Husbands
Joseph Francis Riley, Sr.
Written By: Nanci L.
"No Ordinary Joe: Although Victor disapproved of Joe
Riley as a suitor for his treasured daughter, Viki's love for the
reporter led to true romance, two marriages and the birth of two
sons."
Victoria Lord
was born into wealth as the daughter of Banner newspaper publisher Victor
Lord and his wife Eugenia Randolph Lord. They lived at Llanfair, the
sprawling eighteenth century manor house, home of the Lord family. Victor
Lord widowed when Victoria and her younger sister Meredith were quite
young, was left to raise his two daughters alone. Not having the son he
wanted to pass his newspaper empire on to, Victor settled on grooming and
training his eldest daughter Viki to eventually take the reigns of the
Banner Newspaper.
Victor Lord,
guided, molded and nurtured his impressionable young daughter Viki into
all that it took to be a good business and newspaper woman, all the while
instilling in her a great love for publishing. Always eager to please her
demanding father, whom she loved above all else, Viki became outwardly the
strong young successful business woman that her father longed for. But
inwardly young Viki was not as successful in handling her own personal
life and emotions. Trying to live up to the impossibly high standards of
the Lord name that her father placed on her, took it's toll on Viki's
mental health.
When Victoria
Lord met Joe Riley, the tough-as-nails reporter from the wrong side of
town, sparks flew. Joe was working as her father's Star reporter at the
Banner, and Viki was instantly attracted to him. Joe and Viki clashed
quite often as they worked side by side on the Banner newspaper, but Viki
was all the while falling in love with Joe, who she knew would not be
approved of by her strict father. True to his nature, Victor Lord did
everything in his power to separate his daughter from what he considered
was someone not good enough for her, but instead a cad.
“This was
at the top of the stairs at Llanfair, because the chandelier is there,”
recalls Slezak in character. “Dorian had married Papa and was trying to
become the mistress of Llanfair. I had been in a coma – I look like I'm
still in a coma! I had temporary paralysis, so Dorian had scheduled
everything at this party knowing full well I couldn't attend. I thought to
myself, 'Damn her,' and I decided to walk down the stairs by myself. Joe
[Lee Patterson] was saying to me, 'You can't do this, what if you fall?' I
went down the stairs with no crutches, nobody holding my hand, nothing. It
was my triumphant moment. Dorian was once again overshadowed, which only
pissed her off further. She then proceeded to do more awful things to me.”
Torn between loving the ruggedly handsome, charming Joe, and
pressure of pleasing her demanding father Victor, caused Viki's fragile
Psyche to spit. In the fall of 1968, Viki developed an alter-ego, the
brash and flirtatious Niki Smith, who began appearing nightly at Ernie's,
a seedy waterfront bar. The normally reserved quiet Viki unknown to
herself would don a flashy wig, apply flamboyant make up and become her
flashy alter ego Niki. Vinny Woleck, a local garage mechanic, and Joe
Riley's best friend met and fell madly in love with the sexy Niki, and his
heart was broken when later he learned that Niki did not really exist.
Upon learning
of her alter ego Niki, Viki took steps to seek help. With the support of
her friends and family she sought treatment under the care of Dr. Marcus
Polk, the Chief of Psychiatry at Llanview Hospital. As Viki felt herself
getting better, she went ahead with her plans to marry Joe Riley in June
of 1969. Much to the shock and dismay of Joe and their wedding guests,
Niki Smith suddenly made an appearance in the middle of the ceremony and
fled the church with a thrilled Vinny Wolek. Once away, Vinny pressed Niki
to marry him. Niki panicked and fled back into Viki who quickly
reappeared. Returning to Dr. Polk's care he helped Viki to recall the
moment when her alter ego first emerged. Viki remembered seeing an
argument between her parents. A very angry Victor was confronting his wife
Eugenia with suspicions that her unborn child was not his. In the issuing
struggle, Eugenia lost her balance and fell down the stairs. To the young
child Victoria it appeared that her father had pushed her mother down the
stairs. Shortly there after Eugenia gave birth to Viki's little sister
Meredith and then died. Niki seemed to vanish with this revelation and Joe
and Viki were married soon after.
