Spunky, outspoken Bertha "Bert" Miller was introduced as the fiancée and childhood sweetheart of good natured, middle class, Bill Bauer. After marrying on December 9th, 1949, the pair moved in with Bert's parents. Bert came from an upper middle class family and felt that Bill could do better financially and pushed him to get a better job and move into their own house. With Bert's help, Bill landed a plum job at his brother-in-law, Ted White's, advertising company. Unfortunately, Bill wasn't happy in this affluent world and soon began drinking to cope. Soon his drinking got the better of him and he lost his job. Forced to accept a slew of menial jobs and upset with Bert's constant nagging about money, Bill slipped deeper and deeper into alcoholism and had an affair with a singer named Gloria LaRue. A former alcoholic herself, Gloria was able to help Bill overcome his drinking problem and gave him the strength to ask Bert for a divorce. But Bert refused to let go of the husband she loved and then later found that she was pregnant! When he discovered she was pregnant, Bill agreed to try to save their marriage. Gloria briefly fell off the wagon as a result, and show business manager Sid Harper restored her confidence by launching her in a promising new radio and television career, of which Bill, who was now back in advertising, was a part. Before long, Gloria and Sid were married and the Bauers, with a baby on the way, were a family once again. Unfortunately with Bill working with Sid, Gloria would not remain out of his life.

In 1952, the Bauers celebrated the birth of a baby boy named Michael. Later, Bert read in the newspaper of a development that Bill had withheld from her: Bill had been instrumental in landing Gloria LaRue Harper a television contract! Both Bert and Sid smoldered as they watched Gloria become emotionally dependent on Bill, performing at her best whenever he watched her. Bert was relieved when Gloria developed vocal problems, abandoned her new show and moved with Sid to New York. Unfortunately Sid replaced Gloria with Kathy Roberts Lang's greedy roommate, Alice Graham, whom Sid had once represented -- not to mention taken to bed. But the gig didn't suffice for the greedy Alice, who began filming commercials in violation of her exclusive contact. When Bill threatened to fire Alice, she coolly told him everything about Kathy and Bob Lang's accident (that had killed Bob) and threatened to reveal it to the world if Bill axed her. Cornered, Bill kept Alice on but told Bert and his father that Alice had blackmailed him and the Bauers could only ache for Kathy.

Later, hard times came when Bill's capricious boss fired him for no reason. He formed a new public relations company with a partner, only to lose his shirt and went back to pounding the pavement. Unbeknownst to Bill, Bert received a letter from their landlords, the Brandons, announcing their intention to sell the house. Behind Bill's back, Bert convinced a reluctant Meta to loan her the money to buy it. Meta only went along with Bert's scheme because she shared Bert's concern that Bill was already under enough pressure without having to worry about keeping a roof over their heads. However, when Bill suggested that they move to another area where his business prospects looked better, Bert was forced to tell her husband that his sister was now technically their landlady! Stung by this revelation and hopeless about finding work, Bill went back to the bottle. For months, he experienced the highs and lows of an alcoholic as he shared delusions of grandeur with the bartender at Blue Moon Lounge, only to feel shame and self-loathing the next day. Papa tried to bring Bill around gently, but Bert gave Bill a firm ultimatum: the bottle or his family. She went so far as to consider divorce until Bill battled his addiction to alcohol at Cedars Hospital, where Kathy's husband, Dr. Dick Grant counseled and supported him. Enter Gloria LaRue Harper one more time, now a partner with her husband Sid in a talent agency, Gloria bolstered Bill's confidence when she offered him a job in New York.

Bert was not happy about Gloria's reappearance in Bill's life, not to mention the fact that Bill would be working 3,000 miles away. However, Bert was secure in the belief that he had finally straightened out and agreed to stick by him. On Bill's part, with saving up enough money, and Dick's father, Richard helping to get Bill a job, in 1955, doing advertising for his company, Acme Construction -- Bill was able to give up the commute back and forth to New York. Unfortunately, Mike started acting out in the absence of his father. Though Bert wanted to consult a child psychologist, Bill's father, Papa, scoffed and said that all the boy needed was friendship. Despite Bert's best efforts, Mike continued to act out and when Bill returned, Mike insisted that he had no daddy. Realizing that Bert's discipline wasn't working, Bill decided to take Mike on a trip so they could "find your missing daddy." There in their messy hotel room, the pair bonded and from that point on they became good buddies with Bill promising never to leave again.

