| Revision as of 16:13, 30 December 2005 editRenamed user hwe836jk7f (talk | contribs)294 editsm moved J.R. Chandler to Adam Chandler Jr← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 18:18, 23 November 2024 edit undoErnsanchez00 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users93,647 edits Changed the category to "Fictional businesspeople in soap operas".Tag: 2017 wikitext editor | ||
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| {{Infobox soap character | |||
| '''Adam Chandler Jr.''' is a character on the soap opera ]. He is currently played by actor ]. The character is well known by the nickname J.R. | |||
| | series = All My Children | |||
| ] | |||
| | portrayer = {{unbulleted list|Charlotte and Margaret Baughman (1989–1992)|Kevin Alexander (1992–1996)|] (1998–2001)|] (2001–2002)|Andrew Ridings (2002–2003)|] (2003–2011)|] (2013)}} | |||
| == Origin == | |||
| | image1 = Jacob Young as JR.png | |||
| | caption1 = Jacob Young as JR Chandler | |||
| | image2 = JRChandler.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = Ryan Bittle as JR Chandler | |||
| | image3 = | |||
| | caption3 = Jesse McCartney as JR Chandler | |||
| | name = JR Chandler | |||
| | creator = ] | |||
| | introducer = {{unbulleted list|] (1989)|] (1998)|] (2013)}} | |||
| | classification = ] | |||
| | crossover = '']'' | |||
| | first = July 3, 1989 | |||
| | last = September 2, 2013 | |||
| | years = {{flatlist| | |||
| *1989–1996 | |||
| *1998–2011 | |||
| *2013}} | |||
| | occupation = {{unbulleted list|50% Shareholder of Chandler Enterprises|CEO of Chandler Enterprises|Executive of Chandler Enterprises}} | |||
| | family = ]<br />] | |||
| | parents = {{ubl|]|]}} | |||
| | stepfather = ] | |||
| | halfbrothers = Miguel Reyes | |||
| | halfsisters = {{ubl|] (legal)|]|Anna Chandler|]|Kathy Martin}} | |||
| | spouse = {{ubl|] (2003, 2004–2005, 2006–2007)|] (2009–2010)}} | |||
| | children = ] | |||
| | grandparents = {{ubl|Seabone Hunkle|Bess Cooney}} | |||
| | uncles = {{ubl|]|Will Cortlandt|Del Henry (half)|] (great)}} | |||
| | aunts = {{ubl|Lottie Chandler|Lanie Cortlandt Rampal|] (half)}} | |||
| | cousins = {{ubl|Ross Chandler (also once removed)|] (adoptive)|] (once removed)|Andrew Cortlandt (once removed; adoptive)|Peter Cortlandt (once removed)|Caleb Cortlandt (once removed)}} | |||
| | nephews = Enzo Santos (half) | |||
| | nieces = ] (legal) | |||
| | relatives = {{ubl|Julie Rand Chandler (adoptive)|Bobby Warner (adoptive)|Mickey Warner|Asher Pike|Sam Grey (adoptive)}} | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Adam "JR" Chandler Jr.''' is a fictional character from the ] and ] daytime drama '']''. He was portrayed by ] from 2003 to 2011, prior to ] taking over the role in 2013. Bittle was cast as the new JR on ]'s continuation of ''All My Children''.<ref>{{cite web |date=February 25, 2013 |title=AMC Casts New JR And AJ! |url=http://abc.soapsindepth.com/2013/02/amc-casts-new-jr-and-aj.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301063705/http://abc.soapsindepth.com/2013/02/amc-casts-new-jr-and-aj.html |archive-date=2013-03-01 |access-date=February 25, 2013 |work=Soaps In Depth |publisher=Simms, Richard}}</ref> | |||
| ] hired ] to be Laura's nanny (]'s daughter), and Dixie stayed on as a servant after Laura was killed by a drunk driver. Adam wanted a son desperately, but Brooke was unable to give him one. So Adam, determined to produce his own blood heir, slept with Dixie in the Chandler boathouse and she became pregnant. Dixie gave birth to Junior in 1989 and Adam plotted to secretly adopt him so that Brooke would never know the child was his. However when Junior was born, Dixie refused to give him up and demanded that Adam make a choice between her and Brooke. Adam told Dixie she was his choice. Brooke overheard their conversation and was disgusted. She packed her bags and went to ], who helped her win half of Adam's fortune. Scrambling to secure his legacy, Adam promised to marry Dixie but then attempted to drive Dixie insane and get her to commit herself to Laurel Hill, a mental institution. If his plan was successful, Adam would have sole custody of Junior. However ] realized what Adam was up to and helped Dixie escape from the hospital. | |||
| ==Background== | |||
| == Troubled Childhood and Adolescent Years == | |||