In 1970 Joe
Riley was promoted to editor-in-chief of the Banner, and began a series of
investigative articles on the drug problem which also involved underground
crime, that was happening in Llanview. Knowing that exposing the people
behind the drug problem could be dangerous to Joe, Viki worried about his
safety. Joe's friend Vinny unwittingly had gotten mixed up in a drug
related murder, and Joe set out to prove his good friend Vinny's
innocence. While in California investigating, Joe's car went over a cliff
and even though his body was not found, Joe Riley was presumed dead.
Steve Burke
was brought in by Victor Lord to take over the editorship of the Banner.
Victor schemed to throw Steve and Viki together thinking that Steve was
more of the kind of man that he had envisioned for his daughter. A
devastated Viki after many months finally did seek comfort at the loss of
her beloved Joe in Steve when she began returning his feelings. Soon they
planned to wed, much to the dismay and shock of Joe's friends and family.
After signing the papers declaring Joseph Riley legally dead Viki went
ahead with her plans to marry Steve Burke.
Unknown to
Viki, she had a rival for her new husband Steve's affection in the form of
a jealous secretary named Marcy Wade. Marcy was obsessed with Steve and at
failing to win Steve away from Viki set out on a scheme to drive them
apart and Viki insane by donning a red wig and pretending to be Niki
Smith. However her plan backfired when Viki's concerns at becoming Niki
again actually brought she and Steve even closer together. Marcy growing
more psychotic planned to kill Vince Wolek and blame Niki Smith. Steve who
had caught on to what Marcy was up to confronted Marcy who pulled a gun on
him and in the struggle, it went off, killing Marcy. Steve was indicted
for Marcy's murder. Lt. Ed Hall of Llanview's police department developed
his own theory that Steve and Marcy were having an affair behind Viki's
back, and when she planned to blow the whistle on him, Steve killed her. A
vagrant had grabbed Marcy's purse during the struggle for the gun and ran
with it. Inside was the only incriminating evidence to clear Steve, a note
saying that Niki Smith planned to kill Vince Wolek. A mysterious unshaven
man had read accounts about the murder and finding the purse and note in
the belongings of one of his vagrant friends, he knew he held the key to
exonerate Steve Burke of Marcy Wade's murder. This man was Joe Riley.
Joe suffering
from a potentially deadly brain aneurysm, found his way into the Llanview
diner of Wanda Webb and collapsed. Wanda took pity on the handsome
stranger and set out to nurse him back to health, falling in love with Joe
while doing so. Thinking that he was going to die, Joe did not want Viki
and his family to know he was still alive, but he wanted to get the proof
of Steve's innocence of Marcy's murder to someone who could use it. With
Wanda's help he sent the purse and note to Dave Siegal, Steve's lawyer. It
was what was needed to gain Steve's acquittal.
With Steve
cleared at last, the wedding date was set and a very weak Joe hid in the
bushes outside of Llanfair and watched as his beloved Viki married Steve
Burke and left with him on their honeymoon, then he collapsed. Joe was
found and the news of his being alive was greeted with delight by Joe's
family. Viki and Steve heard the startling news of Joe's return when they
returned from their honeymoon. Viki fainted at the news, then raced to
Llanview Hospital to see Joe. The reunion was bittersweet as they lovingly
gazed at each other again. Joe took a step towards Viki, and collapsed at
her feet. Only a very delicate brain operation saved his life. Seeing his
beloved Viki again is what Joe needed to regain his will to live. Now Viki
was faced with the agonizing choice of which man would she choose.
