Rex Balsom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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One Life to Live character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | John-Paul Lavoisier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Duration | 2002–12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | May 9, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last appearance | January 12, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Gary Tomlin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classification | Former, regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation |
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Residence | Blackheath, London | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Family |
Buchanan Balsom (adoptive) Lipschitz (adoptive) Stanford French |
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Parents | |
Adoptive parents |
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Stepmother |
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Half-brothers |
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Half-sisters | |
Spouse |
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Sons | Shane Balsom |
Grandfathers |
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Grandmothers |
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Uncles |
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Aunts | Corrine Balsom (foster) |
Nephews | |
Nieces | |
First cousins |
Rex Balsom is a fictional character from the American daytime drama One Life to Live, portrayed by John-Paul Lavoisier from May 9, 2002, to January 12, 2012.
With the character initially named "Jamie" prior to production, then-Executive Producer Gary Tomlin "toyed with the idea" of putting Rex in a gay storyline and Lavoisier stated in Soap Opera Digest in 2003: "I was asked by the higher powers at the show how I would feel about doing something like that. I said, 'Absolutely, any plot you want to give me, I'll take on strong.' And they said, 'Okay, we just wanted to check.'" However, this idea never realized, with the character repeatedly paired with women. Calling Rex a "heterosexual horndog," Lavoisier noted he "added a glint in [Rex's] eye he'd lifted from Ryan Phillippe's ... Cruel Intentions character of Sebastian. 'They said, "Sure, go with that. Start with that." And that was pretty much it.'"
In 2007, the series revisited Rex's backstory, introduction of the character's high school girlfriend, Gigi Morasco, and her son, Shane — with Gigi having something she has waited years to tell him — that Shane is Rex's son; this is confirmed on 17 March 2008. Tomlin's return to the series as Head Writer during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike also featured Rex beginning an investigation into his own family history, prompted by his pending wedding to Adriana Cramer and the "suspicious" behavior of his mother Roxy. Rex was born in 1979, as a result of an affair between Clint Buchanan and Echo DiSavoy.