Not long after, on New Year's Eve 1954, the Bauers celebrated the birth of another son, Billy (Ed). As Bert devoted herself to the new baby, she was slow in noticing that her older son, Mike was feeling left out. A few years later in 1956, Bert's father died in Arizona, and her mother, Elsie Miller, came out to Los Angeles for an extended stay. Papa Bauer graciously went to live at Meta'to make room for Elsie, but Bill and young Mike soon regretted the move. Elsie was a nag and a hypochondriac, spoiling Billy rotten while treating Mike like dirt. Bill, Papa and Meta were furious with Elsie for turning Mike's world upside down, but Elsie countered by accusing them of pampering the boy. Portraitist, Marie Wallace became a port in the middle of this storm when she made a charcoal sketch of Mike, and the boy consequently latched onto the family's warm, atrractive new friend. Mike also struck up a friendship with a boy named Jock Baker who was several years older than he was, even though Elsie disapproved. Later, Mike overheard an argument between Bert and Bill, in which Bill threatened to leave on account of Elsie. Frightened by the thought of losing his dad again, Mike ran away.

The Bauers questioned Jock, who revealed that Mike had talked about running away if Elsie didn't let up on him. With the help of Marie's sketch of Mike, the authorities tracked the boy down in the Hollywood Hills. Bert and Bill confronted Elsie about the damage she'd done to Mike, and Elsie tearfully apologized to the boy. She then began to live her own life, marrying a pleasant man named Albert Franklin in a simple ceremony at the Bauer home. Elsie and Albert then went back to Arizona, much to the family's relief. In 1957, Elsie and Albert briefly came back to Los Angeles to visit while Albert was terminally ill. Albert was treated by Dr. Paul Fletcher, who Bert considered a "sour apple". However, treating Albert brought out Paul's hidden humanity, and soon he became friends with the Bauers. But soon, Albert would die after Elsie and Albert returned to Arizona. Although, Elsie told her oldest daughter that Paul had made Albert's last days more bearable. Bert was dismayed though that Elsie's youngest daughter, Alma-Jean, did not come to the funeral.

Unfortunately the Bauer marriage was still strained due to Bert's demanding nature. She'd also develop the bad habit of interfering in Mike's love life and ignoring Bill. Though she encouraged a teenaged Mike to date Robin Lang, Bert was horrified when the couple eloped in 1960! Finally seeing Robin as a master manipulator, Bert encouraged the older Alex Bowden to pursue Robin away from Mike. Though Bert did finally come to her senses and regret her actions, it was too late—Robin had already fallen for Alex! Incensed at Bert's interference, Mike left town to work at a construction site in Venezuela. In 1962, suffering from a virus, Bert visited her friend, Dr. Paul Fletcher. Shocked when he learned she hadn't had an exam in 14 years, Paul ordered up a complete physical for Bert, including a Pap Smear. Dr. Fletcher's advice paid off for Bert since it detected her in the early stages of uterine cancer. Happily the cancer was spotted early enough to be corrected with surgery. It also brought Mike's return to the family fold when his father asked that he come home to support Bert. Mike, who was studying law, got a job with attorney George Hayes. It was while working for Hayes that Mike met secretary Julie Conrad and liked the way she looked. Although Bert preferred Mike to date Jane Fletcher, Mike was more interested in Julie and shamelessly pursued her. Although Julie didn't want sex before marriage, Mike persuaded her otherwise and they made love. Unfortunately, Julie became pregnant. Though she wanted Mike to marry her, he wanted to concentrate on his law school studies and refused, saying that he wanted his role in the pregnancy to be a secret; he did say that he'd support Julie financially until she gave the child up for adoption after the child was born. However, a vindictive Jane found out about Julie's pregnancy and told Bert that she was going to be a grandmother!

When Bert discovered that Julie was pregnant, she started spreading the lie around Selby Flats that Julie was pregnant by Alex Bowden, until Mike set his mother straight that it was indeed he who had gotten Julie pregnant. Shocked, Bert confronted Mike and told him her grandchild would not be put up for adoption. She then convinced George Hayes to convince Mike to do "the honorable thing". Under pressure from both his mother and his boss, George Hayes, Mike married Julie at the Justice of the Peace. Months later, Julie was horrified to hear Mike tell Robin he only married her because of the baby and she drove off, getting in an accident. At the hospital, Julie gave birth to a daughter, Hope, who although premature, was healthy. Embittered by her sham of a marriage, Julie told Mike to just take the girl and go! But when Dr. Paul Fletcher convinced her to hold her child, she relented and the pair decided to give the marriage another try. Unfortunately the marriage was strained. Pushed by Julie to pursue his law degree, since she wanted the prestige of being a lawyer's wife, Mike drove himself so hard that he became ill. Making matters worse was Bert, who neglected Bill and obsessed over her new granddaughter. Unfortunately the marriage ended tragically with Julie attempting suicide and becoming institutionalized. After Julie committed suicide in the mental hospital, Mike, angry over his mother's interference, left town with Hope.