Even though
Viki was now married to two men, she felt that her duty was with Steve
now, all the while admitting that she was in love with both men. That made
it all the harder, as Viki was again thrown into contact with Joe, who was
once again back at work at the Banner, for Viki to hold to her vows to
Steve. While away on an assignment with Joe, their chemistry came back
stronger than ever, and Viki and Joe ended up making love. A reunion
seemed possible to Joe, but in the morning Viki told him that she still
could not leave Steve. Joe and Viki argued and Viki fled in tears, later
having an accident that left her comatose for months. Even upon her
recovery Viki still returned to Steve, leaving a very dejected Joe to cope
on his own. Joe turned to a young writer by the name of Cathy Craig for
comfort although still in love with Viki.
It wasn't until the sad tragedy of her sister Meredith's death that
finally made Viki realize just how very precious true love can be. Viki
asked Steve for a separation, he agreed, and at long last, Joe and Viki
could be together.
Viki left for
the Caribbean to seek a divorce from Steve, and when she returned, she was
shocked to learn that Cathy Craig was carrying Joe’s baby. Joe being an
honorable man asked Cathy to be his wife. Cathy refused Joe’s offer of
marriage preferring to raise her child on her own. With this hanging over
their heads, Viki and Joe had a quiet private wedding ceremony at a small
Catholic Church in New York.
As time went
by, Cathy Craig gave birth to a baby girl she named Megan. The baby
suffered from the same congenital heart defect that her father Joe Riley
had. Baby Megan underwent a surgical procedure meant to correct the heart
defect, but it was unsuccessful. Joe and Cathy were still not told that
the baby would not live past adolescence by Dr Larry Wolek. This was
because Viki had pleaded with Larry not to tell Joe as she was afraid that
Joe would never allow her to have children with him, fearing the same fate
for their own future children. Larry a good friend to both Viki and Joe,
and understanding her dilemma, had kept silent.
In 1975 Viki
earned the wrath of Dr. Dorian Cramer when the hospital board revoked
Dorian's license after an incident of negligence caused the death of a
patient. From that moment, Dorian lost all hope of ever practicing
medicine again at Llanview Hospital and she blamed Viki, the only board
member who had actually voted to retain Dorian!
During this
same time Joe started neglecting his relationship with Viki to spend long
hours with Cathy and his very sick daughter Megan. Cathy was suffering
depression, mood swings and deep anxiety as baby Megan's health continued
to worsen. One night while Viki was watching over Megan, the baby had an
attack of severe respiratory infection and stopped breathing. While
desperately trying to get Megan to the Llanview hospital during a heavy
storm, Viki was involved in a tragic car accident, baby Megan was killed
and Viki's injuries put her into a deep coma. Joe was devastated at the
news of his daughter's death. When Viki awoke from her coma months later,
she was overridden with guilt blaming herself for Megan’s death, as was
Cathy Craig who never forgave her. Cathy's mental state quickly
deteriorated. Cathy, convinced that Megan's death was not an accident,
vowed revenge on Viki.
Viki soon
learned after coming out of her coma that she was pregnant with Joe’s
baby. This should have been happy news was overshadowed by what Viki knew
were the risks in having this baby, that the baby could also have the same
genetic heart condition as Megan. Viki made the decision to have her baby
anyway saying nothing to Joe about the possible risks.
Viki’s
father's health began to fail due to heart problems and Dorian Cramer was
hired to work as the private physician for him. Viki resented Dorian's
presence, but Victor sincerely cared for his new doctor, and very soon
after Dorian took up her duties, he shocked everyone by revealing the
incredible news that he had made Dorian his wife! Dorian was thrilled that
her plan had worked to become the new Lady of Llanfair. She was really
much more interested in the Lord fortune than being Victor’s wife. She
quickly set about to get Victor to change his will in her favor.
Victoria could not understand how her father
fell victim
to Dorian Cramer's "charms".
