1973–1987 A newly minted physician, Dorian Cramer (Pinkerton) arrives in fictional
Llanview, Pennsylvania on the episode first-run April 30, 1973, along with her mentally ill sister,
Melinda (
Patricia Pearcy). Dorian takes a physician position at Llanview Hospital, where she quickly engages in a romantic affair with her married colleague,
Dr. Mark Toland (
Tommy Lee Jones). Melinda, in the meantime, wants Mark for herself. Upon learning of their affair, she schemes to drive them apart. After attacking Mark with a butcher's knife, Melinda is sent to a mental institution in 1974. originated the role of Dorian Cramer in 1973. Dorian and Mark continue their affair. During an intense exchange between the two, Dorian makes a careless error on a medical chart, resulting in the accidental death of terminally-ill patient
Rachel Wilson Farmer (
Nancy Barrett). Fearing for their careers, the two covered up the crime; extenuating circumstance, meanwhile, lead
Dr. Larry Wolek (
Michael Storm) to be arrested instead. With the guilt on her shoulders, Dorian later wants to confess, while Mark is content with allowing Larry to take the fall. As they argued over how to handle the situation, Dorian accidentally falls down a flight of stairs and goes into a coma. Upon waking, Dorian confesses and is immediately fired by the hospital board. An angered Dorian, burgeoning medical career dashed, blames
Victoria "Viki" Lord Riley (
Erika Slezak), a prominent hospital board member, for her termination. This begins a rivalry that would last for decades. What Dorian didn't know, uncovered in 2004, is that Viki cast the lone vote against her termination. Swearing revenge on Viki, Dorian becomes the private physician to Viki's ailing father,
Victor Lord (
Shepperd Strudwick), after she saves him from a near fatal heart-attack while at a party in her home. With dollar signs on her mind, Dorian ended up marrying a grateful Victor in May 1975, to Viki's chagrin. Dorian discovers that the newly arrived
Tony Harris (
George Reinholt) is Victor's illegitimate son from Viki's maternal aunt. Unable to keep the truth from being revealed, Tony and Victor eventually share an emotional reunion. Wanting to ensure that Tony's presence would not take away from her inheriting Victor's enormous fortune, Dorian succeeds in soon turning Victor and Tony into enemies and keeping them at odds. In the interim, Dorian manipulates Victor into altering his will in her favor. Victor ultimately learned that Dorian was behind his and Tony's contentious relationship, and suffered a massive heart attack during their confrontation on April 30, 1976. Determined to keep her husband from recovering, Dorian springs into action. She has Victor moved from the hospital to Llanfair, her aim being to keep him isolated as much as possible from his children. Caring for Victor with the help of Dr.
Peter Janssen (Jeff Pomerantz), she succeeds in preventing Victor from revealing the truth. Soon, a second stroke sends Victor back to the hospital. Victor is then able to summon the strength to ask Dr.
Jim Craig (
Nat Polen) to bring Viki to his room, much to Dorian's distress. However, once Viki arrives, Victor is only able to utter the words "...Dorian...phone...lawyer..." before collapsing. Under mysterious circumstances, and with Dr. Craig in the room, Victor dies June 16, 1976 without telling children Viki or Tony the truth about his wife's trickery. Dorian, however, is aided by a young reporter,
David Vickers (
Tuc Watkins) who forged an entry into Irene Manning's diary, implicating Irene in the murder. Dorian is freed and plots revenge against Viki. Dorian seduces Viki's son,
Joey Buchanan (
Nathan Fillion) and causes a rift between Joey and Viki, just as she had caused between Victor and Viki almost 20 years before. Viki is even more disturbed when Sloan dies in early 1995, shortly after their wedding. Viki confronts Dorian and splits into a new personality, "Jean Randolph", when Dorian reveals to Viki that Victor had molested Viki as a child—a fact which was implied throughout the series, that Viki was not consciously aware of, and that Dorian had always known since her marriage to Victor in the 1970s, when he remarked of such events in his sleep. Jean Randolph imprisons Dorian in Victor's secret room for months. Eventually, Dorian is released and blackmailed by Jean into (invalidly) marrying David. Viki eventually undergoes therapy, and it is discovered that Viki, not Dorian, had indeed murdered Victor in 1976. This revelation exonerates Dorian from wrongdoing, though she confesses to Viki that she withheld Victor's medication as he suffered from a heart attack (a fact never shown on-screen). Viki and Dorian reconcile, but only temporarily. In 1997, Dorian meets a man named
Mel Hayes (Stephen Markle). Mel is a reporter who covered her trial and who was previously offered a job at
The Banner by Victor Lord in the 1970s. Mel and Dorian hit it off, but she uncovers that he is a recovering alcoholic. Dorian and Mel have their ups-and-downs, and he later investigates Dorian's childhood, causing her great pain. It is revealed that Dorian and her sisters were abused by their mother,
Sonya Cramer, who was psychotic. Further, it is revealed that Sonya is still alive, despite being presumed dead at Dorian's original arrival in Llanview in 1973. In a heated confrontation, Sonya (
Marian Seldes) tries to kill Cassie, but Dorian picks up a statue and hit her on the head, killing her own mother. Dorian and Mel are briefly apart, but eventually reconcile and marry each other at
The Banner. In 1999, however, Mel goes on a trip to a publisher's conference with Viki. Dorian does not want Mel to go and they have a fight. Mel leaves angry and boards the flight. He switches seats with Viki, and Dorian had given the flight attendant a message for Mel saying that his family needs him. The note is given to Viki, and believing the letter to be for her, leaves the plane. The plane crashes, killing Mel. Dorian blames Viki and their age-old feud continues. Dorian later attempts to reconcile with Viki, but then hits her pregnant daughter,
Jessica Buchanan (Erin Torpey) with her car, killing her baby. Dorian attempts to cover her crime, though she eventually confesses and seeks Jessica's forgiveness. In early 2000, Drake Faraday (
Leigh McCloskey), an old friend of Mel's, comes to town and asks Dorian to leave with him. Dorian agrees and says goodbye to her Cramer women and reconciles with Viki.