| The character was introduced on July 3, 1989, as the son of ] and her estranged ex-husband, ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://soapcentral.com/amc/recaps/2006/060703.php#mon|title=AMC Daily Recaps: The Week of July 3, 2006|first=Michael|last=Pesiri|date=July 3, 2006|work=] |access-date=February 26, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/07/08/all-my-children-frankie-told-cliff-and/|title=All My Children: Frankie told Cliff and Angie that Bobby...|date=July 8, 1989|first=Nancy M.|last=Reichardt|work=]|publisher=]|access-date=March 5, 2013}}</ref> In March 2004, the character's birth year was revised to July 3, 1983. | |||
| He is a member of both the powerful and wealthy ] and ] families, being the son of Adam Chandler and great-nephew of ]. | |||
| The writers characterized JR as caring, but ruthless if betrayed, explaining the latter by way of his difficult upbringing.<ref name="totaltvonline.com">{{cite web | first=Carol|last=P.|title= The tortured soul anti-hero | publisher= Total TV Online.com | access-date=2007-05-23| url=http://totaltvonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=36 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929041114/http://totaltvonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=36 |archive-date = 2007-09-29}}</ref> The character's softer personality has been attributed to his mother, Dixie Cooney, as well as to his son, ], and true love ]<ref name=totaltvonline.com/> (who was killed off by the series in 2008). | |||
| Tad and Dixie got married in 1989 and because of the strained relationship between Adam and Dixie, J.R began to look at Tad as a father figure. Devastated in 1990 when Tad was presumed dead when a bomb exploded as he struggled with ] on a railroad bridge after saving Dixie's life, J.R would have to live with his mother through two failed marriages, one with scumbag ], and the other with ]. | |||
| Credited as significantly complex,<ref name="TV Guide">Jacob Young TV Guide Interview, '']'' (2005-03-22). Retrieved on 2007-12-18</ref> he has been cited as a television ],<ref name="totaltvonline.com" /> and "bad boy,"<ref name="TV Guide" /> and his struggles with family, romantic partners, and ] have been documented in literature.<ref name="Butler">{{cite book| author = Jeremy G. Butler | title = Television: critical methods and applications | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7rWFRLVyvY0C&q=jr+and+babe+all+my+children&pg=PA38| isbn = 978-0-8058-5415-2 |publisher=Psychology Press|year=2007|pages=511 pages |access-date=October 12, 2011}}</ref><ref name="McNeil">{{cite book| author = Alex McNeil | title = Total television: the comprehensive guide to programming from 1948 to the present |isbn= 978-0-14-024916-3|publisher=Penguin Books (Original from the University of Michigan)|orig-date=May 1996 |date=May 20, 2008 |version=Digitized |pages=1251 pages }}</ref><ref name="Waggett">{{cite book| author = Gerry Waggett | title =The One Life to Live 40th Anniversary Trivia Book: A Fun, Fact-Filled, Everything-You-Want-to-Know-Guide to Your Favorite Soap!| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FxIAmjBPZCQC&q=jr+and+babe+all+my+children&pg=PA36| isbn = 978-1-4013-2309-7|publisher=Hyperion|year=2008|pages=248 pages |access-date=October 12, 2011}}</ref> | |||
| In 1993, Tad returned to Pine Valley with Brooke's after suffering from amnesia. He eventually ended up staying with Brooke and having a son, ], but in 1995 Dixie and Tad married again. Unfortunately in 1996, J.R saw Tad kissing ] and told his mother. A heartbroken Dixie divorced Tad and moved to Pigeon Hollow with Junior. | |||
| ==Character creation== | |||
| Dixie eventually moved back to Pine Valley with J.R and decided to stay, only to later have him and his half-sister ] kidnapped by ]. The event brought all the Chandlers closer together, especially J.R and his sister. Adam's later near death experience brought father and son closer together. | |||
| ] portrayed a young JR from 1998 to 2001, when the character was ].]] | |||
