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Saturday, November 21st, 2009  

  
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lavoisier_johnpaul Rex Balsom


Actor History

John Paul LaVoisier (May 9, 2002 to Present)


Occupation

Private investigator; Owner of Balsom Investigations
Owner of Ultra Violet nightclub
Former restaurant owner
Former waiter
Former employee at the Palace Hotel



Resides At

Llanview


Marital Status

Single/Divorced (Adriana Cramer) [Married: May 20, 2008; Divorced: Nov 4, 2008]


Past Marriages

Jennifer Rappaport (July 2003 to August 2003; deceased)
Adriana Cramer [Married: May 20, 2008; Divorced: Nov 4, 2008]


Relatives

Walter Balsom (stepfather; deceased)
Roxanne Balsom (mother)
Mitch Laurence (father)
Natalie Buchanan (foster sister)
Stella Balsom (grandmother)
Corrine Balsom (aunt)


Children

Shane Morasco (son with Gigi Morasco)
Unborn Child (miscarried; with Stacy)


Flings & Affairs


Gigi Morasco
Lindsay Rappaport
Jennifer Rappaport
Shannon McBain
Adriana Cramer (lovers)
Stacy Morasco (one-night stand; June 2009)


Crimes Committed

Robbery; burglarized rooms at the Palace Hotel

Held responsible for the fire that burned down Roxy's hair salon

Planted a gun in Dorian Lord's office for $10,000

Broke into and searched Daniel Colson's room

Fraud and forgery; created a fake death certificate for TJ Manning

Accessory after the fact to TJ's kidnapping

Breach of contract; paid by Todd Manning to find out what happened to TJ, and lied about what he'd found, telling Todd that TJ was dead

Broke into Llanview Hospital with Natalie Buchanan to view surveillance tapes from the night Chloe Brennan was born

Snuck into Llanview Country Club with Stacy and ran up bill using false identity [May 2009]


Maladies & Hospitalizations

Rendered comatose by a gunshot wound [Oct 2008]


Brief Character History

At a young age, Rex Balsom was taken away from his mother, Roxanne, and was sent to live in Michigan with his Aunt Corinne. With dreams of hitting it rich running through his head, Rex saw his opportunity in 2003 when he was sought out by the wealthy Jessica Buchanan. At that point, Jess learned that she was Roxanne's daughter, and she was anxious to get to know her real family. With dollar signs in his eyes, Rex followed Jess to her home in Llanview. Although Jess later learned that she wasn't Roxanne's daughter, Rex stayed in town with his mother and Natalie, whom he had always viewed as a sister.

Because he was forced to build a life, Rex got a job at the Palace Hotel, where he met Jennifer Rappaport. The two became good friends and even partners in crime, burglarizing rooms at the hotel. Then one day, the two impulsively married. However, the marriage was short-lived because of her affair with Joey Buchanan, a minister in training, whom she was in love with. Although Jen pleaded for a divorce, Rex refused to grant it until Kevin Buchanan offered him a bribe. Finally free, Jen and Joey wed almost immediately after her divorce was finalized, but Jen was not thrilled with the life of a minister's wife. She ultimately slept with Rex while married to Joey. As hard as she tried to keep the tryst a secret, Joey found out and ended the marriage. By this point Rex found himself very attracted to Jen's mother, Lindsey. Rex and Lindsey tried to fight the attraction but they were unsuccessful and began an affair. Later, Jen decided to restore her relationship with Rex -- that is until she caught him kissing her own mother!

Rex borrowed money from R.J. to open a restaurant, not realizing that he was putting Ultraviolet on the line. He talked Roxy into setting her hair salon on fire, but the two came to their senses at the last minute. The salon ended up burning down anyway, and Rex lost everything, including Ultraviolet. Rex ended up sentenced to community service after what happened with the hair salon fire, and signed on for the Love Crew, a group of college students living and working together. He still wanted to get Ultraviolet back, though. He and Paul Cramer teamed up to do an art heist for R.J., but the heist went sour when Natalie, not wanting to see Rex in trouble, sabotaged it for him. R.J. was furious, but good fortune came Rex's way when he and Shannon found a missing Asa Buchanan, and Asa paid them a healthy reward. Rex was halfway to getting Ultraviolet back. Once he realized that R.J. was responsible for trying to sabotage the Love Center, he blackmailed R.J. into giving the club back to him.

