The General Hospital year kicks off on a sad note in 2024 as the news of Bobbie Spencer’s death rocks Port Charles to its core.
As fans know, beloved actress Jacklyn Zeman passed away last May after a battle with cancer. While Bobbie has been off-screen during this time in Amsterdam dealing with her late brother Luke’s (Tony Geary) personal affairs following his own death in 2021, Zeman’s death is written into the show this week as Carly (Laura Wright) receives news that her mother has died. Take a look back with us at Bobbie’s long adult life in PC that began way back in 1977.
Nurse Bobbie Spencer
When Bobbie first arrived on the Port Charles scene 46 years ago, she seemed like a sweet nurse, but was soon revealed to be a bit of a schemer. A former teenage prostitute who had turned her life around, Bobbie first set her sights on young law student Scotty Baldwin (Kin Shriner), but he only had eyes for Laura Vining Webber (Genie Francis). It was Bobbie who started the controversial phenomenon that became Luke and Laura when she summoned her brother to town to steal Laura’s heart. However, by the time that happened, Bobbie had moved on.
For the next few years, Bobbie had a series of affairs with men like Roy DeLuca (Asher Brauner) and Noah Drake (Rick Springfield). She also had several husbands throughout the 1980s, including the abusive DL Brock (David Groh) and Dr. Jake Meyer (Sam Behrens). Finally, by the late 1980s, Bobbie married widow Tony Jones (Brad Maule) and became a mother to his little girl BJ, whom Bobbie had helped deliver when Tony’s late wife Tanya gave birth.
By then, Bobbie couldn’t have her own children due to a hysterectomy so she bought one on the black market. Eventually, Bobbie and Tony legally adopted the boy who would grow up to be Dr. Lucas Jones (Ryan Carnes).
The Worst Moment Of Bobbie’s Life
Sadly, tragedy struck in 1994 when BJ’s school bus crashed and she was pronounced brain dead. Her young cousin Maxie Jones was already in the hospital in need of a heart transplant. In one of the most compelling stories ever told on soaps, Bobbie and Tony chose to let their child go so her heart could go to Maxie. BJ’s heart still beats in Maxie’s (Kirsten Storms) chest 30 years later.
However, Bobbie and Tony’s marriage never truly recovered from the loss of their daughter. Bobbie soon had an affair with mobster Damian Smith (Leigh McClosky). When Tony found out, it nearly ended their union, but they decided to try again and make things work. However, someone would soon arrive in town who would destroy Bobbie and Tony’s marriage forever.
Bobbie’s Long Lost Child
In 1996, a young physical therapist named Carly Roberts (Sarah Joy Brown) arrived in Port Charles and quickly befriended both Bobbie and Tony. After Bobbie caught Tony and Carly in bed together, she ended her marriage for good. However, she later learned that Carly was the baby she had given up for adoption when she was a teenager. Carly’s real name was Caroline Benson and she came to town with the sole purpose of getting revenge on her mother for giving her away.
As time went on, Carly and Bobbie forged a solid mother-daughter relationship while Bobbie also romanced and married several more men, including Stefan Cassadine (Stephen Nichols) and Jerry Jacks. Even Roy DeLuca (played by A Martinez) returned to her life for a brief period.
Bobbie’s Later Years
Bobbie eventually worked her way up to the nursing school director position at GH, where she worked for more than four decades. She became a devoted mother and grandmother to her adult children and grandchildren and even dated Scott Baldwin again a few years back.
In 2019, Bobbie was diagnosed with diabetes and learned to live with and manage the disease with the help of her friend, fellow nurse Epiphany Johnson (the late Sonya Eddy). At the time, Zeman was excited to play out the story, telling TV Insider: “The complexity of getting to play Bobbie having type 2 diabetes is very interesting because there are so many people who are affected by diabetes in this country. We should have it on the show. This story is a reminder of the complexities of life, the cycle of life. Wonderful things happen and challenging things happen. Sometimes, they happen at the same time. You have to look at it and say it’s all good.”
When we saw Bobbie last, it was at the 2023 Nurses Ball when both Zeman and Bobbie’s GH lives were told in flashbacks as Bobbie was honored to coincide with the soap’s 60th anniversary. We are sure there will be more heartwarming and heartbreaking flashbacks to come when Bobbie’s memorial airs on January 10 and 11.
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