| Actor ], who had been on '']'' (]) and '']'' (]) prior to joining '']'', debuted as JR on October 2, 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title=Five Things That Happened On October 2 In Soap History |url=https://www.soapoperadigest.com/photos/five-things-that-happened-on-october-2-in-soap-history4/ |website=] |date=2 October 2023 |access-date=8 October 2023}}</ref> Young stated that JR had good instincts, but that he "was young and kind of doe-eyed to the world" then. It was not until the actor stepped into the ''All My Children'' role of JR Chandler that his acting range became more focused. He started to use tools he learned in classes and felt that his acting became more refined because of it. With his portrayal of JR, he explained how this factored in: "They twisted JR in a completely different direction," he stated. "They started off with JR not respecting his father and having a lot of elements of his mother in him. He was much softer. Then they started toying with it and couldn't believe what was coming out of me. I'd always been the nice, honorable guy; I'd never been the character who was stirring the pot."<ref name="Lensch">{{cite magazine | first=Tonya |last=Lensch| title= Jacob Young - Young Gun | magazine=] |date=2005-04-19}}</ref> | |||
| JR's rich lifestyle was something that Young noted not being familiar with, stating that the JR persona did not come to him until he would put on the suit. "They put me in these nice designer suits, and I suddenly feel like a million bucks. Then I take that million-buck feeling and go a little sinister with it."<ref name="Lensch"/> | |||
| One aspect of JR's personality is "devious tones" sometimes present in his dialogue. "When the character is in a good mood and has the upper hand, he has all these one-liners," Young relayed. When working with former ''All My Children'' co-star ] (ex-]), Young would often shock Havins with the character's words. To make sure she was unaware of how he was going to deliver a crass line, he would keep it hidden .<ref name="Lensch"/> "You can break the wording down and make it a little more offensive," he cited. "And I try to nail that because that's what JR's supposed to do."<ref name="Lensch"/> | |||
| Dixie and Tad were married a third time in 1999, and Adam became jealous of Tad's influence over J.R. He tried to put J.R in a boarding school, but Tad and Dixie found out in time to stop it. after this incident, things were relatively calm for J.R for most of the next two years. He and some of his friends formed a band, DreamStreet, and won a competition at PV High. But by year's end, his situation began to deteriorate. Dixie's involvement with Dr. ] sent J.R over the edge. He began to hang around with some unsavory schoolmates and his behavior became more troubled. With each passing day, J.R fell deeper and deeper, even attempting to bribe a police officer. Things got really out of hand when high on Ecstasy, J.R crashed his father's car into a guardrail, nearly killing himself, his sister Hayley and her unborn baby. In court, J.R was sentenced to community service and counseling. | |||
| The writers were looking for an actor who could truly radiate the essence of ]'s son and felt that taking JR down the path of darkness would help with that. Young, the actor chosen as best suited for the part, detailed the transition: "They wanted it to be 'like father, like son,' so I watched ]'s (Adam) mannerisms and delivery. I tried to mold those into my own, enough to where I could be his son. They started writing my dialogue like his. He has some one-liners that are pretty funny. David is as big a goofball as I am onset. He's like, 'Here's my boy!' We have a great dynamic together."<ref name="Lensch"/> | |||
| Angry that Tad had brought ] back to town in an attempt to attack Dr. Hayward, J.R continued to act out. While walking through the park one night, he met ], who shared a joint with him and brought him back to her room at ]'s where they were caught in bed by Frankie's girlfriend, ]. Frankie was subsequently found murdered and J.R was subpoenaed as a prosecution witness. | |||
| Young's portrayal of JR propelled the character into one of the show's more popular and hated characters.{{blockquote|text=Have you have seen those piercing blue eyes? When they're not flashing with anger, a glimpse of the troubled young man who was deeply wounded by the presumed death of his mother shows through. Like Babe, we could easily fall into the trap of thinking that a little tender loving care from us would fix him right up.<ref name="SID">{{cite magazine | title=Men You Love to Hate | magazine=]|date=2006-10-24}}</ref>|author='']'' magazine on JR being a love-to-hate fixture}} | |||
| J.R tried desperately to right his life, but those around him didn't make it easy. Tad and Dixie and Adam and Liza all experienced repeated marital unhappiness and the teen struggled to deal with his family problems and the regular pressures of being his age. | |||
