The Lord family are fictional characters from the American soap opera One Life to Live. They were introduced in the show's July 15, 1968 debut episode on ABC, and featured for the entirety of its run until the series ended on August 19, 2013.
Created by Agnes Nixon, over 40 years of melodrama surrounding the lives and family of wealthy media mogul Victor Lord and his heiress daughter Victoria Lord establish the ensemble of characters as a central fixture throughout the serial.[1][2][3] The family primarily resides at Llanfair, a mansion in fictional Llanview, Pennsylvania. They own the communications business Lord Enterprises and its flagship publication, The Banner newspaper.[4][5][6][7]
Generations
Ancestors
Randolph Lord (Larry Pine) Lived in the late 1800s in the Old West as of 1988. Paternal grandfather of Victor Lord, Gwendolyn Lord, and Clayton-Powell Lord.
First generation
Victor Lord (Ernest Graves, Shepperd Strudwick, William Stone Mahoney) Original character. Born off-screen September 12, 1916, revised to June 18, 1926, dies onscreen June 16, 1976. Death revised onscreen to March 4, 2003.
Meredith Lord (Trish Van Devere, Lynn Benesch) Original character. Born off-screen December 1, 1950, to Victor Lord and Eugenia Randolph Lord as of 1968; dies onscreen August 8, 1973.
Richard Abbott (Luke Reilly, Keith Langsdale, Robert Gribbon, Jeffrey Byron) Born off-screen in the early 1950s to Gwendolyn Lord Abbott and Jonathan Abbott as of 1978.
Thomas Todd Manning (Roger Howarth, Trevor St. John) Born off-screen January 2, 1974, then revised to 1970 to Victor Lord and Irene Manning as of 1995; birthday changed to April 29, 1970, as of 2013. Identical twin of Victor Lord Jr.[8]
Clayton-Powell Lord II (mentioned character) Born off-screen to Clayton-Powell Lord Sr. and Margaret Lord as of 1993.
Victor Lord Jr. (Trevor St. John) Born off-screen January 2, 1974, then revised to 1970 to Victor Lord and Irene Manning as of 2011; birthday changed to April 29, 1970, as of 2013. Identical twin of Todd Manning.[8]
Third generation
Daniel Wolek (Timothy Waldrip, Steven Culp, Ted Demers, Joshua Cox, Michael Palance, and child actors) Born onscreen November 17, 1971, to Meredith Lord Wolek and Larry Wolek; birth year changed to 1966 as of 1983.
Brian Kendall (Stephen Austin) Born off-screen in 1967 Tony Lord and Pat Ashley, adopted by Paul Kendall as of 1975; dies onscreen April 27, 1978.
Joseph "Joey" Francis Riley Buchanan (Nathan Fillion, Don Jeffcoat, Bruce Michael Hall, Tom Degnan, and others) Born onscreen January 8, 1980, to Victoria Lord Riley and Joe Riley, adopted by Clint Buchanan; birth year changed to 1976 as of 1993.
Jessica Eugenia Buchanan (Erin Torpey, Bree Williamson, and child actors) Born off-screen September 23, 1986, to Victoria Lord Buchanan and Clint Buchanan; birth year changed to 1978 as of 2005. Fraternal twin of Natalie Buchanan.
Clayton-Powell "Powell" Lord III (Sean Moynihan) Born off-screen around 1970 to Clayton-Powell Lord II and Patricia Lord as of 1993; dies onscreen May 19, 2009.
Natalie Buchanan (Melissa Archer) Born onscreen September 23, 1986, to Victoria Lord Buchanan and Clint Buchanan; birth year 1978 as of 2005. Fraternal twin of Jessica Buchanan.
John "Jack" Cramer Manning (Carmen LoPorto, Andrew Trischitta, and child actors) Born onscreen October 11, 2001, to Todd Manning and Blair Cramer Manning; birth year changed to 1997 as of 2011.
Samuel "Sam" Manning (Patrick Gibbons Jr., others) Born onscreen February 5, 2006, to Trevor St. John's Todd Manning (retconned to Victor Lord Jr. in 2011) and Margaret Cochran, adopted by Blair Cramer; birth year changed to 2004 as of 2010.
Danielle Manning (Kelley Missal) Born off-screen in 2002 to Todd Manning and Téa Delgado, revised to October 20, 1995, as of 2009, and revised again to 1991 as of 2013.
Fourth generation
Demerest "Duke" Buchanan (Matthew Metzger and child actors) Born onscreen June 29, 1992, to Kevin Buchanan and LeeAnn Demerest Buchanan; birth year changed to 1986 as of 2004, dies onscreen May 12, 2006.
