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David Vickers Buchanan
David Photobooth
Tuc Watkins as David Vickers Buchanan
One Life to Live
Portrayed by Tuc Watkins
Current status Contract
Duration 1994-96, 2001-12, 2013-Present
First appearance May 1994
Created by Michael Malone
Introduced by Linda Gottlieb (1994)
Gary Tomlin (2001)
Jennifer Pepperman (2013)
Profile
Family Buchanan
Alias(es) David Bradley Truman (birth name)
David Vickers (common name until 2009)
David Vickeroshi
Gender Male
Born 1969
Age 48
Occupation Con artist (pre 2010)
Reporter for The Banner (2010-11)
Actor (2009-Present)
Residence La Boulaie, 56 Lincoln Street
Llanview, Pennsylvania
Relationships
Parents Bo Buchanan
Emma Bradley (deceased)
Ned Truman (adoptive)
Nora Buchanan (step)
Siblings Spencer Truman (maternal half; deceased)
Drew Buchanan (deceased)
Matthew Buchanan
(paternal half)
Spouses Tina Lord (1995)
Dorian Lord (1995-96, 2009, 2011-Present)
Alex Olanov (2007)
Addie Cramer (2008)
Children Unnamed child
Grandparents Asa Buchanan
Olympia Buchanan
Aunts and uncles Clint Buchanan
Ben Davidson
Nieces and nephews Hugh Hughes (via Spencer; deceased)
Drew Buchanan II (via Matthew)
First cousins Cord Roberts
Kevin Buchanan (adoptive)
Joey Buchanan (adoptive) Jessica Buchanan
Natalie Buchanan
Rex Balsom

David Vickers Buchanan (born David Bradley Truman[1]) is a fictional character from the daytime soap opera One Life to Live, portrayed by Tuc Watkins. Tuc played the role until the end of the original series, and now once again portrays David Vickers on the online version of OLTL

Appearances[]

Vickers was originated in 1994 by Watkins, who played the character until 1996[2] and then reprised the role briefly in October 2001 and January 2002.[3] Watkins returned from August 2003 through November 2006 and then for a five-month run starting March 6, 2007.[2] He reappeared again near the end of May 2007 and left July 26, 2007, returning temporarily in November 2007.[3] Watkins came back from May 7 to August 6, 2008 for another short-term run,[3] and Soap Opera Digest subsequently named David their "Most Entertaining Male Character" of 2008, noting that "Time and time again, David's harebrained schemes and Tuc Watkins's side-splitting performances provide amusement we're always sorry to see end."[4] Watkins returns again on December 26, 2008 for an extended stay.[5][6][7]

Character history[]

David's early days in Llanview, 1994-1996[]

David first came to Llanview as Dorian Cramer Lord was sent to death row for the 1976 murder of Victor Lord. Dorian was exonerated when David produced the diary of Tina Lord's mother Irene Manning in which Irene admitted to killing Victor. Knowing the entry was fake, Dorian paid David for his assistance. Irene's diary also noted that she had a son with Victor, and David claimed to be that child. The problem started when he met his "sister" Tina and they fell in love with each other. After sleeping with Tina at her sister Victoria Lord's cabin, David admitted that he wasn't her real brother; he was only scamming the family to get the millions Victor had left to his long lost son. Tina cooperated with him and the two got married in Las Vegas.

Dorian found out that Todd Manning was the real Lord heir and told Viki. After Viki found out the truth, her alter Jean emerged. Jean forced David to divorce Tina and have nothing to do with her any more, otherwise she'd go to the police. She also forced him to marry Dorian, who despised him. As Dorian's husband, he lived with her and her niece, Kelly Cramer, in her mansion.

Kelly started falling in love with David and wanted him to be her first. Dorian suspected that David would have an affair and just as David and Kelly were in bed, she got in to the room with a photographer to take picture of him committing adultery. She was horrified to find Kelly with him there. Dorian promised David three fourths of her property if he'd leave Kelly alone and divorce her.

Of course she didn't mean to keep that promise. Dorian schemed with her other niece, Blair, a plan in which Blair would lure David into sleeping with her, would cover his eyes and tie him to the bed. After that Dorian switched places with her and slept with her husband while Todd Manning took pictures of them (without seeing Dorian's face) and published it in his paper. David was forced to give Dorian a divorce without getting a thing out of it.