| ==Storylines== | |||
| J.R's world fell apart in spring 2002 when his mother left him with Tad to go stay in Switzerland, and died in a car crash with his unborn sister several months later. Pushing away from his stepfather, he moved in with his father but soon clashed with this stepmother Liza and came close to falling back into old habits. Cousin ] helped him get back on track and realize how much his mother wanted from him. | |||
| {{expand section|date=February 2017}} | |||
| ===1989–2011=== | |||
| == Brief Relationships == | |||
| JR is born in 1989 as the son of ] and ]. Throughout his life, he has been involved with ], ], Annie Lavery, and mainly linked to ] and ]. JR and Babe - who have been married three times to each other - produce a son, ], in 2004 and are involved in a three-way baby switch storyline. ]'s daughter ] is switched to Babe and JR, while their own child is given to ] (of ]). Kelly's recent pregnancy ends in stillbirth and given to Bianca. Eventually, the truth is revealed and Miranda goes back to Bianca, while AJ is returned to Babe/JR, and finally, Kelly Cramer deals with the death and the situation. In 2009, Babe dies from injuries of a tornado and JR later gets involved with Babe's twin sister and AJ's aunt ], who he later married. They divorce in 2010, and in 2011, Marissa starts dating Bianca. That same year, his mother is revealed to be alive, along with his uncle, ]. A devastated JR becomes drunk and arrives with a gun at Brooke and Adam's party, where a shot is heard. | |||
| ===2013=== | |||
| J.R became infatuated with, at the time, town pariah ] although she was 10+ years his senior, but soon the two grew apart. It would be a few years before the two pick up where they left off and have a brief fling. | |||
| It is revealed that JR has been in a coma for five years. On the night that changed Pine Valley five years ago (the ] series finale), the drunken JR was about to shoot someone, but David Hayward intervened; JR pulled the trigger and shot someone in the house, while David shot JR and put him in a coma. It is revealed on May 2, 2013, that JR shot and killed ], his ex-wife (David's daughter). | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| Soon after, J.R became infatuated with ], a beautiful girl his age who seemed to be as confused in life as he was. He quickly learned that her mother was dead and her father worked as a janitor at PV High School. Believing that he was in love, he began spending all his time with her, even missing an important interview with Harvard to go see a movie with her. Though Tad, who had grown closer to J.R again, approved of the relationship, Laurie's father and Adam were outraged. Unfortunately for them, everything they did to try to break JR and Laurie up only pushed them further into each other's arms. Young love hit a dead end when Adam offered a fully paid Harvard education to Laurie. J.R disgusted at his father's manipulations demanded Laurie turn the money down but Laurie, who had never dreamed of such a scholastic opportunity, refused. | |||
| * ] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| She and JR broke up and in the interim, Laurie kissed JR's brother Jamie. After a few weeks, JR realized his stupidity and reconciled with Laurie at the opening for FUSION cosmetics, but moments later ], Jamie's ex, told J.R about the kiss she had seen. A stunned and hurt J.R ran away telling no one of his whereabouts and it was after weeks of using private investigators that Adam discovered that JR was working on a cargo ship and had no plans of coming back. | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| {{All My Children}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Chandler, J R}} | |||