Later, Bill accepted a transfer to a town called Springfield in Illinois. By this time, Bill was growing more and more tired of Bert's domineering nature and neglect and soon found himself having an affair with his kind-hearted secretary, Maggie Scott. Taking no responsibility for her autocratic ways, Bert constantly sniped at Bill for taking Mike's side against her. She was hopeful about improving the family situation when their youngest son, Billy, joined them in Springfield after graduating from medical school, but it soon became evident that the Bauers' cheerful, uncomplicated son had changed into a driven young man. Billy announced that he was now going by the name of Ed, derived from his middle name, Edward. He spent virtually every waking hour at Cedars Hospital, where he tried to impress the hospital administrator, Dr. Jim Frazier and the chief of staff, Dr. Paul Fletcher, by becoming a brilliant and successful surgeon. Bert was saddened to see that "Billy" was gone forever and that "Ed" was a virtual stranger to her. With the only person for Bert to turn to for friendship being the wife of Jim Frazier, nurse Martha Frazier. Meanwhile, as Bill and Maggie struggled to keep their affair a secret, Bert saw them holding hands one night and figured it out. This marked the begining of Bert Bauer's transformation into a mature, caring woman of substance. Taking responsibility for having driven Bill away, Bert made herself more attractive and started paying attention to her husband. The situation might have righted itself more easily had Ben Scott not discovered Bill and Maggie's affair. Later, while they were out driving, Ben confronted Maggie and the car crashed. An injured Ben was rushed to Cedars, where Ed examined him. In his delirium, Ben rambled on about Bill and Maggie's affair in front of Ed. Sickened by this revelation, Ed bitterly confronted his father and demanded that he confess the affair to Bert.

What neither Bill nor Ed realized, of course, was that Bert already knew. Bert walked in on the argument and to Ed's surprise, lambasted him for his disrespect and lack of compassion toward his father. Touched by Bert's display of love and loyalty, Bill showed her more tenderness than he had in a long time. Though very touched by Bert's display of devotion, Bill still yearned for Maggie (who was forced to marry her ex-husband) and knowing that he'd lost Ed's respect, started drinking again in 1967. Fighting to regain control, Bill pleaded for Ed's love and forgiveness, but Ed could only respond with lacerating verbal attacks that shattered Bill and infuriated Bert. With chilling detachment, Ed urged Bert to leave Bill in hopes that he would hit rock bottom and get off the bottle. Bert remained committed to her husband and blamed Ed for driving Bill to drink when he needed his son's love most. A broken man, Bill hit rock bottom when in a drunken stupor he mistook Maggie's daughter for her and revealed the affair. Unnerved by the pain he caused, he after he hit rock bottom and accidentally revealed the affair to Maggie's teenaged daughter, Peggy, Bill decided to turn his life around;

sensing that he was about to be fired, Bill quit his job and looked for new employment...and more important, he stopped drinking. Bill had not had any luck in the job-hunting department. To make ends meet, Bert convinced Paul Fletcher to hire her as a ward secretary at Cedars, which left Bill feeling emasculated. Fortunately, Bill was soon hired by another PR firm. His self-esteem was restored, and Bert came back to home and hearth. Ed shared Bill's relief that Bert was no longer working at Cedars, because she was constantly pushing Ed and Leslie to get married. It was about this time, in March 1968, that Mike, now a successful criminal defense lawyer, came to Springfield with his daughter, Hope and was displeased at how shabbily Ed was treating Leslie. Meanwhile though Ed was against marriage, he and Leslie hastily married after the heart attack of Ed's mentor, Stephen Jackson, Leslie's father. Unfortunately, Ed was far from the ideal husband for Leslie. Ed was enraged when Leslie left her nurse's aide job at Cedars, accusing her of secretly planning to get pregnant against his wishes. Mike spoke up about Ed's attitude toward his wife, as well as Ed's surly indifference to their father, who had been experiencing frequent nausea and chest pains. One day, Bill and Ed got into an argument that grew so heated, Bill collapsed of a heart attack! Feeling responsible, Ed recommended that Bill undergo a heart transplant, a risky procedure in those days. Over Bert's objections, Bill agreed and the brilliant Dr. Gavin Hamilton was called in to perform what would be a successful operation. Meanwhile, Ed was full of self-loathing. Even though he had done all he could, he was still feeling guilty over Maggie Scott's death (who died on the operating table), and now he'd almost killed his own father. So it was that this iron-willed, cocksure young surgeon fell victim to the same disease that plagued his father -- alcoholism. Meanwhile, Bert was unnerved at the closeness between Mike and Leslie and accused Mike of having an affair with his brother's wife! Before leaving town on a business trip, in 1969, Bill warned Bert to lay off Mike for Hope's sake. Sadly, the Bauers then heard news that the plane went down. Bill Bauer was dead.