After Paul stole a tape of Rex and Lindsay having sex and posted it on the Internet, Rex was furious. Shortly after, Paul ended up dead. Rex believed that Jen was the murderer, and was determined to protect her at all costs, even burying what he believed was the murder weapon and, later, planting a gun in Dorian's office after getting a mysterious request, which included $10,000. Jen finally convinced Rex that she was, indeed, innocent of Paul's murder, and when it seemed as though her boyfriend Riley wasn't as sure of her innocence, Rex found himself getting closer to Jen. He was working with Bo Buchanan to prove her innocence and believed he had finally found the information he needed, only to find Jen's body in her car in the parking garage. Rex was devastated by her death, which was initially believed a suicide, but he soon became determined to find the person he realized had killed her and set up the scene. Rex helped Bo identify Daniel Colson as the murderer, and played a huge role in finding out that Daniel's motivation was to hide the fact that he was gay. After Daniel was put away, Rex felt at loose ends, but realized he really liked working with Bo, and began asking the commissioner to let him in.

Bo offered Rex a place at the Llanview Police Department, but Rex decided to become a private investigator instead. He started his work by helping Bo find Margaret and Jessica/Tess. Todd hired Rex in hopes of clearing himself of Margaret's murder. Rex found out that Todd's alibi was fabricated and ended up getting arrested for his involvement with Todd. Bo also asked Rex to help him track down Paige's son who had been put up for adoption years earlier. Rex also helped Bo set up a trap for Spencer Truman, making their bond stronger.

During this time, Rex and Adriana Cramer started to become friends. Rex helped Adriana get her foot in the modeling agency by setting up a photo shoot with her as the cover model for "Craze" magazine. Adriana's mother, Dorian, didn't approve of her daughter's relationship with Rex, and framed Rex for possession of heroin in order to keep Adriana away from him. Luckily for Rex, that didn't work and the couple continued to grow closer. With Adriana's growing fame, she started to feel threatened by a man who was stalking her. Rex used his PI skills to find more information on Adriana's stalker, but Adriana became suspicious that Rex was, in fact, her stalker! She tried to get away from him at any cost and put herself in worse danger. Rex ended up saving Adriana… but not before getting shot in the process. Rex and Adriana became an official couple after this incident.

Rex and Natalie were asked by Michael and Marcie to become their adoptive son, Tommy McBain's, godparents. Rex was honored and strived to be the best godparent for Tommy. Feeling on the top of the world, Rex took two new jobs. One of them was finding Todd and Margaret's son and the other was finding Tommy's birth parents for Michael and Marcie. He found out that Tommy was really Todd's biological son and proceeded to hide it from both the adoptive parents and the biological father. Rex's strange behavior gave him away to Michael, and he ended up admitting to him that Tommy was Todd's son. Michael and Rex decided to keep the secret between the two of them and eventually even got arrested for their strange behavior regarding Spencer Truman's murder. Both men were brought in for questioning for the murder and both suspected the other did the deed. Luckily, they were both innocent and were able to hide the truth from John during his questioning. Rex then knew he had to hide the truth from Todd, because Todd was hell-bent on finding his son. He even followed Todd all the way to Chicago to foil Todd's investigation.

Tate Harmon, the famous baseball player, came to town and became the new face for Exposed. Rex immediate became jealous of Tate's interest in Adriana. He knew that something was shady with Tate and tried to figure things out himself. Using some sloppy PI work, Rex announced on live TV that Tate Harmon was gay. This caused a rift between him and Adriana, and eventually caused them to break up. Adriana continued to see Tate as a friend but Rex continued to want to protect her. Tate ended up being the One Pure People arsonist in Llanview, and threatened both Rex and Adriana's lives. Once Adriana realized that Rex was right about Tate, they got back together.