| == Marriages == | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| In 2003 J.R returned to Pine Valley happily married to a young woman he had met three weeks ago. That young woman, ] aka Babe had already made her mark on Pine Valley. The night before, a tipsy Babe took Jamie Martin's virginity. J.R later revealed that he'd met Babe one night in San Diego at the end of a fog covered dock. He believed that Babe was going to jump and take her life, but Babe said that as bad as things were she never would have taken her own life. ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| Adam tried to break up the newlyweds' marriage. he loathed Babe, who he felt was only after his son's money, but was unable to break apart the marriage. When Adam found out that Jamie had slept with Babe -- and Babe later found out that she was pregnant although she wasn't sure who the father was-- Adam tried to enlist Jamie into breaking up the marriage. That too failed. This was also around the time that Babe's other secret was beginning to come to light- that she was already married and had never gotten a divorce from her first husband ]. Meanwhile as J.R is trying to prove to Adam that he can handle any challenge that comes his way, Paul and Babe were scheming to throw suspicion off themselves. They rigged a paternity test to insure that it said JR was the father of Babe’s child with the help of Babe's mother ]. However, Tad learned about all of this, but Krystal told him to just let the lovebirds be happy. Tad lied to JR to protect him, compromising their already fragile relationship. | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| J.R and Babe eventually divorced, a situation that was forced by the "Baby Switch" | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| === Baby Switch === | |||
| As Babe's due date approached, she found herself trapped in the middle of nowhere with Bianca, who was also pregnant, following a storm. Babe called Paul and asked him to fly his medical helicopter to take her and Bianca to the hospital, but Paul refused and then later changed his mind. When he arrived at the little cabin, he helped Babe and Bianca deliver thier babies. He then administered an unknown medicine to Babe leaving her groggy. During this time, Paul staged a chopper crash. When Babe awakened, Paul told her that her baby had died during the crash. However, when help arrived and Babe's family threatened harm to Paul if anything had happened to her child, Paul changed his story and said that Bianca's baby had been thrown from the chopper. He then hid Babe's son in a nearby cabin and planned to give the baby boy to Kelly Buchanan, his sister, so that she could pass the baby off as her own. Bianca's daughter was then given to Babe, leaving Bianca and her family to believe that her child had been died. | |||
| J.R and Babe named their baby Elizabeth "Bess" Charlotte Chandler, but Babe later changed it to Elizabeth Miranda Chandler in memory of Bianca's baby. Bess seemed to bring JR and Babe closer and solidify their marriage. Bianca, still mourning when she kidnapped Bess from the hospital, thought she was taking Miranda home and was later told the truth by her sister Kendall and ] found Bianca. Babe forgave Bianca and JR claimed to,but he was more cautious than ever. He wasn't happy when Babe told him she wanted Bianca to be Bess's godmother and he even hired a nanny to watch Bianca when she visited Bess. JR became more devoted to his family than ever, until he found out another lie about Babe. | |||
| After following Krystal into the Chandler mansion's secret passageway, Liza found a marriage license that had been stashed behind one of the bricks. The marriage license was proof that Babe had been married to Paul Cramer when she married J.R. When Liza showed the paper to J.R, he immediately confronted Babe, who admitted that she married Paul after a one-night stand but it had been annulled after Bess was born. JR told Babe that he forgave her and even asked her to remarry him. Babe accepted and began planning the big wedding she always wanted. Meanwhile Babe was starting to get increased 'feelings' that she had had a boy and with the help of her mother she discovered that Bess was really Miranda, but Krystal helped convince her that the baby was better off with her and J.R and Babe left Bianca to grieve. | |||
| While Babe dreaming about dresses, J.R's forgiveness was nothing but an act. He immediately consulted with Adam and they began to plot their revenge on Babe for her constant lies. J.R sought the assistance of lawyer, ] to find out how he could take Bess away from Babe. Livia Frye informed him that he was helpless -- since Babe and J.R were not legally married, Paul was considered Bess's father. Livia drew some papers up and J.R had Babe sign them, telling her that the papers would make J.R Bess's father legally. J.R main plan now was to paint Babe as an unfit mother. | |||
