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Farewell To Phoebe

1970s: Phoebe fretted about how the liberal politics of son Lincoln’s gal pal, Amy, would affect Linc’s political aspirations … and despite her many years of marriage to Charles Tyler, soaked up the attention of dance instructor Nick Davis (who had dollar signs in his eyes). Charles, meanwhile, worked many long hours alongside his doting secretary, Mona, which drove Phoebe nuts. The friction between Charles and Phoebe, and the stubborn refusal of her children and grandchildren to live their lives the way she wanted them to, drove her to toss back more than a few cocktails. In 1972, Phoebe was greatly distressed when her daughter, Ann, exchanged vows with Nick. In 1975, Lincoln also married someone of whom she disapproved: Kitty Shea (Phoebe even fainted in the middle of the ceremony!). In 1976, while Charles’s romantic attachment to Mona was reaching a fever pitch (and driving him to beg Phoebe for a divorce), Phoebe opened her home to her niece, Brooke. She also teamed up with Mona’s daughter, Erica, to bust up Linc and Kitty’s union. To that end, Phoebe enlisted a downtrodden woman named Myrtle (yeah, that Myrtle) to pretend to be Kitty’s long-lost mother. Alas, Myrtle ceased to be an effective ally for Phoebe when she grew to genuinely adore Kitty. In 1977, Phoebe went for a drive while tipsy with her great-grandson, Little Phillip, and got into an accident. Both Phoebe and the child were okay, but her drinking continued nonetheless. Mona, meanwhile, found out about Phoebe’s anti-Kitty plot and threatened to go public with it unless Phoebe finally granted Charles a divorce. On the day, that Linc and Kitty renewed their vows, an inebriated Phoebe spilled the entire story about Myrtle (costing Mona her blackmail material!). As more and more crises hit Phoebe’s family (including the death of Phoebe’s granddaughter, Beth), she continued to rely on alcohol to cope and was tossed in jail for drunk driving. Once back at home, Phoebe took a drunken tumble down a staircase and, sensing a way to evoke sympathy from Charles, she faked paralysis. When Brooke saw Phoebe walking around in 1978, she blackmailed her aunt into letting her remain in Pine Valley indefinitely. Phoebe ultimately abandoned the ruse, as it failed to dampen Charles’s loyalty to Mona. That same year, Phoebe agreed to pay low-life Billy Clyde Tuggle to lure grandson Chuck’s lady love, Donna, back into prostitution, but the plan failed. When Erica informed Phoebe that Chuck’s son, Charlie, was actually not his biological child, Phoebe wasted little time getting plastered and sharing this tidbit with the entire town. In 1979, Charles finally got Phoebe to sign on the dotted line of those divorce papers because she had fallen hard for smooth-talking Professor Langley Wallingford — unaware that he was really a con man named Lenny Wlasuk and was after her considerable funds.1980s: In 1980, Langley fell in love with Phoebe for real — after he married her (small details!). Phoebe didn’t find out the truth about Langley’s true identity until 1984, at which point she decided to remain married to her great love despite his deception. In 1986, she even gave her (reluctant) blessing for reformed cad Tad to tie the knot with her stepdaughter, Hillary. But that year, another con man, Wade Matthews, proved ruinous to Phoebe and Langley’s union. Eager to get his hands on Phoebe’s dough, he successfully manipulated Phoebe into divorcing Langley, then got her drunk and married her in a quickie Caribbean ceremony. Back in Pine Valley, Wade and his co-conspirator/lover, Shelley, tried to poison Phoebe, but their scheme went sour when Shelley fell down a flight of stairs to her death. Phoebe was arrested for pushing her (in actuality, the fall was accidental), but while she was behind bars, she figured out that her hubby was no good. He was thrown in prison (with help from Langley) and she was freed. Phoebe and Langley remarried in 1987. With her love life on firm ground, Phoebe entertained herself by meddling in the personal lives of Brooke and later her goddaughter, Cecily.1990s: Phoebe continued to stick her finger into Brooke’s love life as well as Cecily’s. She put her opinionated nature to good use when she began composing an advice column for Tempo called “Dear Aggie.” Phoebe began using a wheelchair after breaking her hip in a fall while at the Chandler estate.2000s: Phoebe encouraged Brooke to reconcile with Edmund and was delighted when the two headed down the aisle in 2002. Sadly, the union was short-lived. Phoebe made her final appearance on January 5, 2005, on the occasion of Joe Martin’s 35th anniversary at Pine Valley hospital. The date, of course, coincided with AMC’s 35th anniversary.

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