At the show's debut in July 1968, patriarch Victor Dalby Lord is introduced as the wealthy publisher of the regional newspaper, The Banner, in the fictional Philadelphia Main Line town of Llanview, Pennsylvania, and owner of media conglomerate Lord Enterprises. Victor lives at his ancestral, 18th-century country estate named Llanfair with his daughters Victoria (nicknamed "Viki") and Meredith. Victor's wife and Victoria and Meredith's mother, Eugenia Randolph Lord, dies while giving birth to Meredith. With no son to succeed him, Victor concentrates on grooming elder Viki strictly, with her position as legal heiress to his fortune. As a result of this lifelong pressure, Viki, newly arrived from college, allows herself little time for romantic entanglements, focusing her energy on her inherited media career and her father's approval. Conversely, frail and emotional, yet free-spirited Meredith, all but overlooked by Victor, sought escape from his oppression and the future he had laid out for his daughters.
Lord Enterprises, Inc. are the legacy media assets of Victor Lord,[4][10] including The Banner daily newspaper, WVL/WVLE-TV, WVLE radio, and life interest of the Llanfair estate. Victor's heiress daughter, Victoria, inherits publishing rights to the Banner newspaper as a part of Victor's initial will in 1976. Dorian Cramer Lord is initially bequeathed the landed Llanfair estate and part-ownership of WVL/WVLE-TV, WVLE radio, and The Banner; Viki purchases Dorian's stake in the newspaper soon after Victor's death. Victor's nephew Richard Abbott is appointed head of the European bureau of The Banner in 1979 by Viki's then-husband Joe Riley. The landed estate and majority ownership of the broadcast media outlets revert to Victoria in 1982 due to a codicil stipulating Llanfair and legacy assets return to the legal biological Lord heir (1976) if Victor's spouse remarries, which Dorian does at Llanfair with attorney Herb Callison that year. Dorian continues to live at Llanfair until she is forcibly removed by Viki's new husband, Clint Buchanan later that year. Tina Lord (formerly Tina Clayton) gains rightful access to the estate when Victor reveals her paternity to him in a letter during The Banner newspaper's 50th anniversary celebrations in 1985. Richard briefly takes over the company when Viki suffers a recurrent bout with her mental illness in 1986. Todd Manning is revealed to be Victor's illegitimate son and rightful male heir in 1995, gaining him partial ownership of WVLE radio, access to Llanfair, and an inherited trust of $30 million.
The Sun tabloid newspaper (formerly Dorian's The Intruder) is bought and edited by Todd Manning with millions of dollars in inheritance bequeathed to him at the revelation of his paternity to Victor in 1995; Todd's twin brother, Victor Lord Jr., assumes ownership of Todd's assets (under his brother's identity) from 2003 until Victor Jr.'s apparent death in 2011. Victor Jr.'s assets are betrothed to Irene Manning as part of Victor Jr.'s will, access which then reverts to legal heiress Tina at Irene's death in October 2011. Later in court proceedings, Tina relinquishes control of Todd's assets, returning them to Todd. Concurrently in October 2011, Jack Manning is named executive assistant and editor for The Sun by Victor Jr., a position he keeps when Todd returns to work for the company. Jessica Buchanan reports for both her grandfather and mother's newspaper, The Banner, and her uncle's tabloid, The Sun, at various times in the 1990s and 2000s.
Todd founds subsidiary Manning Enterprises in June 2012, purchasing Port Charles publications Crimson magazine and The Port Charles Sun (formerly The Port Charles Press) newspaper. Upon the Todd's exit from Port Charles, his Port Charles acquisitions revert to their former names and prior ownerships.
The Sun – Tabloid newspaper in Llanview and primary competitor of The Banner (formerly The Intruder)
WVL/WVLE-TV – Local television station which produces news, talk, and television programming in Llanview
WVLE – Radio station for Llanview University and surrounding community
Manning Enterprises – Port Charles, New York publications Crimson magazine and The Port Charles Sun (formerly The Port Charles Press) tabloid, a cable television franchise, a sports publication, and two publishing houses (2012–13)
Lord/Manning Plant – Power plant owned by Victoria Lord and Clint Buchanan (1984–85)
Employees and estate trustees
Chairwoman/CEO: Victoria Lord – Publisher of The Banner newspaper, owner of WVL-TV and WVLE radio
^ abOn the April 29, 2013, episode of One Life to Live, Dani reminds Jack that it is "dad's" birthday; and on the April 30, 2013, episode, Jack wishes Victor a happy birthday.
