Thomas Todd Manning is a fictional character from the American daytime dramas One Life to Live (OLTL) and General Hospital (GH). Created by writers Michael Malone and Josh Griffith, the role was originated in 1993 by actor Roger Howarth. Todd was a college student and fraternity brother to Kevin Buchanan, Zach Rosen, and Powell Lord. In 1993, following a storyline in which he becomes acquainted with Marty Saybrooke, he initiates a gang rape on her with the help of Zach and Powell. The storyline was considered groundbreaking by television critics. Its main players—Howarth, Susan Haskell (Marty), and Hillary B. Smith (Todd's lawyer Nora Hanen)—won Emmys in 1994, as did Malone and his writing team. Howarth left the role in 2003; it was recast with Trevor St. John, physically altered by plastic surgery. In 2011, Howarth returned to OLTL; it was disclosed Todd had been taken hostage and St. John's version of the character was really Todd's identical twin brother, Victor Lord, Jr., conditioned to assume Todd's place.
Todd was initially a short-term villain, but his popularity with the audience and critics inspired the writers to forgo killing him or permanently sending him to prison, like most soap operas had done with rapists in the past. While keeping aspects of his personality dark or violent, they had Todd exhibit a conscience and compassion. They took steps to redeem him and made him an integral part of OLTL canvas, despite Howarth's objections to a redemption storyline. With the use of literary techniques for the redemptive arc, the writers borrowed from nineteenth-century melodrama and Gothic traditions, and literature such as Frankenstein. Todd became the product of an affair between his father, Victor Lord, and his mother, Irene Manning, which provided him a fortune and ties to other major characters, including his sisters, Tina and Victoria Lord. An important aspect of the character became his appearance, most notably the scar on his right cheek, which emerged as synonymous with him and served to remind him of his past misdeeds against Marty. Music and the use of humor were also key to Todd's development. Although he formed many relationships (including with his wives, Blair Cramer and Téa Delgado), and fathered children, a defining characteristic of his personality was his resistance to close relationships and sexual intimacy.
The drive to redeem Todd eventually drew Howarth, who always saw Todd as a villain, to leave the show for a year; he was uncomfortable with the redemption storyline and with many fans' positive reactions to Todd. Recasting Todd years later with St. John was generally considered successful by viewers and critics. St. John, instead of imitating Howarth's portrayal, brought his own spin to the character. After OLTL cancellation in 2012, Howarth brought Todd to General Hospital (GH), but returned, along with St. John as Victor Jr., to the online version of OLTL in 2013, which was canceled after one year.
Todd has been the subject of numerous soap opera articles, feminist studies, and inspired the creation of a doll in his likeness. He has remained a popular and controversial figure since his creation, and is considered one of soap opera's breakout characters.
Storylines
Todd was a college student and fraternity brother to Kevin Buchanan, Zach Rosen, and Powell Lord. In 1993, following a storyline in which he becomes acquainted with Marty Saybrooke (Susan Haskell), Todd initiates a gang rape of her with the help of Zach and Powell. At first, his lawyer, Nora Hanen (Hillary B. Smith), is sure of his innocence, but comes to realize that Todd is guilty and tricks him into confessing. He is sentenced to prison, but he manages to escape, and he is eventually paroled. It is discovered that Todd is the son of Victor Lord, and that he is the lost Lord heir, making him a wealthy man.
Todd has several romantic pairings and marriages throughout the years, including with Rebecca Lewis (Reiko Aylesworth),
Creation and development
Background
Todd was originally intended to be a short-lived role, but Howarth's portrayal of the character inspired notable fan reaction, which prompted the creators to layer Todd's personality and showcase him regularly within the series. Michael Malone, Todd's creator, said fleshing out the character reminded him of what he loved about soap operas, adding, "The story-telling is a genuine collaboration, not just among writers but by the actors". Malone felt he could not take full credit for the development of Todd from Marty Saybrooke's gang rapist to what he later became, and also noted Howarth's impact: Howarth considered Todd's rationale for raping Marty to be complex. "Todd was in love with Marty," he said. When Marty rejects Todd's romantic advances after their one-night stand, it is because he was cold to her that same night after they had sex. Marty's rejection upsets Todd, and it festers. When he fails an exam after she tutors him, he blames her for the failure and blames her as the reason for his problems. Howarth called Todd "privileged and very rich". Because Todd was used to getting what he wanted, he did not know how to cope with Marty rejecting him. but over the years, his age has been changed based on the occasional rapid aging of his children. Malone stated that making Todd heir to the Lord fortune gave the writers "huge story" that helped Howarth's character evolve from a short-term role to a major cast member, which Malone attributed to Howarth's "powerful talent". Developing Todd not only as Victoria's unwanted sibling, whom she was horrified to discover was her blood, but as "her professional rival" who used "a splashy tabloid newspaper to wipe out her venerable" newspaper, The Banner, appealed to Malone. Author Gerry Waggett stated that Peter Manning had physically abused Todd his entire life.