Rex and Adriana conspired to keep the truth from coming out that Marcie and Michael's adopted son was in fact Todd's biological son, but the truth ultimately was revealed. Marcie McBain then absconded with Todd's son, and Rex went searching for her. His search led him to Paris, Texas, where he came face to face with his high school fling, Gigi Morasco. Rex had walked out on Gigi when he left Michigan to move to Llanview, and seeing her again brought back romantic feelings he once had for her. Little did Rex realize that Gigi had become pregnant by Rex and had given birth to their son, Shane. Gigi kept this information from Rex, however, since she had long told her son that his father was a Navy SEAL and war hero who had died in battle. Gigi felt sympathy for Marcie, who she believed was running away from an abusive husband, and sold Marcie's wedding ring to Rex, who then used it to propose to Adriana. When Michael McBain saw the ring, he recognized it as Marcie's, which led them to find Marcie in Paris, Texas. Todd's son was returned to him and Marcie was arrested, and Gigi was brought back to Llanview for questioning. Adriana felt threatened by Gigi and correctly presumed that Shane was Rex's son. She and Dorian conspired to locate the man Gigi had told Shane was his father, Brody Lovett, who it turned out had not died at all. They brought Brody to town and he appeared at Rex and Adriana's wedding, just as Gigi declared her love for Rex and was preparing to reveal that Rex was Shane's father. Stunned to learn that Brody was alive, Gigi did not tell Rex that Shane was his son and Rex resumed marrying Adriana.

Rex and Adriana's marriage quickly fell apart, however, after Rex learned about her part in bringing Brody to town. The final straw was when Rex discovered that Adriana had stole his toothbrush. Adriana claimed it was to conduct DNA tests on Charlie Banks, who had claimed to be Rex's father, but she really stole it so she could learn for certain whether Rex was Shane's son. Adriana and Rex separated, and Adriana left for Paris, France.

Rex fought his growing attraction to Gigi, but at one point they gave in and kissed. She continued to lie to him about Shane being his son, however. Soon thereafter, Rex left on a hunt for Bo, who had left Lindsey at the alter and vanished. Rex found Bo at the Buchanan ranch outside Paris, Texas. During a lightening storm, the two were struck and transported back to 1968, where they encountered people from Llanview who looked like Buchanan relatives and acquaintances. Through the help of a psychic, Delfina, Gigi managed to transport herself back in time and come face to face with Rex in 1968. They acknowledged their love for each other and, after Gigi admitted to Rex that Shane was his son, both were transported to the present day.

Rex and Gigi planned to tell Shane the truth, but returned to Llanview to discover that Brody had faked a DNA test with Rex's toothbrush (which Adriana had mailed to Gigi while she was searching for Rex) to declare that he was Shane's biological father. Gigi told Brody that she was going to tell Shane the truth after school, and Brody snapped. He ransacked the carriage house, knocked out Marcie and went to Shane's school and signed him out. After a failed attempt to get the court to change Shane's last name to Lovett, Brody took Shane to Llantano Mountain and soon began to see images of fighting in the war. Rex and Gigi learned from a war buddy of Brody's that Brody had accidentally shot and killed a civilian child about the same age as Shane just before his tour of duty ended. They descended on Llantano Mountain and, after releasing Shane, Brody snapped and fired his gun in the direction of Rex, Gigi and Shane. Rex threw himself over Gigi and Shane and was shot. While Rex was in surgery, Gigi admitted to Shane that Rex was his father. During surgery, Rex dreamed he was on a game show hosted by Colin McIver in which he was challenged as to whether he could be Shane Morasco's father. When Rex awoke from surgery, he first laid eyes on Adriana, who had returned from Paris after hearing of Rex's shooting. Rex promptly lost consciousness again and was unresponsive. Adriana refused to let Gigi see Rex and secretly moved him to Dorian's home, La Boulaie, where she had a hospital room set up in the living room so Rex could be treated. With Marcie's help, Gigi snuck into La Boulaie to see Rex, who woke up. Adriana overheard Gigi and Rex's conversation and realized she had no chance of being with Rex again. She agreed to grant Rex a divorce and returned to Paris.

