For related performers, see List of One Life to Live characters

Though the American soap opera One Life to Live has focused predominantly on the families of Victoria Lord, Asa Buchanan and Dorian Cramer, many other families have played a prominent role at one time or another in the show's long history. Template:Spoiler

In 1968, Llanview Hospital's Chief of Staff, Dr. Jim Craig, fell in love with his pretty young patient, actress Carla Benari. A widower, Dr. Craig soon asked her to marry him; Carla accepted, knowing that she didn't love him as much as he did her.

Carla soon became attracted Dr. Price Trainor, an idealistic black intern. Price felt guilty and ashamed to have fallen in love with a white woman. But when Carla accidentally ran into Sadie Gray, the mother she had run away from as a teenager, it became clear that Carla was, in fact, Clara Gray: a light-skinned black woman trying to make it as an actress by passing herself off as white woman. Sadie forced her daughter to deal with the fact that she was engaged to a white doctor whom she was too guilty to love, while falling for a black doctor. Carla ended her engagement to Jim; an angry Price rejected Carla when he learned of her true heritage, and though they later reconciled, the relationship ultimately ended and Price left town in 1970.

Dr. Jim Craig fell in love with and married Anna Wolek. They married, and Anna soon clashed with Jim's rebellious teen daughter, Cathy. Cathy soon started abusing drugs, eventually persuading Jim to take her to Odyssey House in New York City for treatment.

The Gordon family consisted of Roger Gordon, Victoria Lord's childhood sweetheart, and his two daughters, Megan and Sarah.

Max Holden came to Llanview in 1987 to seek a loan from family friend Maria Roberts, who agreed to give him the money he needed on the condition that Max lure Tina Lord away from her son, Cord. Max soon fell for Tina, but she could never get Cord out of her system; Max finally broke things off for good when, during their wedding ceremony, Tina accidentally said Cord's name. He would eventually rekindle his romance with former flame Gabrielle Medina, with whom he conceived a son, Al Holden. Max later lured Blair Cramer away from her husband of convenience, Asa Buchanan, but Max found true love in 1991 with Luna Moody, with whom he would have twin children, son Frankie and daughter Leslie. Sadly, Luna was killed in 1995.

Max's brother Steve Holden came to town in 1988 and soon became involved with (and married) Gabrielle. She still carried a torch for Max, however, and the relationship soon fell apart. Later that year at the double wedding of Cord and Tina and Asa and Renee Divine, Steve noticed that the wedding cake had been wired to explode (by Tina's crazy enemy, Ursula Blackwell). Steve threw himself in front to the bomb to protect his wife Brenda and was killed instantly as it exploded. Brenda later discovered she was pregnant with Steve's child.

Max's half-sister Andy Harrison came to town in 1989 with news of their mother Patricia's death; Max and Andy's volatile relationship eventually cooled before she left town in 1991. She would return in 1994 and become involved with fellow police officer Antonio Vega before leaving again in 1997.

Gabrielle Medina and her sinister father Dante came onto the canvas in 1987 when Gabrielle's former flame Max Holden reappeared in Argentina with his new girlfriend, Tina Lord. Dante was killed, and Gabrielle's sister Debra and scheming mother Julia followed her to Llanview in 1989. Debra became involved for a time with Cord Roberts before leaving town in 1990; Julia eventually left in 1992.

Gabrielle had a son, Al, with Max, and was initially duped by Tina into letting Tina pass the child off as her own. Gabrielle thought Tina would be raising the child with Max; Tina actually pretended the child was hers with Cord, hoping to reconcile with him. The truth eventually came out.

Gabrielle went to jail in 1991, but returned to Llanview dramatically in 2001 as the wife of Asa Buchanan. She was tragically murdered in 2004 after suffering through the death of her son Al and finally finding happiness in a relationship with Bo Buchanan.

In 1984, Harry O'Neill and his daughters Didi, Connie and Joy were a hard-working family who worked at the Lord-Manning plant, which Clint and Viki Buchanan were considering closing for financial reasons.

Nora Buchanan's former flame Sam Rappaport came to town in 1998. That year, Nora's husband Bo Buchanan was devastated when his son Drew, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty. Nora hoped to conceive a child to give Bo a reason to live; out of desperation she turned to Sam. The pregnancy pulled Bo back onto his feet, but he and Nora later divorced when it was revealed that Nora's son Matthew had been fathered by Sam.

Sam's ex-wife Lindsay Rappaport followed him to Llanview in 1998, immediately sparking a rivalry with Nora (with whom Sam had cheated on Lindsay in the past). Much to everyone's surprise, she married Clint Buchanan suddenly in 1999; the marriage fell apart quickly as Clint tired of Lindsay's manipulative ways. Lindsay's business partnership with Dorian Lord blossomed into friendship, and Lindsay's friendship with Nora's former brother-in-law (and sometimes criminal) R.J. Gannon got her in (and out of) her share of trouble.

Sam and Lindsay's son Will Rappaport arrived in 1998 and befriended Jessica Buchanan, who later became pregnant with his child while involved with Cristian Vega. When Dorian Lord accidentally ran down Jessica with her car, Jessica survived but lost her unborn child (later named Megan).

Sam and Lindsay's rebellious daughter Jennifer Rappaport appeared in 2001, becoming involved with Al Holden, being engaged to Cristian Vega and marrying Rex Balsom and Joey Buchanan. She had a tempestuous relationship with her mother Lindsay, but became close to her father's girlfriend Nora (and Nora's son with Sam, Matthew).

