Opal Sue Cortlandt
Actor History
Dorothy Lyman (1981 to 1984)
Jill Larson (contract: 1989 to 2 May 2006) (recurring: 14 June 2006 to present)
Other Names
Dropped her last name at one point, likening herself to Cher and Madonna.
Occupation
Owner of the new Glamorama.
Board member of Cortlandt Electronics (Enterprises)
Former Co-owner of the Chicken Shack
Former owner of the Glamorama
Resides At
Cortlandt Manor, 25 White Oaks Drive
Marital Status
Singled/Divorced (Palmer Cortlandt)
Past Marriages
Ray Gardner (deceased)
Ralph Purdy
Palmer Cortlandt
Relatives
None
Children
Tad Martin (son; with Ray)
Adrian Sword (son; with Frank)
Jenny Gardner (daughter; with Ray; deceased)
Peter Cortlandt (son; with Palmer)
Jamie Martin (grandson)
Kathy Gershon (granddaughter; given up for adoption)
Jenny Carey (granddaughter)
Flings & Affairs
Frank Dawson
Langley Wallingford
Sam Brady
Ryan Lavery (Kissed)
Hank Pelham (Dated)
Del Henry (Dated)
Crimes Committed
Blackmailed Langley Wallingford into an affair, and tried to get him to divorce his wife, Phoebe.
Obstruction of justice (Kept quiet about Erica's plan to confess to Frankie Stone's murder). [Jan 2002]
Arrested on a minor civil disobedience charge (done deliberately just to spend time with Erica in jail) [Nov 28th, 2002]
Attempted to buy drugs to frame Michael Cambias [Aug 28th, 2003]
Conspired with Ruth Martin to lock Diana Cole in a shed. [Jul 4th, 2005]
Brief Character History
Opal and her daughter, Jenny, first came to Pine Valley in 1981, and Opal was intent on getting her daughter into show business. Until Jenny got her big break, Opal made her work at the sleazy bar (Foxy's) as a cocktail waitress while she was in high school so she could support them both. Later, Opal opened a beauty shop, which she called the Glamorama. After Jenny died, she left town. Opal returned to Pine Valley in 1989 and joined forces with Palmer to break up Tad and Dixie's marriage. The two schemers soon fell in love and married in November 1990. On December 25th, 1992, the Cortlandt's welcomed their son Peter (Petey) into the world.
Opal and Palmer's marriage was always filled with minor tiffs (including an affair that Palmer had with Janet Green, who at the time he believed was Jane Cox). But in the summer of 1998 their marriage fell apart. Opal alerted the authorities when she learned that Palmer had stashed away a treasure trove of stolen Nazi artwork. While serving in the military, Palmer had stolen the paintings when his squadron defeated a Nazi platoon. Palmer refused to give back the paintings to their rightful owners. Palmer felt betrayed by Opal and became increasingly nasty to his wife. At about the same time, Opal learned that the son she'd been forced to abandon while she was still married to Ray Gardner, Adrian Sword, had arrived in Pine Valley. Opal had had an affair with Frank Dawson, a man who took her in when she was fleeing from the abusive Ray Gardner. Ray showed up at her hiding spot one day and forced Opal to leave with him. Opal was fearful that the child, an interracial baby, would be abused---or worse---if Ray got his hands on the infant. So she claimed that she was babysitting and walked out on the child. A twist of events took place and that child, Adrian Sword, was part of a government operation tracking Palmer and his stolen paintings. Palmer eventually turned over the paintings, but his marriage to Opal was hopelessly in shambles. Adrian bullied Palmer into signing a divorce agreement that gave Opal fifty-percent of everything he owned. The reasoning was that Palmer would never have gotten his money back if it were not for Opal's famous Purdified Chicken recipe that was served at the Chicken Shack. Palmer cleaned all of the valuable stuff out of Cortlandt Manor and moved into a suite at The Valley Inn.
After her ordeal with Palmer, Opal set out to start her life over. She renovated Cortlandt Manor and opened a salon, naming The Glamorama in honor of her former shop. She also dropped her last name, joining the ranks of Madonna and Cher as just "Opal."