With Bill's death, Bert resolved to be more understanding and supportive of those around her. Finally recognizing that she couldn't control her sons' love lives, she supported Mike's marriage to Charlotte Waring, but warned Charlotte to start treating Hope better. In 1971, she celebrated the birth of a grandson, Freddie, Ed's son, shortly after Ed and Leslie divorced. In 1973, after he divorced Charlotte and after Leslie was cleared of the murder of her second husband, Stanley Norris, Bert and Ed both persuaded Leslie's father, Steve, to accept her engagement to Mike since they both knew that Mike was the man Leslie loved. That same year, Bert was shocked when Ed eloped with Leslie's former stepdaughter, Holly Norris, but supported the match, even though Meta had reservations.

Then in 1977, Bert received word that her mother had died in her sleep and so after watching Mike receive Springfield's "Man of the Year" award, she left to attend the funeral in Arizona. Upon her return, she received a shock when she read in the Springfield Journal that Bill was still alive! Not only that, but Mike learned about it without telling her! Furious at Mike for keeping the truth from her, Bert gave him the cold shoulder at every turn, but in short order, she forgave Mike. Meanwhile, his secret discovered, Bill told a startling tale. Almost twenty years prior, he had an affair with a woman named Simone and they conceived a child. To hide the fact that she had a child out of wedlock, Simone quickly married a man named Victor Kincaid and then gave birth to a baby girl, Hillary. Years later, on another business trip, Bill met up with Simone again and they conceived a second child. Years later, Bill found himself on a plane heading toward Alaska for a business trip. Unnerved by Bert's interference in their sons' lives, Bill decided to get off the plane at Vancouver and look up Simone. Later he learned that the plane he was to be on crashed! Shaken that his family believed him to be dead and feeling guilty for the reason that he wasn't, he fell off the wagon again! This time Simone found him and they resumed their affair. Now going by the name Bill Morey, he was disturbed to know that Victor was an abusive husband and father, and the two got into a violent argument that resulted in Victor's death. Bill then moved in with Simone and told the children that they had married. Now back in Springfield, Bill not only had to deal with the disappointment of all his children, but was now on trial for the murder of Victor Kincaid. Luckily Mike successfully proved that Kincaid's death was an accident and Bill was set free. After divorcing Bert, and repairing his relationship (again) with Ed, Bill left for Chicago to be with Simone only to have her leave him. Meanwhile, Bert welcomed Hillary into her family. In 1980, when Hope married the villainous Alan Spaulding, it was Bert who warned Mike about alienating himself from Hope and convinced him to attend to the wedding.

In the early part of 1983, Bert was disheartened to hear that her younger sister, Alma-Jean had passed away and briefly left town to attend her funeral in New Orleans. In other developments, after learning that Nola Reardon was investigating the death of a female friend who died years ago, Bill fell off the wagon again. Soon after the investigation began, Springfield received word that Bill Bauer fell out of a window to his death. Though initially it was assumed that his death was an accident, later it was suspected that he was actually murdered by Eli Simms, the jealous husband of Annie Simms, and the father off Annabelle Simms, who murdered his wife and Tom Reardon years earlier, since he was convinced that Anne had had an affair with Bill. That same year, Bert was pleased to see Ed marry the levelheaded Maureen Reardon, In the fall of that year, Bert's grandson, Rick, decided to follow into Ed's footsteps and become a doctor. Needing to study German as a result, Rick sought help from a patient at Cedars named Martin Bruhner. Though Bruhner was initially very impatient with Rick, he softened when Bert befriended him. The following year, Bert was on hand to talk some sense into Ed and forced him to talk to his wife when he started feeling emasculated when Maureen became the Hospital administrator, therefore Ed's boss. Not long after, Bert was forced to have her leg amputated as a result of a blood clot. Not one to shy away from adversity, she met it with bravery and determination and even encouraged a temporarily paralyzed Josh Lewis to never give up because life itself was a miracle. Very soon after, Bert went for an extended to stay in Washington D.C. to take care of an ill Meta. Tragically, months later, in March 1986, while Ed, his baby daughter, Michelle, and Mike were all visiting Meta's, Bert died in her sleep. Three days later, on March 7, 1986, Ed hosted a memorial service at his home where many Springfield citizens shared fond memories of Bert.

Bert Bauer, the beloved matriarch of the Bauer family, wasn't always a sympathetic character. She started as a materialistic young woman who constantly nagged her husband for more money. Fortunately, motherhood mellowed Bert and she figured out that family was more important than anything. As the years wore on, Bert gained wisdom and maturity and became the voice of reason in Springfield. A special lady with a good heart and a strong spirit, Bert Bauer was considered Springfield's own Guiding Light.