Will left town in 2001, but would return briefly in 2003 and 2005 for two family tragedies. Sam died in 2003, and it was revealed that Matthew was, in fact, Bo Buchanan's son. Jennifer had somewhat settled down and started dating Riley Colson in 2005, but was murdered by Riley's father (and Nora's husband) Daniel Colson in his effort to cover up a murder he had committed (and his homosexuality).

In 1968, reporter Joe Riley clashed with icy heiress Viki Lord, who had little interest in romance and focused her time and energy on her work at The Banner. They soon started falling in love, but publisher Victor Lord disapproved of his daughter becoming involved with the working-class Riley and did all he could to keep them apart. Torn between pleasing her father and following her heart, Viki began getting headaches — and mysterious, threatening notes telling her to end her relationship with Joe.

Secretly plagued by multiple personality disorder, Viki (as alter ego Niki Smith) became involved with Joe's best friend, Vincent "Vinny" Wolek. In love with Niki, a heartbroken Vinny learned the truth and told Viki about her other personality. Viki sought medical treatment and, as her mental illness seemed under control, she went ahead with her plans to marry Joe. But during the wedding in June 1969, Niki reemerged and fled the ceremony with an ecstatic Vinny. When he urged Niki to marry him, however, Niki's own panic resulted in Viki regaining control. She returned to Joe. During more intensive therapy, Viki remembered writing the notes (as Niki), and finally recalled the childhood memory that had apparently caused her personality to splinter. Now freed by the truth, Viki married Joe.

In 1970, Joe began investigating Llanview's increasing drug trade for The Banner. While making inquiries in California, Joe's car went over a cliff; his body was never found, but he was presumed dead. Viki was devastated. She signed papers declaring Joe dead in 1972, which shocked Vinny Wolek and Joe's sister Eileen, both of whom had refused to give up the hope that Joe was alive.

Joe Riley reappeared in time to watch Viki marry another man, Banner editor Steve Burke. As she and Steve returned from their honeymoon, she got the news that Joe was alive, and fainted. In love with (and married to) two different men, Viki eventually chose to remain loyal to Steve in 1973. Heartbroken and still in love with Viki, Joe took up with Cathy Craig.

Charles Sanders was the ambassador to the (fictional) European monarcy Mendorra. Charles' estranged wife was Judith Russell Sanders (brother to Jon Russell, a private investigator involved with Dorian). Judith, a free-spirited idealistic lawyer, never truly fit into Charles' conservative, aristocratic lifestyle. She locked horns frequently with Elizabeth Sanders, Charles' domineering, manipulative mother. When Judith first arrived in town, she was already seperated from Charles. He quickly came to town after her hoping to reconcile and save their marriage. They couldn't patch up their differences though, and divorced (much to Elizabeth's delight.) Judith had an affair with Herb Callison, while Charles romanced Dorian. Charles went after Dorian as part of a money-making scheme. When she realized he was using her, Dorian turned the tables on him by revealing he had an affair with a member of Mendorra's royal family. Charles was replaced as ambassador by Dorian herself. Later, Charles eloped with Lee Sanders during a night of drunken-ness in Las Vegas, and died of a heart attack on their wedding night. Judith was distrought by Charles' death and left town soon afterward. Lee however remained in town a while longer in order to torment Elizabeth.

Charles and Judith had two children together - noble, heroic Kate (played by a then-unknown Marcia Cross) and sleazy; spoiled Jamie. Kate was an anthropologist with a taste for adventure, and fell in love with Cord Roberts (who was married to the scheming Tina Lord at the time). When Tina was believed to be dead, Kate accepted Cord's proposal. But just as their wedding ceremony was coming to an end, Tina abruptly burst into the chapel - very much alive and carrying a baby she claimed to be Cord's son. While Cord sought a divorce from Tina, Kate became entangled with Patrick London, her ex-fiance who stooped to insane measures to break up Cord & Kate. He didn't need to bother though; as Kate came to realize Cord loved Tina, she broke up with him and left Llanview.

Jamie was Kate's polar opposite. Mean-spirited and rotten, he played on his mother Judith's sympathies to bail him out of one fix after another. Eventually though, his criminal ways (including running a crack factory, killing a fellow cocaine dealer, kidnapping Cassie Callison) caught up with him and he was sent to Statesville Prison for a life sentence. Even in jail, he was a menace: he threatened Tina Lord (when she was wrongly imprisoned for the murder of Maria Roberts), broke out and shot Clint Buchanan, and led a widescale prison riot.

Charles had one other son - Geoff McGrath - the illegitimate product of his affair with a Mendorran royalty. Geoff kept his true identity a secret for several months while he ran a legal service for low-income, working-class people. Geoff became close to Judith, but when she left town, he simply faded out of the storyline.

Elizabeth stuck around the longest. After Asa Buchanan led a successful hostile takeover of her Sanders Industries, she sought revenge. She masterminded a bizarre takeover scheme in which an imposter (actually Patrick London) masquerading as Bo Buchanan infiltrated the Buchanan family, drugged Asa, and stealthily sold off the Buchanan family assetts, until all that was left would be Sanders Industries. The plot was foiled however, and Elizabeth went to jail. She later appeared as part of an army of prisoners whom her grandson Jamie helped escape from jail. But that adventure was the last anyone heard of the Sanders family.

In 1972, lawyer and longtime Llanview resident Dave Siegel managed to get Steve Burke acquitted for the accidental death of his secretary. Unbeknownst to Dave, the crucial evidence came from a surprising source: Dave's presumed-dead brother-in-law, Joe Riley. Dave's wife (and Joe's sister) Eileen Riley Siegel had never given up hope that Joe was alive, and she was overjoyed when he finally appeared.

Dave suffered a massive heart attack and died in 1973; Eileen turned to painkillers to get through the ordeal. Eventually she sought treatment from Dr. Dorian Cramer.