Rex and Shane had an awkward reunion at first, since Shane still thought of Brody as his dad and was worried about Brody, who was being cared for at a VA hospital. Rex decided not to press charges against Brody, allowing him to be remanded to St. Anne's psychiatric hospital for treatment of his post traumatic stress disorder. Shane slowly came around to Rex and began to consider him his real father. Rex and Gigi struggled to pay the bills following Rex's hospital stay, and Rex jumped at the chance to get a big cash payoff for helping the Buchanan family track down David Vickers so they could tell David that he was Asa's son before Dorian could get her hooks in him. Rex and Gigi followed a lead to Las Vegas, only to find out that the couple getting married there was Dorian's cook Moe Stubbs and waitress Noelle Ortiz. While in Las Vegas, a stripper who went by the name "Gigi" spotted Rex and Gigi and followed them back to Llanview. Rex and Gigi were invited by the Buchanan's to the Go Red Ball, but the stripper snuck into the carriage house and stole Gigi's dress and ticket and showed up at the ball claiming to be Gigi. When the real Gigi showed up and managed to track down Rex, they came face to face with the stripper, who turned out to be Gigi's younger sister Stacy Morasco. Gigi was stunned to learn from Stacy that their parents had died years ago, and Rex comforted her.

Rex, meanwhile, got his own shock when DNA tests the Buchanan's performed on David showed that David was Rex's father! It turned out that the tests were wrong, but not before Roxy confirmed to Rex that David was his daddy. When Rex confronted Roxy for lying once again about his father, Roxy broke down and admitted to Rex that his father was dead, and that she had killed him! Rex was grateful for finally knowing the truth, unaware that Roxy was lying yet again to protect the identity of Rex's true father, who she said was walking around town and closer than anyone realized.

Gigi invited Stacy to stay at the carriage house with them, unaware that Stacy had harbored a secret crush on Rex for years and had come back to town to get Rex for herself. One night, Stacy plotted to ensure that Gigi had to work and Shane would stay over at a friend's house. She drugged Rex's beer and waited for Rex to pass out. Then she stripped down into her underwear and began to perform a lap dance on Rex. When Rex passed out, Stacy moved him upstairs and stripped off his clothes and laid down beside him. Gigi and Shane returned home, after having been in a car accident, and Gigi went into the bedroom to find Stacy on top of Rex. Rex slowly came to, still feeling the effects of the drugs, and denied having done anything with Stacy. But Stacy said Rex had come onto her, and Gigi wasn't sure who to believe. Rex went to the hospital and got a blood test to prove that he had been drugged. While waiting for the results, Dr. Michael McBain approached Rex and told him that he had done blood tests on Shane following the car accident, and the results were tragic: Shane had leukemia. Rex was stunned, and called Gigi to the hospital where Michael broke the news to her. Gigi forgot all about what had transpired between Rex and Stacy, as Rex and Gigi went into crisis mode. They summoned Stacy and Roxy to the hospital to tell them the news, and everyone got blood tests to see if they could be a bone marrow donor for Shane. Stacy happened to be in the lab when Rex's blood tests came back, and she threw the results in the trash. Rex and Gigi told Shane about his illness, and Rex admitted to Roxy and Bo that he didn't know how to deal with finding out Shane was his son last year only to lose him now.