| J.R drugged Babe in hopes she would sleep with Jamie again but something went wrong and Babe was hospitalized. This made J.R realize he may have gone too far but he would not give up on trying to protect his little girl. Unknown to him, Jamie suspected J.R of drugging Babe and told Babe who in turn told J.R. J.R needed to protect himself and told the drug dealer, ]s, to implicate Jamie as the culprit. Jamie was later convicted and sent to jail, where he ended up getting stabbed. | |||
| Babe decided to test J.R with the help of Bianca and staged an affair to have JR show his real colors, which he did. Babe, facing the truth that J.R was no longer in love with her, relinquished custody of Bess and left town with a newly releasd Jamie. Unknown to J.R, Babe had discovered that their son was truly alive and being raised by Paul's sister. She and Jamie devised a plan to kidnap the boy and go on the run with him. J.R celebrated his victory until he read a letter Babe had left behind. the letter detailed the truth about Bess, that she was actually the late Miranda Montgomery and their son had died in the helicopter crash. J.R told Bianca what the letter said and thinking it was one of J.R's lies she ignored him and J.R convinced himself that it was one of Babe's many lies to hurt him. When Babe learned that Bianca hadn't gotten Miranda back she contacted her and enlisted Bianca's help in luring J.R down to Florida with Bess. | |||
| Bianca and J.R went to a ] Foundation fundraiser in Florida, where JR spotted Babe. He followed her to a deserted warehouse, only to be locked inside and taunted by his brother Jamie with the news of his child's death and the fact that Babe was going to reveal the truth about Miranda to Bianca. J.R got angry and hit Jamie in the head with a pipe and was freed from the warehouse by Kendall. Their brotherhood was over. When JR returned to his hotel room, Bianca was waiting holding Miranda after finally being told the truth and seeing Babe's son, who Babe was calling James. JR and Bianca got into an argument on the terrace because J.R refused to believe that Bess was Miranda, when Bianca lost her balance and fell to the grown below. Bianca fell into a coma and JR's secret was safe for one more day. | |||
| J.R returned to Pine Valley with "Bess" completely convinced that he would get to keep her but unknown to him, Adam had given Erica Kane permission to run a DNA test on the baby. Feeling the walls starting to close in on him, J.R decided that it was time to leave town, but was intercepted at the last moment by Erica, Adam, Tad, and Co. with the truth. In his getaway vehicle he pronounced the death of his son, mother, and his father... Tad. Handing Bess over, J.R fell into a deep depresson and spent all his time in the nursery mourning the loss of his two children. Finally after a couple of weeks, J.R. emerged with an idea in his head, and by simply tricking Bianca into telling him the truth J.R. found out that his son was alive and that the people he thought cared about him wanted him to believe he was dead. ] | |||
| J.R sent his private investigators out to find Babe and Jamie, who were being helped by Liza. Getting a major lead JR flew down to New Orleans right before Babe and Jamie's trip to Venezuela and confronted them. The police arrived and forced Babe to hand over the child, a baby boy, to J.R. In J.R's arms was the newest heir to the Chandler fortune, Adam III. | |||
| J.R eventaully won sole custody for Adam III even against dozens of people saying that he would be an unfit father. | |||
| ==Family, Marriages, Romantic Entanglements & Children== | |||
| ===Family=== | |||
| *] (father) & ] (mother; deceased) | |||
| *] (stepmother) | |||
| *] (stepsister) | |||
| *] (half-sister; via adoption) | |||
| *] (half-sister; Adam's with Arlene) | |||
| *Anna Chandler (half-sister; deceased; Adam's with Gloria) | |||
| *] (half-sister; Adam's with Liza) | |||
| *Bess Martin (half-sister; deceased) | |||
| *] (half-sister; deceased) | |||
| *Seabone Hunkle (grandfather) | |||
| *Bess Cooney (grandmother; deceased) | |||
| *] (uncle) | |||
| *Charlotte Chandler (aunt; deceased) | |||
| *] (uncle; deceased) | |||
| *] (aunt) | |||
| *] (half-uncle) | |||
| *] (half-aunt) | |||
| *] (cousin; via adoption) | |||
| *] (cousin) | |||
| *Lorenzo Santos (nephew) | |||
| ===Marriages=== | |||
| '''Marital status:''' Single | |||
| *] (2003; invalid) | |||
| *] (June 2004-February 2005; divorced) | |||
