| Alan-Michael Spaulding | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Guiding Light character | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by |
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| Duration | 1981–83, 1987–97, 2005–07 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | September 23, 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | May 10, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Douglas Marland | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Allen M. Potter | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Alan-Michael Spaulding is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light. The character is the son of wealthy businessman, Alan Spaulding, and his former wife, Hope Bauer. Alan-Michael was born on-screen on September 23, 1981, but this was subsequently revised to 1970 when he turned 17 years old and then later to 1965 or 1966 during his brief dalliance with Marina Cooper in 2006.
Four actors have regularly portrayed the character, the most recent being Michael Dempsey from November 2005 to May 2007. Rick Hearst was the actor who portrayed him the longest, and is arguably the best known for the role. He was nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards, winning his first in 1991.[1] The child who played him at birth was a baby girl named Jessica Zutterman.
Carl T. Evans introduced the teenage character on July 4, 1987, when Alan-Michael literally parachuted onto the annual Bauer barbecue. He played Alan-Michael until 1990 when Rick Hearst took over the character, playing him for six years. When he left, Michael Dietz was recast briefly (July 3, 1996, to February 7, 1997). In 2005, Guiding Light reintroduced the character with Michael Dempsey in the role.