In 1997, Rebecca Herbst debuted as Elizabeth Webber on General Hospital. Liz is a true legacy character as her paternal grandfather was the late Dr. Steve Hardy, played by original cast member John Beradino. The character has evolved over the years from an unruly teen to a beloved heroine to a loving mother of three.
General Hospital: Paging Elizabeth Webber Baldwin’s Parents
As a nurse, she interacts with much of Port Charles however, in all the years she’s been on the show, we’ve never seen her with her parents, Jeff Webber (a former doctor at General Hospital) and his wife, Carolyn.
When Liz was introduced, viewers learned that her parents were in Africa working with Doctors Without Borders. Sadly, Liz has been a daughter without parents. She moved to Port Charles to be with her grandmother Audrey (Rachel Ames). Tragically, Liz was raped. She had Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) to help her through the ordeal but her mother and father didn’t come to check on her during this time of need.
Liz has had many triumphs and tragedies over the decades. She’s been wed many times — twice each to Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) and Lucky. She recently lost her husband Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth) after he was murdered by Peter August (Wes Ramsey). Her parents never came.
Liz has given birth three times — to sons Cameron (William Lipton), Jake (Hudson West), and Aiden (Jason David) but Jeff and Carolyn haven’t visited Port Charles in all this time to meet and spoil their grandsons. Now, Cameron’s about to go off to college! If nothing else, Jeff and Carolyn should come to Port Charles to check out grandson Aiden’s baking skills. Word has it he whips up some tasty desserts in the kitchen.
GH’s Poor Liz – The Parent Trap
Jeff and Carolyn could have come to Port Charles to help Liz out with many of her legal scrapes. She’s helped Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) escape from jail, shredded a stolen police report to protect Jason, helped Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco) escape from police custody, impersonated a police offer, lied about Jake’s paternity test, and changed the maternity test results on Danny Morgan in order to rule Sam out as Danny’s mother.
While there have been numerous events in Liz’s life that would have warranted her parents coming to Port Charles, it’s most confusing that they didn’t make an appearance in 2015 after Hayden Barnes (Rebecca Budig) was revealed as Liz’s half-sister, the product of an affair between Jeff and Hayden’s mother Naomi Dreyfus (Robin Riker). GH went to great lengths to create a familial bond between Liz and Hayden but curiously neglected to have Jeff, their father, directly be a part of the story.
General Hospital is better than most soaps today at honoring its rich history. Earlier this year, the show did a tribute episode to the late John Reilly and wrote in the death of his character, WSB legend Sean Donely. When GH wanted to delve into Laura’s past, the show reintroduced her late father Gordon Grey’s wife Florence (Annie Abbott) and invited Denise Alexander back for episodes as Laura’s mother Dr. Lesley Webber.
The good news is that there’s always the chance that GH will bring Jeff and Carolyn on for some episodes so they can perform an overdue wellness check on their daughter, especially now as there are references to Hayden being mentioned. Along with seeing Liz, Jeff could reconnect with his first wife Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson), or his second wife Heather Webber (Robin Mattson). Now wouldn’t that be something!
General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.
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