| ===Children=== | |||
| *Adam Chandler III (son; with Babe) | |||
| ===Significant Relationships=== | |||
| *] (flirtation) | |||
| *] (dated) | |||
| *] (kissed) | |||
| *] (brief fling) | |||
| *] (one-night stand) | |||
| == Portrayed By == | |||
| Portrayed by: | |||
| *] (May 1989-July 1992) | |||
| *] (August 1992-June 1996) | |||
| *] (July 1998-August 2001) | |||
| *] (November 2001-Spetember 2002) | |||
| *] (October 2002-February 2003) | |||
| *] (October 2003-present) | |||
| ] | |||
Latest revision as of 18:18, 23 November 2024
Soap opera character| JR Chandler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| All My Children character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Jacob Young as JR Chandler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by |
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| Duration |
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| First appearance | July 3, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | September 2, 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Final, regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Margaret DePriest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by |
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| Crossover appearances | One Life to Live | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Ryan Bittle as JR Chandler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Adam "JR" Chandler Jr. is a fictional character from the ABC and The Online Network daytime drama All My Children. He was portrayed by Jacob Young from 2003 to 2011, prior to Ryan Bittle taking over the role in 2013. Bittle was cast as the new JR on Prospect Park's continuation of All My Children.
Background
The character was introduced on July 3, 1989, as the son of Dixie Cooney and her estranged ex-husband, Adam Chandler. In March 2004, the character's birth year was revised to July 3, 1983. He is a member of both the powerful and wealthy Chandler and Cooney families, being the son of Adam Chandler and great-nephew of Palmer Cortlandt.
The writers characterized JR as caring, but ruthless if betrayed, explaining the latter by way of his difficult upbringing. The character's softer personality has been attributed to his mother, Dixie Cooney, as well as to his son, AJ, and true love Babe Carey (who was killed off by the series in 2008).
Credited as significantly complex, he has been cited as a television anti-hero, and "bad boy," and his struggles with family, romantic partners, and alcohol addiction have been documented in literature.
Character creation
Actor Jacob Young, who had been on The Bold and the Beautiful (Rick Forrester) and General Hospital (Lucky Spencer) prior to joining All My Children, debuted as JR on October 2, 2003. Young stated that JR had good instincts, but that he "was young and kind of doe-eyed to the world" then. It was not until the actor stepped into the All My Children role of JR Chandler that his acting range became more focused. He started to use tools he learned in classes and felt that his acting became more refined because of it. With his portrayal of JR, he explained how this factored in: "They twisted JR in a completely different direction," he stated. "They started off with JR not respecting his father and having a lot of elements of his mother in him. He was much softer. Then they started toying with it and couldn't believe what was coming out of me. I'd always been the nice, honorable guy; I'd never been the character who was stirring the pot."
JR's rich lifestyle was something that Young noted not being familiar with, stating that the JR persona did not come to him until he would put on the suit. "They put me in these nice designer suits, and I suddenly feel like a million bucks. Then I take that million-buck feeling and go a little sinister with it."
One aspect of JR's personality is "devious tones" sometimes present in his dialogue. "When the character is in a good mood and has the upper hand, he has all these one-liners," Young relayed. When working with former All My Children co-star Alexa Havins (ex-Babe Carey), Young would often shock Havins with the character's words. To make sure she was unaware of how he was going to deliver a crass line, he would keep it hidden . "You can break the wording down and make it a little more offensive," he cited. "And I try to nail that because that's what JR's supposed to do."