2003–2011, 2013 In 2003, it is revealed that Mitch Laurence and Victor (William Stone Mahoney) were both still alive. Stunned, Dorian returns home to find that Mitch had manipulated Victor into changing his will and giving everything to him. Dorian marries Mitch and gains his confidence. Living at Llanfair once again, Dorian plotted to kill Mitch. When Mitch finally died, Dorian leaves Llanfair and has the marriage annulled. The will is also overturned and Victor's original will was reinstated (thus, reinstating Dorian's partial share of the estate). Dorian begins studying for her medical license to be reinstated. In 2004, when Viki needed a heart transplant, Dorian and Viki reconcile once again, and Dorian is given the job of Chief of Staff at Llanview Hospital. Meanwhile, Dorian reveals she had another daughter by unseen mobster Manuel Santi.
Adriana Cramer (
Melissa Fumero) is revealed as her daughter that she bore while she was in Mendorra but gave her up to protect her from her father. Dorian also begins to reconcile with her ex-husband, David, and the two are to remarry, but David leaves Dorian at the altar. Soon, Dorian begins dating Clint (
Jerry verDorn) again. In 2007, Dorian takes in the friend of her great-niece
Starr Manning (
Kristen Alderson),
Langston Wilde (
Brittany Underwood), and becomes her foster mother.
Buchanan family patriarch Asa dies that year and, at the time of reading of his will, David and Dorian sleep together and Clint breaks up with Dorian. Seeking revenge, Dorian initiated a hostile takeover of
Buchanan Enterprises, but she eventually agrees to return it. In 2009, Dorian runs for Mayor of Llanview against Viki. Dorian runs on a platform of
marriage equality and goes so far as to marry a woman on election day. In turn, Dorian is arrested and put in prison, where she discovers Mitch Laurence, who apparently had not died as was previously thought in 1987 and again in 2003. Mitch blackmails Dorian to fire Clint's brother,
Bo (
Robert S. Woods) as Chief of Police, putting in former mayor and Mitch disciple Stanley Lowell (Kevin O'Rourke) in his place. Dorian then attempts to kill Mitch by bribing Viki's new husband,
Charlie Banks (
Brian Kerwin), but then attempt to do so herself. Mitch threatens Dorian's girls, and her sister Melinda mysteriously dies in her sleep off-screen. Dorian continued in her role as Mayor of Llanview throughout 2010 and 2011. She reconciled with Viki after David left her at the altar again and
Echo DiSavoy (
Kim Zimmer) returns to town and attempted to break up another one of Viki's marriages. Dorian has a sordid history with Echo and tried to destroy her, eventually succeeding by proving that Echo lied to Charlie about the paternity of her biological son,
Rex Balsom (John-Paul Lavoisier). Charlie, heartbroken, agrees to Viki's request for a divorce and leaves Llanview. Dorian and David reconcile one last time and marry for the third time, in 2011. In August 2011, Dorian is asked by the governor of Pennsylvania to take over as U.S. senator as the incumbent senator was caught in a
sexting scandal. Dorian resigns as mayor, says goodbye to her girls, and reconciled with Viki one final time, leaving Llanview on August 24, 2011. The role of Dorian continues in an off-screen capacity, most notably by talking Blair (
Kassie DePaiva) through an impromptu medical procedure on Todd, and pulling strings as a favor to Viki to get an expedited marriage certificate for her sister Tina and
Cord Roberts (
John Loprieno). After One Life to Live's series finale on January 13, 2012, Dorian's character continued to exist in continuity on sister soap,
General Hospital. On the episode first aired on December 3, 2012, it is mentioned that Dorian is still a U.S. Senator and she's on the Senate Intelligence committee, a role in which agents of the CIA refer to her as "the wicked witch of the Intelligence Committee." In 2013, it is said that Dorian has been involved in a scandal involving the
CIA and the delaying of information to fellow committee members; the story was broken by
The Banner, the newspaper Dorian's sometimes friend sometimes enemy Viki owns and publishes. ==References and notes==