Julia Barr (1976 to 1981, 1982 to December 14th, 2006)
Elissa Leeds (1976)
Harriet Hall (1981)
Occupation
Executor of Edmund Grey's last will and testament.
Owner of Tempo magazine
Editor of Tempo Magazine
Head of the Brooke English House (homeless shelter)
Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity
Ed English (father; deceased)
Peg English (adoptive mother; deceased)
Jane Dobrin (biological mother)
Phoebe Wallingford (paternal aunt)
Lincoln Tyler (paternal cousin)
Ann Tyler (paternal cousin; deceased)
Elizabeth Martin (paternal first cousin once removed; deceased)
Children
Laura Cudahy (with Tom Cudahy; deceased)
Unnamed Child (with Eddie Dorrance; abortion)
James Edward Martin (with Tad Martin)
Unnamed Child (with Tad Martin; ectopic pregnancy; abortion)
Laura Kirk (daughter; via adoption)
Blackmailed Phoebe into letting her stay in town after she realized Phoebe wasn't paralysed. [1978]
Jailed for refusing to reveal a source in an article.
Kidnapped Jamie after learning she had an ectopic pregnancy.
Shot and killed Jim Thomasen; Stood trial for murder but was acquitted.
Coerced/bribed a couple into donating their dead nephew's heart. [Jun 2001]
Brief Character History
Brooke English, a rebellious teen, came to live with her rich aunt Phoebe in Pine Valley. She tried to pit Dan Kennicott and Benny Sago, who wanted her affections, against each other. After these teenage romance episodes, she became a reporter. From her union with Tom, came a beautiful little girl named Laura, who was tragically killed by a drunk driver. Jamie, her miracle child, is Brooke's pride and joy. It seems as if Brooke always picks up Erica's discarded men, because they have almost all been involved with La Kane.
Brooke fell in love with Pierce Riley, a reclusive artist in 1996. She was torn between the dark, hidden ways of Pierce and the powerful Adam Chandler. Brooke eventually chose Pierce, only to give him up for her family. Brooke, you see, felt that she needed to devote time to her son, Jamie, and her newly adopted daughter, Laura Kirk. Pierce went away to New Mexico, but he did return to Pine Valley a few months later. Things heated up for Pierce and Brooke and the couple became engaged. Pierce was haunted by memories of his past and his "forced" execution of a woman he fell in love with in Central America, Christina. No one knew, but Christina was still alive. She somehow survived her gunshot wounds and spent nearly two decades in jail. When Brooke began a search for the woman and the child she had conceived with Pierce, the Central American captors released Christina. She headed to Pine Valley under the name Diana Martinez to tell her story to Brooke, not knowing that Brooke was in love with Pierce. The truth was exposed and Pierce was left to deal with his feelings for Christina.
After Pierce left, Brooke devoted most of her time to her work. She was nominated for an award in New York. On the way back to Pine Valley she took Transglobal flight 149. The plane crashed killing everyone but four people - Brooke, Edmund, Maddie, and Jim Thomasen. Jim helped Brooke save Edmund and Maddie but they did not reach Maria in time and she went over with the plane into the water below. Jim had trailed Brooke from New York, because he knew that she was a wealthy woman and had just adopted Laura Kirk. Laura and Jim had a past in New York. Jim took pornographic pictures of Laura when she was younger. Brooke teamed with Jim to find out about why the plane crashed. Jim was with her every step of the way, and they learned that the plane's crash was attributed to faulty turbine blades and that Adam Chandler was behind it. Laura was kidnapped by a druggie, Ricky, who was hired by Jim to do it for money. Jim "saved" Laura and became a hero in Brooke's eyes. Little did she know, Jim was behind the scheme. As the relationship between Brooke and Jim got heated, Jim told Laura that she would be better off in Boston where nobody would know her. Laura left after New Years Day 1998. Brooke was notified that the investigators from the plane crash had found new evidence. She headed down to see what it was, it was a luggage fragment that contained explosives. Jim told Brooke to leave it alone. Brooke being Brooke would not let it rest. One evening Brooke went to Jim's apartment and headed for the closet to find something and stumbled across the same style luggage found at the crash site. She became very suspicious of Jim. She confronted him with this, but the only explanation she received from Jim was a pack of lies and half-truths. Brooke asked Mateo to do some undercover work and find out all he could about Jim Thomasen.
The truth about Jim turned Brooke's world upside-down. She arranged a late-night meeting with Jim at the Chandler Gallery. There, she showed Jim blown up photos that he had taken of Laura. Jim taunted Brooke, saying that if she even thought about calling the police, he would seek out Jamie and take pornographic photos of him. Brooke retaliated by brandishing a gun and shooting Jim several times in the back. Brooke was arrested for murder, but a subsequent trial set her free. Still, the memory of taking someone's life haunted Brooke even after her acquittal.
Brooke floated freely through the next year or so, focusing mainly on her son and her business. She had a brief mini-relationship with Dimitri Marick that never reaped more than a few pointed barbs from Dimitri's ex, Erica.