Signature scar, hair and facial cues
thumb|300px|A young Howarth with Todd's vintage, long-haired look (left). A makeup artist applying Todd's scar to Howarth (right); the scar stretches in a curve across the character's right cheek, and appears a thin, medium red in its significantly healed version.
In late 1993, in order to make Todd look more menacing, he was given a scar to his right cheek by Marty's friend, Luna Moody, when she hit him in his face with a crowbar while preventing his attempt to rape Marty for a second time. The camera would often close in on and emphasize Todd's scar, which later became synonymous with the character.
To casting director Howard Meltzer, "Todd wears the scar like a badge. It's a warning to others: Don't mess with me". Meltzer felt Howarth underplayed Todd; Todd did not have to rant to incite fear. Meltzer added: "He gets a lot more from the raising of an eyebrow than raising the volume of his voice. Most of Todd's performance is reacting to the environment around him, and thanks to Howarth's expressiveness, viewers can see the wheels turning."
Todd's long hair was also integral to the character. It was described by Soap Opera Magazine as "enigmatic, with an air of innate authority".
In November 2008, during St. John's portrayal of the character, Todd is given a new scar by John McBain during a physical altercation in which John beats Todd with a gun. The scar symbolized Todd's "second rape of Marty" and was considered "a poetic nod" to Todd's history. The scar was significantly smaller than the original but placed in the same spot; it was gone by January 2009. St. John stated, "I know. It's too bad. I honestly have no idea why they wouldn't keep that reminder on Todd's face. It might be an economical thing. You know it costs to apply that kind of makeup each day".
"Todd's theme" and related music
thumb|right|Composer [[David Nichtern, who wrote much of One Life to Live's music for Todd]]
One Life to Live's producers stated that most of the show's music was custom-written, suitable for the situation and what the characters in the scene might actually play. For Todd, his volatile nature was represented with powerfully dark theme music, which producers and fans called the "Todd theme". The music consisted of ominous low chords and signaled that Todd was about to commit a vicious, dangerous, or threatening act. Soap opera columnist Jenn Bishop stated that Todd's personality is "violent, gentle, caring, apathetic, smart, obsessive, crazy, irrational, devilish, heroic, angst-filled, comical, etc." and that "[he] loves, but he feels he's unworthy of true love because of the things he's done. He doesn't love himself and projects a facade of a confident, arrogant playboy, but underneath it all, he's someone who seeks an unattainable love". For several years on the series, a defining characteristic of Todd's personality was his resistance to close relationships and sexual intimacy, which were due to his mistreatment by others, especially his adoptive father, who may or man not have raped him when he was fourteen. It was also due to his horrific past misdeeds, including his rape of Marty, and the dysfunctional aspects of his relationship with Blair. Although viewers were given an explanation for his actions, which included childhood trauma, his crimes were never excused or glossed over, and began to care for people, "something missing in his earlier sociopathic characteristics". The writers also made it so that his difficulties are manifested in his nightmares, which give him insomnia and are designed as a look into his psyche; at multiple points within the series, Téa attempts to help Todd by encouraging him to open up to her about them, which he eventually does. His opinions on his enemies are conveyed clearly; he remains one step ahead of them, and consistently outsmarts police, family, and others he targets, sometimes using weapons. Executive producer Frank Valentini said, "We are thrilled to have Roger return to One Life to Live".
OLTL was cancelled in early 2012; Howarth brought Todd to General Hospital (GH), along with his co-stars Kristen Alderson as Starr and Michael Easton as John McBain. All three actors were forced to briefly leave GH when Prospect Park, the company that bought the rights to OLTL and aired an online version of the show in 2013, sued ABC for breach of contract. Prospect Park argued that ABC sabotaged its efforts by killing off two characters, Starr's boyfriend Cole and her young daughter Hope. Both St. John and Howarth appeared on the online version as Victor and Todd, but the suit prevented ABC from continuing to feature Howarth, Alderson, and Easton as their original characters on GH; ABC's solution was to create new characters for the actors. The online version of OLTL was cancelled after one season.
Howarth
Malone credited Howarth's versatility with the reason he was cast as Todd. He met a One Life to Live casting director two years previously, while performing in a New York play, but when the role of Todd opened up, he "auditioned just like everybody else". He "made it to callbacks, and [he] got the part".
Howarth stated, "I was happy to get the part of Todd, but it was the furthest thing from the fabric of my personality".
Howarth said of starring on a soap opera, "Every actor at one time passes through daytime. I wouldn't have said yes to the offer if I didn't want to stay a while on daytime." He added, "I don't crave fame. It's kind of goofy. I didn't want to be a public figure. I wanted to be an actor, not a movie star. But I love rock 'n' roll-there, I'd rather be a rock star. That would be cool." The bird was portrayed by two South American blue and gold macaws named Flash and Lucky, and an Animal Planet documentary stated that they had developed an "impressive résumé" by the time they appeared on OLTL. They were trained by Ed Richman, who had worked with the birds for fifteen years in TV shows such as Magnum, P.I. and Jake and the Fatman. Richman stated that Howarth caught on "real quick" regarding his interaction with Flash and Lucky and said that he was the best actor he had worked with in the industry. During Michael Malone's second stint as head writer of OLTL, he had to decide if Todd would remain. Malone said that he and the other creators could not allow Todd to permanently leave the show's canvas, so they chose to recast the role. Malone said that St. John's audition was "extraordinary", and that although a committee was involved in the recast, everyone agreed "he was Todd". Malone felt that they made a risky decision, but St. John made it work and that he had made the character his own.