Right after he signed the divorce papers, Dorian told him all about her scheme and the two made love again for the second time. David thought of a way to get back at Dorian by taking her niece's virginity. He lured Kelly, who wasn't in love with him any more, and when he tried to make a pass on her she hit him on the head with a lamp and carried his body to the woods. She was sure he died, but he wasn't dead at all. He returned, kidnapped Kelly and tied her to a bed in Dorian's yacht. He asked Dorian for ransom and went to take care of it but he didn't notice that as he was leaving a fire started on the yacht. Joey Buchanan came to rescue Kelly and before the police could put their hands on David, he hurried and left town with Ex-mayor Liz McNamara.

Mexico and Morocco, 2001[]

In 2001, when Blair Cramer went to Mexico to have her child (later named Jack) and Todd followed her, David was at the airport, trying to get on a flight. Todd, thinking the child was Max Holden’s (when it was really his) lied to Blair and told her the little boy had died, and went to the airport, hoping to dump it off on someone. David saw Todd and watched him give the baby to a pair of Spanish nuns. David told the nuns that Todd was his “partner” and got the baby back. He brought the boy to the hacienda where Todd and Blair were staying, and Todd paid him a hefty sum to “get rid of the baby”.

David gave him to some rich Texas couple, and when Todd found out the child was his, forced David to tell him. Todd got the baby back, saying he was “adopted.” David seized the opportunity and blackmailed Todd into giving him money or he would tell Blair everything. Todd tricked David into meeting him at the waterfront and had the Moroccan police arrest him. David was hauled away, but not before he told Todd what he thought of him.

David's 2003 return[]

Two years later, David turned up again when he held Dorian hostage in an effort to get the Badhra diamond. However, it didn't take long for Dorian to talk David into pooling their resources and they plotted together to "steal" the necklace to get the insurance money. As the con progressed, David fell in love with Dorian and the feeling appeared mutual. When Dorian refused to marry him until he had a job, David secured a job. However, to his surprise, Dorian backed out of marrying him. David stood by her side, though, when she revealed the truth about Adriana, the daughter she had given up to save her from Manuel Santi.

Spencer Truman and the murder of Thomas McBain[]

After Dorian continued to put the brakes on their marriage, though, David finally had enough. Tired of watching Dorian obsess over her family, David decided it was time to end it, and moved out, esconcing himself at Kelly's place. Dorian and David made their way back together, though, and planned to finally marry. Around the same time, Spencer Truman showed up in Llanview. David eventually revealed to Dorian that Spencer was his older brother and that he had changed his name years earlier to get as far away from the Trumans as he could. What he didn't tell Dorian was that Spencer was blackmailing him with a secret from his past -- David thought he had killed a man. Spencer blackmailed David into jilting Dorian at the altar, and although David tried to explain later to Dorian why he did what he did, she couldn't forgive him.

David knew the only way to get Spencer to leave him alone (and to continue to protect his secret) was to get something equally damaging on Spencer. Convinced that Spencer knew more than he was saying about Margaret Cochran, David pumped Spencer's ex-wife Paige for information, and finally put two and two together and realized that Spencer was connected to Margaret's death. But all he had to go on was supposition, while Spencer finally clued David in on the "truth" -- the man David supposedly killed was Thomas McBain, father of John and Michael. David had been a scared sixteen-year-old when he had been doing a favor for Spencer and had shot blindly, supposedly hitting Thomas McBain. The secret went even further though -- Paige was the doctor in the operating room that night, and Thomas McBain supposedly died on the table because she had been drinking.

However, it was later revealed that Spencer was the one who shot Thomas McBain and then murdered him in the hospital after the operation. Also, the gun David used when he shot at Thomas McBain was filled with blanks, or as David himself put it "I was shooting blanks like Kevin Buchanan". So both David and Paige were innocent after all.

Not knowing that John McBain was learning the truth about his involvement back in Llanview, David headed to Thailand looking for clues on Margaret's disappearance, and was shocked to find Margaret alive and well, but with no memory of her son or her life in Llanview. Before he could get her back to Llanview, John and Natalie showed up looking for him. John saved David from being killed by Denton, a man Truman had hired to follow him, and the four returned to the States -- John was determined to see David pay for his alleged crimes, but also determined to make sure that an innocent man (Todd Manning) didn't die for a crime he didn't commit (the murder of Margaret Cochran). The entirety of Llanview soon knew about David's alleged crime, and he was arrested, but Spencer soon bailed him out of jail. David was all set to flee town when he had a change of heart and plead guilty to Thomas McBain's murder. However, David later learned that Spencer was the one who murdered Thomas McBain, and John ultimately managed to prove it.

