Vanessa Dale
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Vanessa Dale Raven Sterling was the main character in the now-defunct American Soap Opera Love of Life. She was originally played by Peggy McCay; then by actress Bonnie Bartlett and Audrey Peters played Vanessa to the show's end.
The Good Sister
Vanessa, or better known as "Van", was the oldest of the two daughters born to Will and Sarah Dale in the fictional community of Barrowsville, New York. She was considered to be the good sister, whereas her sister, Meg Dale was the bad sister, always thinking of herself. After her father died, Vanessa made frequent trips back to her hometown from New York City to keep her widowed mother updated on what her sister was up to.
Van was always looking out for others, and her friendliness and compassion was well-known to everyone she met. She was an art school graduate and worked at an advertising agency, all the while keeping an eye on her selfish sister, and giving her nephew, Ben "Beanie" Harper the love his mother denied him.
She was also known for making friends out of enemies. A woman named Tammy Forrest hated her for replacing her on a show she once hosted, but grew to like her, because Van helped her kick her drinking habit that got her fired in the first place.
Unlike her sister, she took her relationships seriously and with utmost care. She met her first husband, former FBI agent turned attorney Paul Raven, after he helped her sister get acquitted on a murder charge. It came out that he had been married before, although he hadn't told Vanessa. His first wife was crazy, and his daughter, Carol, was a deaf-mute after witnessing a horrible crime.
When his first wife, Judith, was found dead in the charred remains of Sarah's house, it was thought that Vanessa had killed her, but it came out in court that his own brother, who despised Judith becuase she ruined his reputation in their hometown of Marlton, had killed her. Carol, who had been planned on being adopted by Paul and Van, had returned to her original hometown with his loving and supportive mother, Althea. (Althea was played by actress Joanna Roos, who would later on play the role of Van's mother, Sarah.)
Paul and Vanessa then married and were happy. When his sister in-law, Meg, needed help getting her fortune back from her scheming husband, Jack Andrews, he went, with the best intentions in mind, and flew down to Mexico. En route, the plane crashed and Paul was presumed dead. Now, Van had to help support her now widowed and poorer sister and nephew, which she did with strength.
Meg then left with her son for parts unknown, after an attempt to foist a paternity suit on someone and failed, and a lawyer named Tom Craythorne, the intended victim of Meg's failed paternity suit, had taken a liking to Meg's kinder sister. He introduced her to a friend of his, Bruce Sterling, a teacher at a boy's school called Winfield Academy in the fictional Upstate community of Rosehill, New York. Van moved from New York City to Rosehill to be with Bruce.
Bruce was a widower with two children of his own, Alan and Barbara. Alan got to like Vanessa, as she was the mother figure he needed, as did his maternal grandfather, Henry Carlson; but Alan's sister and his grandmother, Vivian Carlson, didn't like her at all. Vivian had spoiled both Alan and Barbara, (her daughter, Gaye, was Bruce's first wife) and thought it awful that Bruce should remarry after her death. As it were, Vivian, who was quite snobby, had erected a shrine to Gaye.
However, Vivian eventually found out that her "sainted" daughter was nothing of the kind. She had had an illicit affair with the headmaster of the school that Bruce taught at; and it was proven that he was the father of Alan. Van had found out and was considerate in keeping the information secret, but the headmaster wasn't that nice. He took on Bruce and blabbed it that he was the father of Alan. Henry and Vivian found out all about it. They were both hurt, but Vivian was so shocked, that she fell apart emotionally. Van stayed with her, assuring her that things would be fine. Vivian was forever grateful for her support, despite all that she had done to her; and the two women became friends.
Vanessa was also known for being a woman of such character and calibre that a dying woman would ask her to marry her husband after she was gone. A woman named Maggie Porter had asked Vanessa that very thing. She was dying of cancer, and knew of Van's problems with Bruce, but she knew of her chracter, and attempted to match her husband Link with her. She and Bruce had split up and she was staying with her stepson, Alan, in his apartment.
The Sterlings had split up quite a number of times, due to infidelities, mainly on Bruce's part, but always ended back up together. They were truly soul mates. Even the sudden reappearance of her first husband, Paul Raven, (going by a new name "Matt Corby" and new face) couldn't really sunder them. However, while under his new identity, he killed his then-wife, Evelyn Corby, and went to prison for it; during a prison riot, he did die, this time for real. Paul and Evelyn's daughter, Stacey Corby, stayed with Van and Bruce.
When her mother, Sarah, (who had left Barrowsville, many years previous) was in the hospital because of a brain abcess and almost near death herself, (she had lost her second husband, Alex Caldwell, Rosehill's pharmacist) she asked for her other daughter, Meg, who had been absent for almost seventeen years. Vanessa and Bruce investigated and found that she had been married since Van had last seen her. She was married to someone named Edouard Aleata, and then Van wrote her a letter asking her to come back to Rosehill to see her mother. The letter, meant for Meg, was intercepted by Van's niece, Caroline Aleata, who was like her half-brother, Ben, in that she had been denied love by her mother. Vanessa welcomed Cal with open arms.
Not long after Cal moved to Rosehill, Meg did come back, and sadly, she was the same as before, amoral and always lusting after attractive shady men, much like the old days. Again, she and Van were battling over morals.
Van and Bruce remained together, despite everything, and no matter what, they're inseparable. It is presumed to say that Vanessa and Bruce still remained together and to this day, still living in Rosehill.
Trivia
Bonnie Bartlett played Vanessa through her wedding day to Bruce Sterling. When she marched down the aisle, she was played by actress Audrey Peters. Since she was so new to the show and didn't know all the characters names that she would be interacting with, she called everyone, "dear", at the reception.
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