Author Gerry Waggett stated that Walker was "reinvented as Todd with plastic surgery" after the show's viewers accepted St. John as a part of the cast. The soap opera press and fans speculated for several months that Todd had been recast with St. John. Website Soap Central.com stated that despite executive producer Frank Valentini neither confirming nor denying it, St. John's character exhibited "Todd-like" behavior.
St. John's version of Todd had undergone plastic surgery after being severely beaten during a murder attempt on his life ordered by Mitch Laurence. While recovering in the hospital, Todd conducts research and learns Mitch has a brother named Walker (also portrayed by St. John), who goes by the name Flynn Laurence. Todd pays Flynn for information on Mitch, and has extensive plastic surgery in order to physically resemble Flynn and get revenge on (as well as protect his family from) Mitch. The writers revealed Walker's true identify slowly, allowing Walker to develop as a new character before hinting that he could be Todd. He liked that he could consult old scripts and his fellow cast members to gain information about his character, resources he did not have when playing Walker. He was able to use these resources to figure out his relationship to other characters, which helped him analyze how to play a scene.
Unlike how most actors are trained, St. John believed that it was not up to the performer to interpret the character, but that a character existed regardless of how an actor played him, which he realized was "an unusual way to approach acting". As Soap Opera Digest put it, "Few recasts caused more uproar". Soap Opera Digest also stated that while there were fans who "will only consider Howarth to be their beloved Todd", St. John won over many fans by putting a lighter spin on the character. In 2007, TV Guide received official confirmation that Howarth would not be returning to the series. The magazine conducted a poll on its website, TV Guide.com, and found that 82 percent of the show's viewers wanted to see Howarth return. Daniel R. Coleridge of TV Guide.com disagreed with the results, stating, "Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I absolutely adore Trevor St. John", whose portrayal of Todd he found "very cocky, arrogant and humorous in a sexy way". In 1995, Howarth was nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and Soap Opera Digest (SOD) named him Outstanding Leading Actor. SOD also named him Outstanding Villain in 1998. While Howarth has been called a "fan favorite, and one of the best actors in soaps", Todd has been called "one of the greatest characters of all-time"
According to Waggett, the rape storyline propelled Todd "onto the list of OLTL most despicable villains". He said that due to the storyline and to Howarth's talent, Todd "became the show's next centerpiece villain and eventually the show's male lead". Howarth appeared on several interview shows following his Emmy win in 1994, including the Phil Donahue Show in May, with six other male soap stars, and called him "a terrible villain, who's become a heartthrob to thousands of wildly adoring fans". Howarth was disturbed that so many women were attracted to Todd and that the show's writers had begun to redeem the character. In a September 1995 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the publication stated that Howarth was troubled that "his villainous character became such a fan favorite". and because of his disagreement with Todd's redemption arc. In 2000, Howarth returned for a week, accompanied by significant fanfare, to assist with Florencia Lozano's (Teá) departure. During the ten years he was on the show, rumors of his departure were reported by the soap opera press on a sometimes weekly basis.
Soap Opera Magazine attributed the success of Todd to Howarth's skill as an actor. In February 1998, the magazine stated, "Although the scar that traverses his face while he plays Llanview's dark prince isn't real, the menacing intensity Roger Howarth can so effortlessly convey with his eyes and furrowed brow are frighteningly authentic". Marla Hart of the Chicago Tribune stated that "it has been an unexpected pleasure to watch actor Roger Howarth as a lost soul in search of spiritual redemption". Hart speculated that the darkness Howarth brought to the role made him interesting to watch and was responsible for his Emmy win in 1994.
Depiction of rape
One Life to Live was one of the first soap operas to address social issues, including rape. Rape has been a long-standing subject of soap operas; as critic Mary Buhl Dutta put it, rape was "a part of the discourse of soap opera long before its acceptance into that of the larger society", but the gang rape storyline presented the crime of rape to the audience differently than it had been in the past, in other soap operas. The storyline, including the rape and its three-year-long consequences, was called "the most daring plot ever attempted on soaps", and was regarded as "the gold standard of rape stories", and inspired feminist studies.
Scholars have noted the storyline's similarity to 19th-century melodrama and both supported and went against rape myths. It conforms to many of the same conventions of how rape has been presented in both soap operas and in literature and films, including the rapists' trial, which dominated the show throughout the summer of 1993. The storyline used many archetypes commonly used in other types of literature. The storyline was also called "Dickensonian" and Todd was compared to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The writers moved to redeem Todd in order to keep him and his portrayer as a part of the show, using "a whole arsenal of symbolic weaponry," something that had never happened in soap operas before.