After Spencer's trial, David made a quick exit from Llanview, only having a telephone conversation with Dorian on Christmas.

The murder of Spencer Truman[]

An unhinged Spencer managed to escape police custody and turned up in Blair's Llanview hospital room. As he staged a wedding ceremony with an unconscious Blair, Spencer was stabbed from behind with a pair of scissors and killed. David soon confessed, and it was revealed that Asa Buchanan had promised David $10 million to kill Spencer. Eventually John McBain ferreted out the truth and released a furious David. With no money and nowhere to go, David ended up on the doorstep of Viki Lord Davidson; always amused by David's charm (and always happy to annoy Dorian), Viki invited David to stay with her at Llanfair.

Viki's daughter Jessica was rushed to the hospital as her body rejected her recent liver transplant. When David was determined to be a match to donate part of his liver, he saw his chance; David made a deal with Jessica's father Clint Buchanan to go through with the transplant in exchange for the $10 million he had been promised by Asa. Anxious to save Jessica, Clint reluctantly agreed to the deal, and to not tell Viki. Finding out about the deal, Dorian also promised not to tell Viki, but let David know that she would someday cash in a big favor from him. Later, Viki did find out from Clint. After Viki ended their friendship, David felt guilty as he had grown to respect and admire her, so he returned the money and asked Viki for her forgiveness. Viki forgave him; David shared a somewhat heartfelt goodbye with Dorian, and made yet another quick escape from Llanview. A few weeks passed before Dorian and Viki each got a postcard from David.

The Buchanan heir[]

In October 2006, David had discovered that long ago Asa had engaged in an affair with David's mother, Emma Bradley. Asa had denied it. Later, Spencer claims to be Asa's son, but a DNA test proves otherwise. On August 17, 2007 during Asa's funeral, his longtime butler Nigel Bartholomew-Smythe tells Max Holden that Asa has another son: David. An eavesdropping Alex Olanov overhears, and begins a search for David herself. On November 2, 2007, Alex finds David working at a rehabilitation clinic;[8] acting the part of a wealthy widow with a sex addiction, Alex preys upon old acquaintance David's greed to convince him to marry her, never mentioning his true parentage. They wed on November 9, 2007[9][10] and Alex ultimately brings her new husband to Texas, where Asa's will is being read. Desperate to protect the family and keep the secret that con-man David is a Buchanan, Nigel turns his own inheritance over to Alex in exchange for his silence. Alex annuls her marriage to David, who is still unaware of his paternity, and Nigel reluctantly conspires with Jared Banks to pass off Jared as Asa's son.

On May 7, 2008, David is revealed to be an employee at the Bon Jour Café in Paris, Texas, working as a dishwasher. He recalls how a $1 lottery ticket he had received from Viki had first brought him luck, making him a TV star with his own show. But he had lost the ticket during a party at the Playboy Mansion, and his luck had gone with it as his show had been canceled (It is implied that the Writer's Guild of America Strike was caused by David losing his ticket). David had returned to Paris, Texas — where Viki had purchased the ticket — in search of a new source of luck. He finds it in the form of diner patrons Jared and Natalie, whom he learns are not really uncle and niece. David follows them back to Llanview and blackmails them. As they plan to reveal their ruse to the family rather than pay David, Dorian reveals the secret as part of her takeover of Buchanan Enterprises. Jared is arrested, but Natalie secures his freedom by offering Clint his real brother's identity in exchange for dropping the charges against Jared. Clint and Bo reluctantly agree to her terms on June 18, 2008, and are shocked (and suspicious) at the news that David is their brother. Meanwhile, David marries Dorian's sister Addie Cramer to secure his financial future but reluctantly divorces her in exchange for Dorian saving Viki's life. He tries to continue his relationship with Addie, as leverage to force Dorian into relinquishing the renamed Cramer Enterprises back to Clint. However, Addie dumps David, as both marriage and divorce were part of an eccentric "to do list" that Addie created after being released.[4]

David reappears returns on December 26, 2008,[5][6][7] calling himself "David Vickeroshi" and having "found peace" and renounced all worldly possessions as a Buddhist monk.[11] Meanwhile, a codicil of Asa's will is executed based on his heirs' failure to raise the Buchanan Enterprises stock price, and the entire estate is left to David[12] — if Asa's lawyer Beaver Calhoun can find him. Dorian learns of David's paternity and pending inheritance,[13] and plots to marry him or gain his power-of-attorney before he learns the truth himself.

