Roger Thorpe

Roger Thorpe
Michael Zaslow as Roger and Maureen Garrett as Holly
Guiding Light character
Portrayed by	Michael Zaslow (1971–80; 1989–97) Joel Fabiani (Temporarily filled in for an ill Zaslow. August 1992, January to February 1994) Dennis Parlato (1997–98)
Duration	1971–80, 1989–98
First appearance	April 1, 1971
Last appearance	March 16, 1998
Created by	Robert Soderberg and Edith Sommer
Introduced by	Lucy Ferri Rittenberg
Profile
Occupation	Former Executive at Spaulding Enterprises Former Vice-President of Advantage Systems Former President of Spaulding Enterprises Former Vice-President of Spaulding Enterprises Former Partner in WSPR-TV Formerly a secret agent for the U.S. government Former Owner of a nightclub, The Metro Former Employee of Cyrus Granger in Texas Former President of Stanley Norris' New York headquarters company
Residence	California
Parents Adam Thorpe (father) Marjorie Thorpe (mother; deceased) Spouse Peggy Scott (divorced; m. Feb 76; div. 1977) Holly Norris (divorced; m. Jan 1979; div. early 1980) Alexandra Spaulding (divorced; m. 12 Mar 90; div. Jul 91) Jenna Bradshaw (divorced; deceased) Dinah Marler (divorced; m. 22 Sep 95; div. 96) Amanda Spaulding (19 Mar 98) Children Sebastian Hulce (son, with Unknown woman) Blake Marler (daughter, with Holly) Hart Jessup (son, with Laura, deceased) Unnamed child (sex unknown, with Mindy, deceased) Unnamed child (sex unknown, with Jenna, deceased) Tangie Hill (legal ward) Grandchildren Jason Marler (grandson, via Blake) Kevin Marler (grandson, via Blake) Clarissa Marler (granddaughter, via Blake) Peter Lewis Reardon (grandson, via Hart) R.J. Winslow (grandson, via Hart)

Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American CBS daytime drama Guiding Light.

Roger was portrayed by Michael Zaslow from 1971–80, and from 1989–97; Joel Fabiani filled in for Zaslow on occasion during the 1990s, and Dennis Parlato briefly played Roger from 1997–98, after Zaslow's departure from the show.

The role of Holly was originated by Lynn Deerfield, who played the character from 1970–76, but is most often identified with Maureen Garrett, who took over the role in 1976, playing Holly through March 1981; Garrett resumed playing the character from 1988–2003, and then sporadically continued in the role on a recurring basis from 2003-2006. Garrett returned to play Holly during Guiding Light's final weeks on the air in 2009.

Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris met in 1971. Roger worked for Holly's father Stanley Norris' company. Stanley chose Roger to date his 19-year-old daughter Holly to keep her out of his hair. Roger saw it as a way to get ahead in the company so he agreed to date Holly. Holly lost her virginity to Roger but he had eyes for Holly's sister-in-law Janet instead. Roger became a suspect in Stanley Norris' murder after it was found out the gun used to kill Stanley was bought with Roger's credit card. But when Holly announced that she had seen Roger with Janet the night of Stanley's murder (which he was), the charges against Roger were dropped. Soon after that Roger left town.

Roger returned for his father Adam Thorpe's (Robert Milli) wedding to Holly's mother, Barbara Norris (Barbara Berjer). Roger tried to convince everybody he was a changed man. By this time Holly was married to Dr. Ed Bauer (Mart Hulswit) but she still had strong feelings for Roger and they started having an affair. Not wanting to return to his old "playboy" ways Roger broke off the affair with Holly and started dating nurse Peggy Fletcher (Fran Myers) and became a father figure to her son Billy Fletcher. Roger asked Peggy to marry him but she was still married to Billy's father Johnny Fletcher. Peggy wasn't ready to divorce Johnny even though Johnny had left Springfield long ago. Roger grew tired of waiting for Peggy's answer and started having an affair with Holly again. Peggy finally decided to divorce Johnny and accepted Roger's marriage proposal. After that Roger broke off the affair with Holly.