A mysterious man named Tony Harris showed up in Llanview with his
exotic Asian lover, Michiko. Tony had come to Llanview bearing photos of
the Lord family, and although it wasn't revealed at first, the handsome
young man was Victor's long-lost son! Eventually, Tony and Victor shared
an emotional reunion, which only made Dorian resentful. She successfully
schemed to turn the two men into bitter enemies. Thanks to Dorian's evil
machinations, Victor and Tony were at each other's throats!
The because of
the stress of his dealing with Tony, Victor had suffered a stroke that
left him unable to speak or change his will back after he discovered
Dorian’s treachery. Dorian kept Viki away from her father as much as
possible so she could not help him. A second stroke put Victor in the
hospital where he died one night after Dorian willingly failed to give him
the medicine that he desperately needed to prolong his life. For the next
twenty years rumors flew that Dorian had murdered her husband, and no one
believed it more than his daughter Victoria Lord Riley.
Llanview was
rocked by the shocking news that Dorian rather than Viki had be named as
the executor of Victor’s estate in his will. Dorian took great pleasure
over this humiliating blow to Viki. Dorian then set her sights on Viki’s
beloved husband Joe. Since Dorian’s plans to blackmail Viki with the
threat to tell Joe about his genetic condition and it’s meaning for their
baby had failed, she decided to “accidentally” tell Joe about it. This
revelation left Joe completely devastated just as Dorian had planned. Joe
was very angry at Viki for keeping this important fact from him. Their
marriage took a very severe blow and Joe walked out. Eventually they
reconciled to await the birth of their child, much to Dorian’s dismay.
Viki gave
birth to their firstborn son Kevin, and Joe was overjoyed at having a son.
All to soon his joy turned into sheer panic as the newborn Kevin was
kidnapped from Llanview Hospital. The emotionally unbalanced Cathy Craig
fantasizing that the baby was her own baby had taken baby Kevin. It was
many horrifying weeks for the new parents Viki and Joe before their son
Kevin was found and returned to them after Cathy had been caught and
hospitalized.
Erika Talks about Viki Riley:
"I've always liked Viki. She
is just what I was like five years ago and she's changed with me. In the
past, she wouldn't have lived in the carriage house. Also, now she can
wear dungarees instead of Chanel suits. I understand her. Her relationship
with her father is just like mine. My father and I have always been close
so that's why I was upset that my stage father was dying on the show. I'm
lost without him."
Soon after the
joyous return of Kevin, Joe started have searing pain in his head.
Thinking that he perhaps had a brain tumor he followed Dorian’s advice to
keep it secret from Viki so as to not upset her. Dorian’s motive was not
to spare Viki distress, but to use it to break up Viki and Joe’s marriage.
After drinking heavily one night to help the pain, Joe ended up spending
the night at Dorian’s which she made sure that Viki found out. This of
course upset Viki greatly, but Viki and Joe’s love for one another was
very strong, and they worked through their problems. Joe eventually
underwent surgery for the tumor which turned out to be benign.
Viki's
childhood friend Irene Clayton returned to Llanview to tell Viki that she
was dying. Irene had a beautiful young sixteen year old daughter named
Tina. Irene wanted Viki to take care of Tina after she died. Viki
reluctantly took on the challenge of raising a teenage girl.
In 1978 Marco
Dane came to Llanview. Finding his former lover Karen married to Llanview
Hospital’s Larry Woleck, and also having secret afternoon rendezvouses
with other men on the side for the expensive gifts they gave her, Marco
turn this information into blackmail to get Karen to work for him as a
prostitute. Karen afraid that her husband Larry would find out about her
prostitution, broke down and told Viki that she was a hooker and being
forced by Marco to stay in the life. Viki believed that Karen was sincere
in wanting to quit, and confronted Marco Dane and threatened to ruin him
if he didn't leave Karen alone. Marco gave in to Viki's threats for the
time being, but vowed to somehow get even with her someday. It wasn’t long
before he had found the way to get back at Viki, through her new
goddaughter, Tina.