In 2011, David and Dorian remarry. Dorian soon gets a call to be a U.S. Senator and David is called to star in a sequel to Vickerman. They leave Llanview on August 25. On November 8, David returns.

2013-present[]

On the internet revival of OLTL, David is seen taping for his odd reality show, which annoys Dorian Lord because she is dealing with a political scandal of her own.  David then goes to the opening of Shelter and acts like he is the star walking into the nightclub, but in actuality he is being laughed at when he is walking through the line. David also meets Shelter's VIP Hostess Rama Patel, and is so smitten by her that he makes her his costar on his reality show as his "sidekick", much to Dorian's dismay, who wants to be part of his reality show too since she is his wife. David later explains to her that she's too good to be part of his reality show, and Dorian completely understands why she can't be part of his show. Dorian later sees David dancing and kissing Rama at Shelter, and pushes her away, and scolds at David for breaking their marital vows by having an affair with Rama. David then later moves out of Dorian's mansion and moves into The Palace Hotel after Dorian rips apart his reality show pitch script. David then goes to a tv network to pitch his reality show unsuccessfuly to a bored tv producer. After his meeting with the producer failed, tv network executive Jo Collins from the same tv network tells David at a meeting at Shelter that she has accepted his offer to air his reality show on her tv network after seeing his sizzle reel, despite the fact that the producer hated his idea for a reality show, and Jo told David that she fired him. Jo tells both David and his sidekick Rama that they will both become big stars on tv. David later has a meeting with Jo at a tv studio where she tells him that he wants his wife Dorian to be part of his reality show, but David tells her that he has recently just seperated from his wife and moved out of her mansion because of their recent marital problems. When Jo hears about this, she comes up with an idea to make the premise of David's reality show about his falling marriage to Dorian. David later ran into Rama at The Coffee Shop and accused him of avoiding her since their kiss at Shelter. David then told Rama that she's no longer part of his reality show, because Jo changed the show's format, and it was now called "The Anatomy of a Divorce". Rama disagreed with David about not being part of his reality show anymore, because she was the catalyst of the break-up between him and Dorian. David then told her that her still being married to Vimal would turn their love triangle into a "love square". Rama told David that Vimal wouldn't mind her being a part of his reality show, but David told Rama that she was no longer his sidekick anymore. David then went to the tv studio to be filmed for a interview by Jo so that the world could see the real David Vickers. After David refused to smear Dorian in his interview with Jo, she then asked about his mistress Rama. David and Jo then both came to an agreement about Rama being the real villain in his breakup with Dorian, and David stated in his interview with Jo that Rama was a cross between Lady Macbeth and Medusa. David also later attended the Man of the Year gala at Shelter with Jo as his date for the night to see his father Bo receive the Man of the Year award after Clint was forced to step down from receiving the award after his drunken altercation with Shelter's doorman Diego Padilla. In the first season finale of OLTL, David learns that Dorian is on a date with wealthy businessman Carl Peterson at the gala while he's filming his reality show at the gala.

Crimes Committed[]

  • Punched Paul Cramer, causing him to hit his head on a bed post [May 20, 2004]
  • Got into a fistfight with Spencer Truman [Jul 13, 2005]

References[]

  1. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Name
  2. 2.0 2.1 SOAP STAR STATS: Tuc Watkins (David, OLTL). SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved on January 9, 2009.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 David Vickers profile. SoapCentral.com. Retrieved on January 9, 2009.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Error on call to Template:cite book: Parameter title must be specified pp. 84 (December 16, 2008 (Vol. 33, No. 51)).
  5. 5.0 5.1 Error on call to Template:cite book: Parameter title must be specified pp. 16 (December 23, 2008 (Vol. 33, No. 52)).
  6. 7.0 7.1 One Life to Live recap (12/26/08) - ABC.com
  7. One Life to Live recap (11/2/07) - Soaps.com
  8. One Life to Live recap (11/9/07) - ABC.com
  9. One Life to Live recap (11/9/07) - Soaps.com
  10. Error on call to Template:cite book: Parameter title must be specified pp. 37 (February 3, 2009 (Vol. 34, No. 05)).
  11. One Life to Live recap (12/29/08) - ABC.com
  12. One Life to Live recap (1/7/09) - Soaps.com
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