Bo Buchanan ; this begins a feud which would last a decade. A business partnership, meanwhile, blossoms with Dorian Lord, and Lindsay's forges a friendship with R. J. Gannon. Sam and Lindsay's children, responsible Will and rebellious Jennifer, appear in 1998 and 2001, respectively. Will is Lindsay's dotting son, but Jen is rebellious; Jen ends up turning to prospective stepmother Nora as a maternal figure for advice on life and relationships, to the displeasure of her real mother. Lindsay's relationship with R. J. eventually blossoms into a romance, and she helps him gain his custody of his granddaughter Jamie from her father Antonio Vegaafter the death of R. J.'s daughter and Jamie's mother, Keri Reynolds. Lindsay becomes attached to Jamie, but her relationship with R. J. ended in early 2007. Single again, Lindsay rededicates herself to a motherly relationship with Jen's best friend, Marcie Walsh McBain, her new husband Michael McBain, their adopted son "Tommy". At the same time, she busies herself with numerous children's charities, advocacy groups for single mothers, and showcases the work of artist Cristian Vega work in her art gallery. In August 2007, Lindsay is shocked to discover that she had won Llanview's famed "Woman of the Year" award for her good works. Ironically, it was at the first such awards ceremony honoring Nora years prior that Lindsay had purposefully revealed Sam and Nora's one night stand. After Nora presents the award, an emotional Lindsay tells the audience she can not accept the award, after which John McBain arrests her for the murder of Dr. Spencer Truman. During Lindsay's arraignment for the murder, she gives an emotional account of the circumstances and events that led her to kill Spencer. Lindsay then collapses into catatonia. The judge orders that she be remanded to St. Anne's psychiatric hospital for evaluation. Lindsay awakens from catatonia thanks to a hard slap from Dorian and makes progress in her recovery. After learning of visits from several friends, such as Bo and R. J., Nora arranges to have criminal proceedings reconvened, convinced that Lindsay feigned mental illness. On January 3, 2008, Lindsay is deemed "fit to stand trial" but also "determined to have been insane" at the time of the murder. With both Bo and R. J. offering to be her legal guardian, Lindsay is returned to St. Anne's sanitarium. A judge eventually remands Lindsay into Bo's guardianship. After the release, Lindsay confides in R. J. that she had indeed faked a breakdown to avoid prosecution for Spencer's murder. R. J. writes Lindsay a letter thanking her for confiding in him. The letter gets mixed up with Nora's court filings, though, and the July 7, 2008, episode, Nora forces Lindsay to reveal her secret. Lindsay's attorney attempts to get her murder charges dropped on double jeopardy but fails, and she pleads guilty. She then asks former son-in-law Rex Balsom to care for Bo in her absence. After some soul-searching, Bo visits Lindsay in jail on August 27, 2008. Bo visits Lindsay again in Statesville on the episodes aired July 30 and 31, 2009. Hickland appears again as Lindsay in Rex Balsom's vision on October 1, 2009.
2012
During the Statesville Prison break of 2012, Lindsay breaks into Bo's apartment to warn him about the plan of Troy McIver to kidnap Nora. Remembering the last time Nora was kidnapped by McIver, Lindsay tells Bo that Nora is held up in the Buchanan lodge. Bo and Lindsay thwart McIver's plans, but not before Bo is shot. Nora thanks Lindsay for saving their lives and agrees to a truce on their past misgivings. Bo and Nora promise Lindsay to do everything they can to get her paroled. Bo tells Lindsay to take Troy's car down the mountain and send up police officers and an ambulance. As Lindsay leaves, she has a smirk on her face and the audience is left wondering where Lindsay went. Cat Hickland stated she purposefully played that up moment ambiguously to leave story options open for the Prospect Park continuation of OLTL. In continuity on General Hospital, Todd Manning mentions that all of the Statesville escapees had been rounded up.