Rex was ecstatic to learn that Stacy was a match for Shane, but Gigi didn't seem as excited. One day, Gigi led Rex to Brody's apartment and Rex was shocked to walk in to find Gigi and Brody in bed together. Gigi told Rex that she couldn't get over him sleeping with Stacy and that they were over. Rex was dumbfounded and told Gigi he forgave her for sleeping with Brody, even proposing to marry her, but a tearful Gigi insisted they were through. Rex couldn't understand why Gigi was being so rude to her sister, since she donated her bone marrow to save Shane. What he didn't know was that Stacy had only agreed to donate her bone marrow on the condition that Gigi break up with Rex. And what Gigi didn't know was that Stacy wasn't a match at all; the real donor was Rex's mysterious father, who wasn't dead at all but was lying in a hospital bed in a supposed coma. After Stacy's former boyfriend Schuler Joplin discovered that Stacy had thrown her own bag of blood in the hospital trash, he presented the blood to Rex and told him that something wasn't right about Shane's transfusion. But Rex refused to believe Schuyler. In fact, after Schuyler kicked Stacy out of his apartment, Rex let Stacy move in with him at his loft. Rex and Stacy began to get closer, and Stacy even duped Rex into giving her $20,000 so she could pay back the money she stole from her old boss in Las Vegas. After seeing Shane perform in a community musical, Rex and Stacy snuck into the Llanview Country Club under assumed names and rang up a huge bill. When they got caught at the pool, they snuck into a bedroom at the club and began making out. Their session was interrupted by the club manager, who had them taken to the police station but agreed not to press charges as a favor to Bo. Bo chided Rex for fooling around with Stacy, when Gigi was the woman he really wanted to be with. Later, after Stacy had finished teaching a dance class to little girls at Ultraviolet, Rex told Stacy he wanted to be with her, and the two made love on the floor of the club. After Stacy had left, Gigi walked into the club and stunned Rex by admitting that she had lied about being with Brody and that Stacy had blackmailed her into breaking up with him in exchange for giving Shane her stem cells, only she wasn't the real donor after all. When Stacy walked in, Rex pretended that he was still on the outs with Gigi, but later he told Gigi he forgave her for what she had done. Rex failed, however, to tell Gigi that he had slept with her sister.

Rex and Gigi agreed they wouldn't bust Stacy yet, since they needed to locate the bag of extra stem cells that had been stolen from Roxy's refrigerator. They concocted a hoax in which Shane pretended to get sick again and Michael McBain told Stacy that they needed another transfusion. When Stacy went to retrieve the bag of blood, which she had stashed in a cold-storage fur closet, Rex confronted her and told her he knew everything. Stacy refused to believe that Rex didn't love her and said she would give up the bag of blood if Rex would sleep with her, but Rex showed such disgust at the idea that Stacy eventually just gave Rex the blood and ordered him to get out. Rex confronted his mother about her role in Stacy's evil plot, and Roxy admitted that the real stem cells came from Rex's biological father and that she had killed him after drawing his blood. After Gigi and Stacy got into an altercation that resulted in Stacy being hospitalized, Stacy found out she was pregnant with Rex's child and told Rex the news in front of a disbelieving Gigi, who was horrified to realize that it was true. Rex wanted to do right by Stacy and let her stay in his loft rent-free as he moved back in with Gigi, who warned Rex that Stacy would use the baby to drive a wedge between them. As Rex dealt with Stacy, he was jealous of the time Gigi was spending with Schuyler. When Gigi told Rex that Schuyler had kissed her, Rex went ballistic and ordered her to never see him again. Later, Rex encouraged Schuyler to leave town, but Gigi told Rex that she would never cheat on him and Rex agreed that she and Schuyler could remain friends. Blair hired Rex to track down dirt on Tea Delgado, and Rex figured out that both Tea and Ross Rayburn had gone missing after being rescued from the deserted island where they had been stranded with Todd back in 2002. Rex located Ross in Tahiti, and Blair took Rex's file and went off to find him.

As Stacy continued to leech money off of Rex for food, cable and other essentials, Rex found himself torn between caring for his unborn child and tending after Gigi, who was feeling less connected to him. After Rex overheard Gigi sharing her frustrations with Schuyler, he proposed to her but Gigi knew it was only because he had overheard her conversation with Schuyler. Stacy and her best friend, Kim, used Schuyler's love for Gigi to drive a wedge between Rex and Gigi. When Gigi got jealous seeing Kim and Schuyler on a date, Rex forced her to confess that she had feelings for Schuyler but Gigi told Rex she wanted to make their relationship work. Rex agreed to go with Gigi to couples counseling but canceled at the last minute after Natalie convinced him to help her track down Jared, who had gone missing after being named the prime suspect in two murders.



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