Soap Dish: Groovy 'Guiding Light' Gal #2

To honor the daytime soap opera, Guiding Light (which will broadcast its final episode on September 18), I'm featuring the 25 Grooviest Guys and Gals of Springfield over the next few months. The first Groovy Guiding Light Gal was Nola Reardon Chamberlain, and here are 10 historical highlights about our second Groovy Gal:

India von Halkein

1) India von Halkein, the daughter of Baron Leo von Halkein of Andorra, first appeared on August 1, 1984, when she hitchhiked into Springfield on a dark and stormy night to seek revenge on her stepmother, Alexandra Spaulding, for divorcing her father and leaving him broke (actually India's alcoholic dad had gambled away the family fortune). When a handsome young man offered her a lift, the troublemaking temptress quickly seduced him. He later introduced India to his "Aunt Alex", who was just the woman she was looking for. And the name of the man was Phillip Spaulding.



2) India was a very naughty girl as she paid Andy Ferris for a tape of a conversation, in which Phillip admitted to hiring him to sabotage a nightclub--and accidentally causing the blindness of Phillip's former fiancée, Beth. She then blackmailed the wealthy Mr. Spaulding into marrying her in December 1984.




3) India and Phillip's marriage was not a happy union as he refused to consummate their wedded bliss. He believed that she was only after his money, but India had actually fallen in love with him and decided to hand over the incriminating tape as proof of her feelings. Unfortunately, other folks also wanted the tape--including Alexandra, who was looking for a way to get India out of their lives.

4) When Alex finally got the tape, she threatened to give it to the police unless India left town. But now Phillip, who wanted to gain control of Spaulding Enterprises, had begun to kind of like the tenacious young lady, so he came up with a plan to keep her around by falsely announcing at Alex's Valentine's Day party that India was pregnant with his baby!

5) India now decided to make Phillip's lie a reality by secretly giving him a love potion, but instead he became ill from it and had to be hospitalized. After Beth found the potion and had it tested, she informed a shocked Phillip that his loving wife had been poisoning him (the potion contained strychnine). Having also learned that India had lied about really being pregnant, Phillip threw her out of the house.

6) Phillip and India eventually reconciled and consummated their marriage (without the aid of any potion)--and he even put her in charge of the Spaulding Foundation. But when their relationship began to sour due to his continued feelings for Beth, a dejected India began an affair with a mysterious man that she met on a train in January 1986 (he later revealed that he was Simon Hall, Alex's half-brother, which turned out to be a lie). Phillip now wanted to give their marriage another chance, but after discovering India and Simon kissing, he changed his mind and quickly divorced her. India then hoped to marry Simon, but he was no longer interested in her.



7) In the spring of 1986, India embezzled money from the Spaulding Foundation to help save her father's castle in Andorra. Phillip was furious when he learned of her crime, but Alex, who didn't want a scandal, bailed India out of jail and paid her $500,000 to quietly leave town. However, the judge had different plans for India, who was sentenced to 30 days of community service at a detention center for juvenile delinquents.



8) At the center India met a mischievous 11-year-old orphan, Dorie Smith, whom she eventually wanted to adopt. But to do so, she needed a legitimate job, so she bought Cachet, an art gallery. However, she was forced by Alan Spaulding, her new lover and Phillip's adoptive father, to handle stolen art through her new business. India then decided to go care for her ailing father in Andorra. Alex, who knew all about the art scam, forced India to sign over the gallery to her before she and Dorie left town in April 1987.

9) India returned to Springfield in August 1990 after she bumped into her fugitive ex-husband, Phillip, on the deserted island of Capraia. Having faked his own death to clear himself of a crime he didn't commit, Phillip now promised India Spaulding stock to keep quiet about his plans, and she later became vice president of Spaulding Enterprises when she threatened to reveal that he was alive. India eventually helped exonerate Phillip before she once again returned to Andorra in December 1990.





10) On November 20, 1998, a broke India returned to Springfield looking for a rich man to marry. She accepted a job at Spaulding and finally buried the hatchet with Alex. She also briefly became involved with Ross Marler, who was still in love with his estranged wife, Blake. India disappeared from the show without any explanation in August 1999, but she has made two short visits in the last decade: in October 2002, she returned for a Spaulding board meeting to cast her vote on whether Alex or Alan would control Spaulding Enterprises (she voted for Alex). And in September 2005, India appeared again for another board meeting to vote in an unexpected CEO--Harley Cooper.



Finally, here's an interesting bit of trivia about Mary Kay Adams, the actress who has portrayed India--she is a direct descendant of presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. She also played Neal Keller Alcott on As the World Turns (1992-93) and Death on One Life to Live (1992). Hopefully Ms. Adams and Ms. von Halkein will be making a final visit to Springfield in the near future.