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PC's Thorsten Kaye (Ian)
Soap Opera Update - May 21, 2002
By Robyn Anne Nelson

The climax of PORT CHARLES' Dr. Ian Thornhart made women's hearts flutter from the moment he arrived in town. However, it was seeing him struggle with Eve's unexpected death and the harsh realityof raising their son alone that made his portrayer Thorsten Kaye touch the audience's heart.

The final moment of the book "Secrets" revealed that Eve was the occupant of the fifth chair. The real cliffhanger was waiting to find out how she died and how Ian would react. Unaware of the tragedy that was waiting for him, Ian's Irish grin and sparkling eyes gleamed as he arrived at the hospital to pick his wife up to go on their long-awaited honeymoon with their infant son Daniel. Typical in these situations, Ian did not believe Kevin when he learned of his wife's demise. Then, as a man of medicine, Ian wanted to see the body.

At first, it seemed as if Ian was still in denial, talking to his wife as if she could understand him. Then, when he covered her torso with his jacket, commenting on how cold she was, we saw Kaye's Ian begin to crack. The usually stoic Ian leaned in and whispered with tears brimming in his eyes, "I can't fix this." He then climbed upon the gurney and stroked Eve's hair.

Kaye was presented with an even greater challenge than conveying a husband's grief - how to cope with being a single parent. Ian fell asleep on the couch and Danny began crying. He called out to Eve, mumbling some response as to which one of them would tend to their infant son. It then suddently hit him that he was the only cone who could so it. Ian, with a soft and gentle voice, explained that it would be just him and Danny, but he'd never forget Eve.

The final blow was delivered with exquisite and raw emotion as Ian searched intensely for a present that Eve had given him on the day she died, which he had not yet opened. Kevin and Lucy arrived and Ian still had now found the trinket. Ian sank to his knees at a complete loss, over his inability to locate the item and to deal with a life without Eve. With that, Kaye's portrayal finally allowed viewers to get more than a glimpse of why he has long been considered such a gifted actor.