She murdered her ex-lover, was raped by her future lover, then stowed away on an ocean liner. These are just some of the escapades of...

LAURA BALDWIN--ALL AMERICAN GIRL!
by Anne Marie McKenna

On the surface Laura Webber Baldwin Spencer appears to be your typical American teenager. She comes from a loving family. She was raised in a beautiful, suburban home. She was even a cheerleader in high school. But beneath her respectable exterior lurks a whole other life. Laura has had more than her fair share of skeletons buried in her closet.

At the tender age of 16, Laura began an affair with David Hamilton, her father's old college buddy. Soon after her 17th birthday, she married Scotty Baldwin, who was studying to be a lawyer. Since then, she's been raped, spent an entire summer on the run from a hit-man, and stowed away on a five-million dollar yacht. Now Laura finally has wed the man of her dreams--Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, a guy from the wrong side of the tracks.

Do viewers find Laura's life unbelievable? By glancing at General Hospital's weekly ratings, the answer is a resounding no! Over 12 million fans remain glued to their television sets daily. What is it that viewers find so fascinating?

Genie Francis, who plays Laura feels that the "young people went nutty because they weren't getting a 25-year-old faking a teenager, they were getting a real kid." How did Genie handle Laura's budding sexuality'? After all, Genie was only 14, herself. "I couldn't remember my lines because I was afraid of the sex," says Genie. "I hadn't gone through those things yet and all of a sudden, I had to find the woman inside of me and bring her out for the first time in front of America. It was very, very scary," she admits.

But, Genie's handled her role very well since she joined the show. Stacy Baldwin played Laura Vining as a little girl for more than a year. She lived with her mother Barbara Vining (Judy Lewis) until Lesley Webber discovered the daughter she believed died at birth was actually alive. Lesley's husband at the time, Cameron Faulkner, helped her win custody of Laura.

Soon after, Gloria Monty became producer of the ailing General Hospital. Genie Francis and Kin Shriner had aged the characters of Laura Webber and Scotty Baldwin. She hired Doug Marland as head writer, then searched the cast for a way to attract younger viewers. Enter Genie Francis. Within a few months, Laura appeared on the show more often. The ratings began a slow steady climb.

Laura began dating Scotty Baldwin. But happy romances don't last for long on soap operas. Enter Bobbi Spencer [sic]. She soon put a wrench in their happy love affair. What started out as a triangle turned into a bitter feud between Laura and Bobbi.

Enter David Hamilton. He was admitted to the hospital with a leg injury. An old college friend of Rick's, David convalesced at the Webber home. Once he set eyes on Lesley, Rick's wife, he knew he had to have her. David made a pass, but was rejected. His evil, distorted mind formed a plan. To get back at Lesley, he pretended to fall in love with Laura. At first Laura was unsure about getting involved with a man so much older than her, but soon she changed her mind. Maybe a more mature man wouldn't hurt her like Scotty did.

Laura fell hopelessly in love with David. She wrote him passionate letters and signed them "Love, L." One day, she found David laughing at her note. Laura couldn't accept what was happening. Again, another man was betraying her. David told her he'd never loved her--it was her mother he wanted. Laura went berserk. In her rage, she hit him over the head with a statue and killed him.

Lesley arrived at David's apartment. She saw the body, the letters and realized what Laura had done. She couldn't let her daughter be tried for murder. Lesley took the rap for Laura. But Laura didn't realize what was going on. She blocked the entire incident from her mind. Then, during Lesley's trial, her memory returned. "I've killed a man," she thought. At first Laura kept the truth to herself for fear of the consequences, but eventually she confessed and Lesley was acquitted. But the trauma was too much for hen Laura ran away to New York. A concerned Scotty followed her and persuaded Laura to return to Port Charles. They got back together, but a jealous Bobbi tried to ruin their happiness.

One night Bobbi went to Scotty's apartment and got him drunk. When Laura arrived unexpectedly, Bobbi pretended something had gone on. Laura, blinded by tears, drove off and got into a car crash. While Laura lay in the hospital, Scotty professed his love. Months later, Laura and Scotty announced their engagement. In the summer of 1979, they were wed. Their honeymoon in Hollywood was lavish and spectacular. Not long after, the wedded bliss began to fade. Like any couple, they began having money problems. Scotty was working his way through law school and funds were tight. Laura, wanting to be the dutiful wife, found a job at the Campus Disco, working for Luke Spencer, the manager.

Luke was soon hooked on his new employee, but he wouldn't intrude on her married life. He'd already helped by lending Laura the money to buy Scotty's law books. Then he learned his latest assignment from the "organization." Luke had to put the hit on Mitch Williams. That night, he sat in the disco thinking. In walked Laura. Luke looked longingly at her. "You can tell me what's wrong," she said. "I'm your friend." He replied, "Hold me, I'm a dead man." Then it happened. He took her in his arms. One thing led to another. Luke pushed her to the floor with the sound of disco music blaring in his ears. A few minutes later, the phone rang. Laura, her clothes torn, her face bruised and bloody, ran into the night.

Laura didn't tell anyone about the night. She continued working at the disco, and avoided Luke as much as possible. Yet Laura couldn't deny that certain feeling for Luke. Was it really love she felt for Luke after all this time?

On the night before Luke's wedding to Jennifer, Frank Smith's daughter, Laura poured out her feelings in a tear-stained letter. She forgave Luke for that night at the disco. Scotty accidentally found the note and rushed to the wedding yacht. In a fit of rage, he knocked Luke overboard. Laura came to Luke's rescue. The two ran off together to escape Frank Smith's henchmen, who had been summoned to murder them.

Luke and Laura finally revealed their feelings of love. And they've been together ever since.