John Dixon (As the World Turns)

John Dixon
Larry Bryggman as Dr. John Dixon
As the World Turns character
Portrayed by	Larry Bryggman
Duration	1969–2004, 2010
First appearance	July 18, 1969
Last appearance	September 17, 2010
Created by	Katherine Babecki
Profile
Occupation	Cardiologist Chief of Staff at Oakdale Memorial Hospital Member of the Board of Directors of Oakdale Memorial Hospital Former Resident Administrator of National HealthTac HMO
Sisters Annette Dixon Wagner Spouse Kim Reynolds (1973–76) Patricia Holland (1978) Dee Stewart (1979–80) Ariel Aldrin (1981–83) Karen Haines (1984) Lucinda Walsh (1987–91) Barbara Ryan (1997–98) Carly Tenney (1998–99) Sons Duke Kramer Andy Dixon M.J. Dixon Johnny Dixon Daughters Margo Montgomery Grandsons Adam Munson Casey Hughes Granddaughters Hope Dixon Nieces Pam Wagner

Cardiologist

John Dixon M.D. is a fictional character on the American TV soap opera, As the World Turns. He was portrayed by Larry Bryggman from July 18, 1969 until December 14, 2004. Dixon is a cardiologist at Oakdale Memorial Hospital where he is also Chief and Acting Chief of Staff at Memorial Hospital. Though the character stopped appearing in 2004, when Bryggman left the show, no mention was made of his having left town. However, after Larry Bryggman returned to the show on August 27, 2010, Bob Hughes mentioned that Dixon had been at Johns Hopkins. The character remained on the show for its final month, appearing in the last episode in September 2010.

Protégé of the late Dr. Michael Shea, Dixon was a constant thorn in the side of many Oakdale residents. John's main rivals through the years were Drs. Dan Stewart and Bob Hughes. The son of a working-class family, John was jealous of the affluent Stewarts and Hughes and felt that their lives were served to them on a silver platter. John’s romantic entanglements kept Oakdale on its toes for decades.

John's first romantic relationship was with widow Kim Reynolds. John saw Kim as the perfect doctor's wife and was determined to marry her. His opportunity came when he discovered that Kim was pregnant with her brother-in-law, John's professional rival, Bob Hughes's, baby. Although Kim was determined to raise the child on her own, John persuaded her to marry him to give the child a name. Sadly, the child died at birth. Desperate to keep his wife, John blackmailed her into staying married to him by threatening to tell Kim's sister the truth about her pregnancy. Although he was content to stay in a loveless marriage, soon the lack of intimacy got to him and he raped Kim. Having no legal recourse, Kim decided to leave John. After a terrible argument, Kim ran away from John. He followed and fell down the stairs becoming paralyzed. In his debilitated condition, John played on Kim's sympathy and guilted her into staying married to him. However, Kim would find herself falling for John's rival, Dr. Dan Stewart.

John had an obsessive need to stay married to Kim and conspired with Dan's ex-wife, Susan, to keep the two apart. Fed up with John, Kim was ready to leave him when she had an accident that resulted in amnesia. Technically still her husband, John took care of her, isolated her from everyone and convinced her to have a sexual relationship with him. By the time Kim's memory returned, she was pregnant with John's baby and Dan had left for South America. Kim decided to leave John for good despite his pleas to stay for the good of their baby. Losing Kim drove John to the brink of destruction. John started drinking heavily and was finally suspended from the hospital. Shaken by John's behavior, Kim demanded that John only be permitted supervised visits with their son, Andy.