Hank Gannon
Actor History
Nathan Purdee (February 1992 to 2003)
Occupation
Professor of Law at Llanview University
District Attorney of Llantano County
Resides At
Stafford Arms - 376 High Street
Marital Status
Single
Past Marriages
Nora Hanen (divorced)
Sheila Price (married 14 February 1995; divorced 1996)
Relatives
Janine Gannon (mother; deceased)
R.J. Gannon (brother)
Keri Reynolds (niece; deceased)
Children
Rachel Gannon (daughter; with Nora)
Flings & Affairs
Lisa West
Carlotta Espinoza
Crimes Committed
None
Brief Character History
As District Attorney for Llantano County, Henry "Hank" Gannon is an extremely smart and ambitious workaholic, obsessed with the enforcement of the law. In his style, Hank is contemporary and urban. D.A. Gannon grew up on the streets of Chicago. He was a rebellious, chafing at the bit, smart-ass kind of teenager, until pushed by his mother -- and by a few good teachers who noticed him in school -- to use his brains to get ahead in the world. By senior year, he was a national high school football player, dubbed by the local papers as "The Cannon" Gannon. Hank attended Midwestern University where he met and married fellow student Nora Hanen. For many years, Hank never knew that, while in school, Nora slept with his younger brother, R.J. After Nora gave birth to a daughter, Rachel, her marriage to Hank became strained as constraints on their time and money intensified. When Rachel was five, Hank and Nora divorced. Hank was extremely bitter when Nora was granted full custody of their daughter.
As Llantano County District Attorney, Hank tried and won a 1992 conviction when Sarah Buchanan was charged with the murder of Carlo Hesser. (Sarah was found innocent when Carlo's niece Stephanie confessed to the crime. Later, Carlo was revealed to have staged the entire escapade.) Going head to head with his ex-wife, Nora, Hank tried the Marty Saybrooke rape case in which several fraternity brothers, including Kevin Buchanan and Todd Manning, were charged with sexually assaulting Marty. Marty recanted her testimony and exonerated Kevin, while the remaining three fraternity brothers were found guilty in 1993 after Marty, Kevin and Hank's daughter, Rachel obtained the evidence that drove Todd to plead guilty.
In 1994, Hank Gannon prosecuted Dorian Lord for the murder of Victor Lord and won the case, although later evidence caused the verdict to be overturned. In 1995, he presented the state's evidence against police officer Andy Harrison in a case involving possession of stolen gun, intent to sell, and the murder of "Ice," a local Llanview teenage gang member. The charges were eventually dropped. That same year, RJ Gannon, Hank's bad-boy brother, set out on a mission to destroy Hank's career. He chose as his weapon -- a doctored videotape taken when Hank was a student at Midwestern University that allegedly showed him standing by as a murder was committed. Hank resigned from office, but his friend Bo Buchanan located the real videotape, exonerating Hank, whose pristine reputation was restored.
On Valentine's Day, 1995, Hank married his longtime love, nurse Sheila Price. Their muddled marriage ended in 1996 after Sheila told Hank she was pregnant. Hank responded negatively to his wife's condition, causing Sheila angst. Days later, she miscarried the baby, then left Hank and went to London to stay with her brother Dr. Ben Price. In 1996, Hank was determined to find evidence to jail the recently resurrected mobster Carlo Hesser. When Carlo was shot in the head aboard a yacht in late 1996, Hank prosecuted Antonio Vega for the crime, but lost the case in 1997 when it was revealed that Alex Hesser, Carlo's former wife, was the culprit. In 1998, Hank thought he'd be prosecuting Todd Manning again - this time for murder! There was only one catch. Todd didn't kill Georgie Phillips, Hank's daughter Rachel did.
Hank dated Carlotta Vega for a while, but when he asked her to marry him, she turned him down and their relationship ended. Hank then started seeing Det. Lisa West of the Llanview Police Department. Hank works side by side with his best friend - Police Commissioner Bo Buchanan- and was Bo's best man in his wedding to Lindsay that never happened. Hank prosecuted Will Rappaport in his embezzlement case. Bo presented evidence to Hank that Asa Buchanan set him up. Hank couldn't quite give into Asa setting Will up, so he offered Will a plea bargain, which Judge Simmons threw out and gave Will the maximum sentence.
Hank was one of the many people who thought Nora had died in the train crash. Hank tried to help Sam Rappaport out with Matthew's paternity, discussing the situation with him. Hank was with Sam when he went to Colin's house looking for Nora and was convinced by Sam that Colin is behind Nora's disappearance. Hank was thrilled when Nora finally returned to Llanview, and he was the only one she remembered at first because she had lost most of her memory.
In 2001, Hank prosecuted Sam for Colin's murder, but when Nora remembered on the stand that she was the one who had killed Colin, he recommended that no charges be filed against her. Later that year, a young woman named Keri Reynolds came to town claiming that she was Hank's daughter. It turned out that Hank's brother, RJ, was really Keri's father. Keri was born when RJ was in jail and her mother never wanted RJ to know that she existed. Over the years, Hank gave Keri's mother money for her support, but never let his brother know that he had a daughter. RJ was furious with Hank when he finally learned the truth about Keri.
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