The writers were looking for an actor who could truly radiate the essence of Adam Chandler's son and felt that taking JR down the path of darkness would help with that. Young, the actor chosen as best suited for the part, detailed the transition: "They wanted it to be 'like father, like son,' so I watched David Canary's (Adam) mannerisms and delivery. I tried to mold those into my own, enough to where I could be his son. They started writing my dialogue like his. He has some one-liners that are pretty funny. David is as big a goofball as I am onset. He's like, 'Here's my boy!' We have a great dynamic together."
Young's portrayal of JR propelled the character into one of the show's more popular and hated characters.
Have you have seen those piercing blue eyes? When they're not flashing with anger, a glimpse of the troubled young man who was deeply wounded by the presumed death of his mother shows through. Like Babe, we could easily fall into the trap of thinking that a little tender loving care from us would fix him right up.
— Soaps In Depth magazine on JR being a love-to-hate fixture
Storylines
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1989–2011
JR is born in 1989 as the son of Adam Chandler and Dixie Cooney. Throughout his life, he has been involved with Amanda Dillon, Kendall Hart, Annie Lavery, and mainly linked to Babe Carey and Marissa Tasker. JR and Babe - who have been married three times to each other - produce a son, AJ Chandler, in 2004 and are involved in a three-way baby switch storyline. Bianca Montgomery's daughter Miranda Montgomery is switched to Babe and JR, while their own child is given to Kelly Cramer (of One Life to Live). Kelly's recent pregnancy ends in stillbirth and given to Bianca. Eventually, the truth is revealed and Miranda goes back to Bianca, while AJ is returned to Babe/JR, and finally, Kelly Cramer deals with the death and the situation. In 2009, Babe dies from injuries of a tornado and JR later gets involved with Babe's twin sister and AJ's aunt Marissa Tasker, who he later married. They divorce in 2010, and in 2011, Marissa starts dating Bianca. That same year, his mother is revealed to be alive, along with his uncle, Stuart Chandler. A devastated JR becomes drunk and arrives with a gun at Brooke and Adam's party, where a shot is heard.
2013
It is revealed that JR has been in a coma for five years. On the night that changed Pine Valley five years ago (the ABC series finale), the drunken JR was about to shoot someone, but David Hayward intervened; JR pulled the trigger and shot someone in the house, while David shot JR and put him in a coma. It is revealed on May 2, 2013, that JR shot and killed Marissa Tasker, his ex-wife (David's daughter).
See also
References
- "AMC Casts New JR And AJ!". Soaps In Depth. Simms, Richard. February 25, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-03-01. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
- Pesiri, Michael (July 3, 2006). "AMC Daily Recaps: The Week of July 3, 2006". Soapcentral. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
- Reichardt, Nancy M. (July 8, 1989). "All My Children: Frankie told Cliff and Angie that Bobby..." Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
- ^ P., Carol. "The tortured soul anti-hero". Total TV Online.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
- ^ Jacob Young TV Guide Interview, TV Guide (2005-03-22). Retrieved on 2007-12-18
- Jeremy G. Butler (2007). Television: critical methods and applications. Psychology Press. pp. 511 pages. ISBN 978-0-8058-5415-2. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
- Alex McNeil (May 20, 2008) . Total television: the comprehensive guide to programming from 1948 to the present. Digitized. Penguin Books (Original from the University of Michigan). pp. 1251 pages. ISBN 978-0-14-024916-3.
- Gerry Waggett (2008). The One Life to Live 40th Anniversary Trivia Book: A Fun, Fact-Filled, Everything-You-Want-to-Know-Guide to Your Favorite Soap!. Hyperion. pp. 248 pages. ISBN 978-1-4013-2309-7. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
- "Five Things That Happened On October 2 In Soap History". Soap Opera Digest. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ Lensch, Tonya (2005-04-19). "Jacob Young - Young Gun". Soap Opera Weekly.
- "Men You Love to Hate". Soaps In Depth. 2006-10-24.