Tonja Walker Remembers ‘Beloved Leading Man’ Thom Christopher
Tonja Walker and Thom Christopher as One Life To Live‘s Alex and Carlo.
Tonja Walker, who played Alex Olanav on One Life To Live, paid tribute to her former Llanview leading man, Thom Christopher, upon the sad news that the 84-year-old Daytime Emmy-winning actor had passed away. (Read his Digest obituary here.)
Gone But Not Forgotten
On Facebook, Walker wrote, “The last time I saw him was on The Locher Room. I’d been trying to get in touch with him for months to be in my show and to catch up. I didn’t know he was sick at all. I [would] have been there.”
She continued, “Sometimes God puts a person in your life that gives you unconditional love and support. It’s rare. But Thom and I had that for each other. I trusted him and we worked together with an almost magic energy. I’ll never forget those moments those feelings when I would float down the stairs to the dressing room after our scenes. I’m so grateful for the opportunity I had to experience that joy.”
In a post shared on Instagram, Walker shared more memories of Christopher, writing that the actor was “My beloved leading man, partner in crime in the world Daytime Entertainment Drama and in life. Never have I ever had so much support and felt so much trust toward anyone I’ve worked with, as we were seemingly of one mind at times. I always had his back and he, mine. He and [late wife] Judith let me stay at their 95th street apartment sometimes when driving to CT was too dangerous due to the time. A true gentleman and complete man of honor. I just love Thom and will forever — and I pray that he and Judith hold each other all night and forever. I miss you Thom Christopher. So many always will.”
History In The Making
Walker’s OLTL alter ego was connected to Christopher’s original character, Carlo Hesser, from the start: federal agent Alex’s 1990 introduction took place when Bo Buchanan’s wife, Sarah, was kidnapped by Carlo. Alex uncovered that Carlo had actually finagled a deal with the head of the agency she worked for to block Sarah from testifying against him. When Sarah ended up presumed dead in a plane crash, Alex developed an obsession with Bo that landed her in a mental institution. When she was next seen in Llanview, she was married to Carlo! Then, Carlo appeared to have been shot dead, prompting Alex to assume control of her mafioso hubby’s organization. To that end, she enlisted the services of Carlo’s nerdy twin brother, Mortimer, training him in the ways of Carlo so that he could believably pass as his sibling. Alex went on to marry Asa Buchanan, but when Carlo returned from the dead, Alex couldn’t resist her animal attraction to Carlo and began an affair with him behind Asa’s back. Alex and Carlo were on the verge of remarrying when a vengeful Asa busted Alex for faking a pregnancy! Carlo dumped Alex on the spot. Carlo was murdered (again!) and Alex was arrested, but the charges were dropped and Alex left town with Mortimer … though the show left open the possibility that it was Mortimer who had actually been killed, and the tables had turned so that Carlo had now assumed his twin’s identity. Indeed, it was later confirmed that Carlo was alive.
Carlo and Alex’s lusty romance was a favorite of Christopher’s, who in 2012 told Soap Opera Digest that he considered a highlight of his run to be “the joining of two raucous characters, Alex and Carlo, who were not the norm, age-wise, for rampant S&M romance on daytime.”
Walker also had fond memories of the unique pairing and their sexcapades. “We’d play games like ‘Gypsy bandits,’ and we had no idea what that was!” she chuckled to Soap Opera Digest in 2012. “The big red phone would ring [from the network censors]: ‘You can’t sit on top of him! You have to keep a knee on the floor! No tongue!’ They had a great wedding, too. We were all dressed in back and it was hysterical…. We just had a really good time.”
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