In the first half of 2000, Reverend Eliot Freeman found Brooke working herself ragged at the community center. Brooke's grief for her dead daughter, Laura, came rushing back to the surface when a drunken Arlene Vaughan crashed her car into a telephone pole that ended up slamming through the center's outer wall. Eliot comforted Brooke and got her to open up about the pain she was still feeling for her daughter. The pair grew closer and closer, even being awarded temporary custody of foster child Ricky Collins, but Brooke was unaware that Eliot had a secret he was keeping from her --- he had another identity. Before "finding God," Eliot went by another name --- Josh Waleski, the man who had killed her daughter. Eliot was eventually forced into telling Brooke that he was the man who had taken her daughter from him. Brooke erupted in a fury and lashed out at Eliot for having lied to her for months. More importantly, Brooke was left to question herself for allowing herself to fall in love with the man who had killed her daughter. Eliot decided to leave town to help Brooke heal. Before Eliot left for good, Brooke finally found a way to forgive Eliot.
In Spring 2001, an Ecstasy overdose aggravated a pre-existing heart condition in Brooke's daughter, Laura. A cardiologist on staff at Pine Valley Hospital determined that Laura's condition was quite grave - and potentially deadly. Erica and Brooke put aside their differences to become an unlikely pair, determined to free Dr. David Hayward from jail so that he could do risky surgery to attempt to save or prolong Laura's life. The two women put aside their differences, brought together by a common bond: motherhood. Later that spring, a frantic Brooke begged Leo du Pres to pretend to be interested in her dying daughter, Laura, so that this romantic interest would spur Laura to fight for her life. Leo initially refused, but over time he and Laura grew more and more close. It was suspect if Leo truly loved Laura, but it was clear that he really did care for Laura and wanted to see her recover fully. As Laura's condition worsened, Brooke paid a couple to donate their dead nephew's heart to Laura. On June 18th, Leo popped the question to a hospitalized Laura -- and she accepted. Just two days later, the pair married in Laura's hospital room with Brooke, Bianca Montgomery, Best Man David Hayward, and nurse Zora in attendance. However, in spite of her happiness, Laura's health continued to deteriorate rapidly and the only possible way to save her life was with a heart transplant.
Laura's heart transplant was successful, but it caused Laura to spin out of control. As Brooke helped care for Laura, she once again became close to Edmund Grey. Brooke convinced Laura to seek out professional help in early 2002. On Valentine's Day, 2002, Edmund proposed and Brooke accepted. Brooke and Edmund announced their engagement and Vanessa took Greenlee hostage by holding a knife to Greenlee's throat, which disrupted their engagement party.
Brooke encountered problems with the engagement because Jamie was trying to reunite Tad and Brooke. Tad and Edmund were both jealous of one another. Edmund believed Tad was trying to take Brooke away from him and Tad blamed Edmund for Brooke's family difficulties.
After she saw a drawing done by Maureen Gorman, a drawing that strongly resembled Wildwind, Brooke became convinced that Maureen Gorman was in fact Maria Grey. Brooke and Tad traveled to Nevada to find Maureen Gorman. When Brooke saw Maureen and realized it was Maria she fainted. Tad later went to see Maria and eyed a different girl and did not believe Brooke actually saw Maria. Tad tried to convince Brooke she just "thought" she saw Maria.
At Brooke and Edmund's wedding, Maddie saw Maria and followed her into the mausoleum. After Brooke and Edmund had completed their wedding vows and were officially married, Maddie burst into the chapel and announced that she had just been with her mother. Brooke admitted to Edmund she knew Maria was really alive and Edmund went to find Maria. Edmund and Brooke's marriage was annulled but Brooke continued to help Edmund reunite with Maria.
After having several drinks, Brooke and Adam made passionate love. Brooke and Adam repeated the encounter, then others became aware of the affair. Brooke told Adam she would only continue the affair as long as it remained a secret. Since others had learned about them she was going to end the affair. At the Venetian Party Fund-raiser for the Brooke English Homeless Shelter, an inebriated Jamie blurted out that Brooke and Adam were having an affair.
Brooke and Edmund worked on rebuilding their friendship after her deceptions, but soon her worries turned to Jamie, who turned out to have slept with his former step-brother J.R.'s new wife Babe. Brooke was relieved when Babe's daughter turned out to be J.R.'s. She couldn't understand when Jamie left town with Babe until Tad admitted to her that baby Bess Chandler was really Miranda Montgomery, and Babe and J.R.'s son was alive and well in Llanview. Brooke was relieved when the charges were eventually dropped against Babe, but not pleased at his continuing relationship with Babe.
Brooke was devastated when Edmund was killed in the barn one night, then faced the unpleasant task of telling his wife that not only was she (Brooke) named executor of Edmund's estate, she also had more say over Wildwind and Maria's children than Maria did. The two women were at odds for some time but finally found a way to co-exist for the sake of the children. Brooke was inconsolable when her beloved aunt Phoebe passed away, and was shocked to learn that Phoebe had left everything to Jamie provided he dump Babe. Eventually he did, and Brooke was pleased to see her son pursuing his dream of medicine (as well as being Babe-free), but not too pleased when Jamie's next paramour was the recently-returned-to-town Amanda Dillon. But after Janet Dillon was revealed as the mastermind behind the masquerade ball explosion as well as numerous other goings on in Pine Valley, Brooke welcomed a devastated Amanda into her home.
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