LYNDA HIRSCH ON SOAPS -- Q AND A by Lynda Hirsch on Creators.com

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LYNDA HIRSCH ON SOAPS -- Q AND A

Q: There has been lots of talk about the return of Anna and Robert on "General Hospital." Can you give me some background on the couple? — Arlene Henderson in Nevada.

A: Robert, an Australian, was involved in many adventures with his good friend Luke Spencer and his wife Holly Sutton. He has been an international spy for the WSB spy agency and was police commissioner of Port Charles from 1983 through 1985, then again from 1988 through 1992, when he supposedly perished in an explosion in South America.

When he resigned as police commissioner in 1985, he moved to Australia with his wife Holly to start anew, but returned to Port Charles when Anna and Robin needed his help (Holly was presumed dead soon afterward, so Robert ended up staying in Port Charles).

Robert had a bad relationship with his brother Mac Scorpio when he first came to town because he blamed Mac for the death of their parents. Eventually, the brothers patched up their relationship. Robert was presumed dead along with his wife, Anna Devane, in 1992. Their teenage daughter Robin Scorpio was left behind to be raised by Robert's brother.

Anna Devane reappeared in 2001, but she told her family that Robert was dead. Robert resurfaced in 2006, however, when Port Charles was stricken with a deadly strain of encephalitis. It came out that he was forced by the WSB to be incognito for 15 years as the only way to keep his families alive. He had no choice but to let them think he was dead.

Holly was pregnant with the presumed dead Luke Spencer's baby and was about to be deported, so Robert stepped in and married her.

After she miscarried, she and Robert fell in love.

Robert married Anna Devane when the two were on assignment for the WSB in Italy. The two were married in secret before either character showed up in Port Charles. After Holly "died," Anna and Robert remarried in 1991. When the evil Cesar Faison kidnapped Anna, Robert left Port Charles for South America to rescue her. Robert and Anna turned up alive in Port Charles, in 2006 much to the surprise of their daughter, Robin.

During his return in 2006, Robert told Robin that he was in the South Pacific trying to track a lethal dose of encephalitis germ. Anna and Robert were assigned to a mission in the Amazon.

The return of Anna and Robert centers on the death of their daughter, Robin. Kimberly McCullough, who has played Robin since the character and actress were pre-teens, decided to exit the show to concentrate on her directing career. Holly is also set to return in a story involving her son, Ethan, by Luke.

While Tristan Rogers, who plays Robert Scorpio, will only be around for a short time, Finola Hughes, who plays Anna, is expected to stick around. Her love interest, Dr. Noah Drake (Rick Springfield), father to Patrick, Robin's soon to be widower, and Matt will help his son deal with losing his wife. Noah also had to deal with the death of his wife at a young age.

Incidentally, Rogers was originally only to be on GH for a short time. The then producer Gloria Monty was impressed by the chemistry between Luke (Tony Geary) and Scorpio and decided to make him an integral part of the show.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.