Marco opened
what he claimed was a modeling agency with himself acting as the
photographer. It wasn’t long before he ran across Viki’s beautiful and
innocent young goddaughter Tina Clayton. Marco talked her into taking some
photos of her, then he superimposed another girl’s naked body to them to
make it appear as if Tina had posed in the nude. Marco took these phony
pictures to Viki and threatened to release them to the public if she did
not pay his blackmail demands.
Not wanting to
give in to Marco's blackmailing attempts, but afraid not to, Viki went to
his studio to pay him off for the doctored photos, but instead was shocked
to find his dead body. Viki found the pornographic photos of Tina and
left. She was even more shocked later to learn that she was being indicted
for Marco's murder and put on trial. Knowing of Karen's awful secret, Viki
pleaded with her to tell Larry the truth. But Karen couldn't bring herself
to do it, she could not bear to hurt her husband Larry, and begged Viki to
keep her secret.
Viki was put
on trial and went through months of agonizing court proceedings. Viki had
kept her promise to Karen and not revealed her secret. When Karen was put
on the stand and harshly questioned by district attorney Herb Callison,
she broke down and revealed all the shocking truth about her secret life
as a hooker for Marco Dane. Karen revealed also who the real killer was.
It turned out to be one of Karen’s “johns” a man named Talbot Huddleston,
who was also being blackmailed by Marco for killing Brian Kendall in an
accidental hit and run. Tired of being blackmailed, Talbot killed Marco
off.
Joe and Viki
were delighted to learn that Viki was expecting their second child, but
the happiness was short lived when Joe began suffering from a recurrence
of his brain tumor. This time it was not benign, and he only had a few
short weeks to live. Joe treated Viki to a wonderful but bittersweet
wedding anniversary, then he began setting his affairs in order. With
little time left he sent for the editor of a small but prestigious
newspaper in Arizona to come and take over as his hand picked successor,
as the editor of the Banner Newspaper. That man was Clint Buchanan.
Shortly before his illness took him Joe told Viki the truth that he was
dying. Joe pleaded with Viki to move on with her life, and he left his
beautiful young pregnant wife in the hands of Clint to help her through.
Viki gave
birth to Joe’s son shortly after his death. She named him Joey after his
dad. With Clint Buchanan’s help, Viki then threw all her energies into
saving the Banner from a hostile takeover attempt by her arch-rival,
Dorian Lord.
Soap Opera Weekly's 100 Most Memorable Moments,
September 30, 1997
#98-Joe Riley Dies
Victoria Lord and Joe Riley were reporters at the
Banner, competing with each other for stories, all the while falling in
love. They eventually married, and Viki was happier than she had ever
been. They overcame many obstacles (including his amnesia and a brain
aneurysm, and her multiple personalities), but nothing could be done when
Joe learned he was dying of a brain tumor while Viki was pregnant with
their second child. With great dignity, Joe settled his affairs – he and
Viki were by now at the helm of the paper – which included bringing Clint
Buchanan from Arizona to take over for him at the Banner (and planting the
seeds for what would later turn into a relationship between Clint and
Viki). After Joe died, Viki gave birth to a son, whom she named for his
father.
Erika about Lee Patterson: "I learned so much from that man,
just by listening to him. And an awful lot about how to conduct yourself
in a studio, the kind of decorum that's required here in order to get
through day by day. Lee was the one who said to me, 'You check your
problems at the door, you come in, you do your work, you pick them up on
the way out.' I also learned a lot from him on screen technique, finding
your light - not shadowing people - and finding your camera. Lee is very
savvy. And as dear as he can be."
St.
Stephens Episcopal Church in Manhattan
was the setting for the TV
marriage of Joe and Viki.
"Lee
was an unbelievable gentleman, sweet and kind as can be,
and very
funny," says Erika of the man Viki loved.
