Rick Bauer has been played by many actors.The first Rick was Albert Zungallo, and he was Rick from 1970 to 1971. The next Rick was Gary Honnoch. Gary was Rick from 1972 to 1976. The next Rick was Robbie Berridge and he was Rick from 1976 to 1978. Then there was Phil MacGregor. He was Rick from 1982 to 1983. In 1983 when Phil left, Michael O'Leary took over the role of Rick but left in 1991. In 1995, Michael returned and has been with us ever since. I think I can speak for most Guiding Light fans when I say Michael is the only Rick ever. Rick is the son of Ed Bauer and Leslie Bauer. Rick is a doctor at Cedars hospital and has a great reputation.

When Rick appeared in Springfield, he renewed his friendship with Phillip Spaulding and befriended Beth Raines and Mindy Lewis. Phillip was dating Mindy at that time and Rick was dating Beth Raines. Phillip didn't pay enough attention to Mindy because he was really in love with Beth. Eventually he and Mindy broke up and Rick got involved with Mindy. Phillip however got involved with Beth and eventually they fled to New York. Rick and Mindy were over when Rick fell in love with Roxie Shayne. Rick had just saved Roxie from the evil Kyle Sampson and poor Roxie was very fragile. Roxie unfortunately had an accident in Alaska an lost her memory. She got involved with Kurt Corday and later married him but Rick helped her to remember their past together. Rick found out that when Roxie was a teenager, she had been raped by a guy named Bubba. That was the real reason Roxie was so afraid of regaining her memory.

In 1986, Roxie had an affair with Jackson Freemont and of course Rick found out. Rick then admitted to her that he had been temporerally on cocaine. They broke up and Roxie got involved with Rick's cousin Johnny Bauer. Rick however got involved with Meredith Reade. Meredith was also a doctor and she and Rick were working together at Cedars. Then Johnny was diagnosed with cancer. Meredith wanted Johnny to have an operation that might save his life but Johnny refused. The operation would remove half of Johnny's face so he rather wanted to die. Rick agreed with Johnny and that made Meredith furious. She decided to press charges against him but thankfully she dropped them. Rick forgave Meredith and they got back together. Johnny however was suddenly cured of cancer but poor Roxie couldn't handle it all and went crazy, leaving Johnny very sad. Well, Meredith and Rick got married and planned to live happily ever after but we know that's not possible on Guiding Light.

One night when Rick and Meredith were having some problems, Meredith slept with Rick's best friend Phillip and got pregnant. Rick knew that the baby wasn't his but he didn't know that it was Phillip's. When Meredith went into labor, Rick had to choose whose life to save. The baby didn't make it but Meredith did. Meredith then found out that she couldn't have any more children. She left Rick knowing how much he wanted kids and she couldn't give him any. Rick eventually learned about the dead baby's parentage but he forgave his good friend. Rick and Phillip have been through a lot together. Rick once helped Phillip fake his own death. He stole a body from Cedars morgue and married Beth to protect him.

In 1990 Rick got involved with Mindy again but that didn't work out. Rick is currently married to Abby Bauer. They are very good together, I think and I am sure that many of you agree with me. Rick and Abby fell in love when they were working together at Cedars. they broke up however when Abby found out about Rick's one night stand with Blake Marler. Blake had just given birth to twins--one Rick's and one Ross's. Abby later forgave Rick and they got back together. Abby was later attacked by a man named Roy Meechum. She was nearly raped and left dead when she was found. When Rick arrived at Jesse Blue's garage, he assumed that he was the one who had done this. Jesse was arrested and Roy disappeared. The attack drove a wedge on her and Rick's relationship so she moved in with Reva to recover.

When Roy was arrested Ross prosecuted, and Abby finally let Rick help her through the trial. Abby later lost contol and shot Roy with the bailiff's gun. Rick tried to save his life but didn't succeed. Abby was sent to jail for 18 months for the murder of Roy. Rick and Abby got married just before she went to jail. It was a really nice ceremony. Upon the realization that what she had done was justified, Abby was released from prison. Around the same time, Rick found out that Blake's twins both belonged to Ross, leaving Rick to grieve for the loss of the son he had grown to love.

Since then, Rick has settled back into his life with Abby at the Bauer home. Last spring, she had cochlear implants put in her ears that enabled her to hear again, giving a whole new outlook on life for both of them. And, after doing all he could to separate them, Rick has finally realized that his sister Michelle and her husband, Danny Santos are truly in love and belong together. When Danny left his family business, Rick welcomed them back into his home with open arms. Thankfully the charges were eventually dropped and Michelle was released. However Rick's life continued to fall apart. To deflect Harley's questions about Philip's antagonism toward Edmund, Rick covered for his friend by saying that Edmund was blackmailing HIM. Then to Rick's horror he learned that Harley was investigating him. Though he tried to keep Harley from digging into his past, Harley learned Rick's little secret: he wasn't really a doctor.

It was no secret that Rick was addicted to drugs in med. school, but what he never wanted anyone to ever find out was that he failed his medical boards because of it! It seems that the day of the test, Rick was too strung out and his mentor and former lover, Claire Ramsey, took the test for him. Though he took the test and passed a few years later, it wasn't valid since he was still practicing medicine under his illegal license. After a while, Rick finally confessed the truth to Philip and Abby with mixed results: Abby told him to go public with the truth and Philip told him to cover it up. Ultimately, Rick took Philip's advice. Amidst all this turmoil, Rick and Abby's marriage continued to crumble. Though they both loved each other, it was obvious that they had different goals in life (he wanted children; she didn't) and they divorced amicably.

Last updated 03/16/01. E-mail me with any comments or suggestions at addip@isholf.is