Lizzie Spaulding is a fictional character from the CBS soap opera Guiding Light. The role was last portrayed by actress Emme Rylan from February 7, 2006 to September 18, 2009.
She is the daughter of Phillip Spaulding and Beth Raines, born onscreen on Thanksgiving in 1990. Her birth year was later revised to 1986 when she turned 18 in 2004. She is the third Elizabeth in her family; her paternal grandmother and mother's first names are Elizabeth as well. For Lizzie's battle with leukemia in 2000, the show received a Special Recognition Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for bringing national awareness of the disease to the attention of daytime viewers.
Casting The role of Lizzie as an infant was played by Julie Levine from 1990 to 1991. The role was assumed on December 5, 1996, by Hayden Panettiere, who initially appeared for only a few episodes. However, Panettiere returned regularly the following year, from November 1, 1997. For Lizzie's battle with leukemia in 2000, the soap received a Special Recognition Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for bringing national awareness of the disease to the attention of daytime viewers. In 2000, Panettiere vacated the role, with her last airdate on October 13, 2000. It was recast with MacKenzie Mauzy, who aired from November 21, 2000 to July 16, 2002. Mauzy then was replaced by Allison Hirschlag, who portrayed the role from August 12, 2002 to January 28, 2003 when the character was rapidly aged. Hirschlag’s stint was brief when she was replaced and the role was assumed by Crystal Hunt on February 25, 2003. Hunt received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series, as well as a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for her portrayal. Hunt departed on January 31, 2006, and the role was last portrayed by Emme Rylan from February 7, 2006 to the soap's series finale on September 18, 2009.
Family Lizzie has had a difficult family life. As a member of the wealthy Spaulding family, she has gone through a chaotic childhood and adolescence. Though her family wields great influence in Springfield, they have enemies which is justified given her father, uncle and grandfather's misdeeds. Lizzie has also involved herself in a great amount of trouble in her young life leading her to have periods of mental disturbance like her father.
The first-born child of Phillip Spaulding and Beth Raines, Lizzie has a younger brother, James Lemay Spaulding. She also has two younger paternal half-siblings, Alan Cooper "Zach" Spaulding and Emma Spencer-Spaulding. Lizzie also has a sister/Aunt born to Beth and Alan named Peyton Alexandra Raines. A comment by Alan stated that Beth named the child "after that quarterback," a reference to NFL quarterback Peyton Manning. Lizzie has had numerous stepparents in her life. Her stepfather, Jim Lemay, was killed in a fire during Christmas when she was a child after saving her and James' lives. Lizzie was also once close to her former stepmother, Harley Cooper Aitoro (now her aunt), and her former stepsister, Daisy Lemay. She has a daughter, Sarah, with Jonathan, and is currently married to Bill Lewis. The show's finale showed Lizzie asking Sarah to touch her belly, as Lizzie was shown pregnant with Bill's son.
Storylines
Lizzie (Hayden Panettiere) accidentally kills Carl Stevens in early 1998 when she sees him threatening her mother, Beth, with a gun. The gun fell, and Lizzie picked it up and fatally shot Carl. She suffered nightmares and hallucinations and finally had a breakdown upon being questioned by her father after being stopped from fleeing the country with her mother, who was determined to keep Lizzie's involvement in Carl's death a secret. She was sent to camp for therapy and returned somewhat better adjusted.
In 1999, she was kidnapped by the Nursery Rhyme Stalker and was saved by Alan's old lover, Annie Dutton (also an escaped convict at the time). She befriended her rescuer and ran away with her when Lizzie overheard her father speaking of getting rid of Annie and took it literally. Though she was reassured by the latter that Phillip wasn't planning to kill her, the woman guessed that he was making plans to send her back to prison and made plans to run away. Lizzie begged Annie to take her along, as she felt neglected by her mother, and she agreed. Lizzie was later saved by her grandfather and his then wife, India von Halkein. Upon her return to Springfield, Phillip and Beth vowed to their daughter that they would never make her feel unwanted again when she told her mother that she thought Beth wouldn't miss her if she was gone. Lizzie was devastated, though, when she learned that Annie was gone.
2000 wasn't an easy year for Lizzie either when she was diagnosed with leukemia after being in a car accident with her stepsister, Daisy Lemay. Though Daisy had witnessed signs of sickness in Lizzie before the accident, the latter swore her to secrecy as she wanted to witness her mother marrying Daisy's father, Jim Lemay. Lizzie finally went into remission when she underwent a successful bone marrow transplant thanks to her new baby brother, James. Alan later revealed to her that the baby was Phillip's and not Jim's. When she heard her mother and stepfather making plans to leave Springfield, Lizzie (MacKenzie Mauzy) feigned sickness again but her godfather, Rick Bauer called her out and she confessed. Tragedy struck again later in the year when Jim died in a fire after saving Lizzie and James a few days before Christmas.
In 2003, after dealing with issues involving her grandfather's faked heart attack and helping Marina Cooper frame her uncle Gus Aitoro, Lizzie (Allison Hirschlag) pleaded with Beth and Phillip to let her go away to boarding school and they reluctantly agreed. She soon develops a crush on Shayne Lewis.
Distraught over her family's mistrust, Lizzie confided in Alan that she was only trying to be a good Spaulding by manipulating events to get what she wanted. She also finally admitted to Christopher that she needed help and she wanted to get back to being that happy girl she used to be.
Later, Lizzie admitted to Phillip that, despite how she had thought she'd feel, she loved Emma.
Lizzie developed a crush on Joey Lupo who was in a relationship with Tammy. She succeeded in breaking them up, and admitted to Joey that she loved him.
After overhearing a conversation between Buzz and Coop, Lizzie learned that Coop had been accepted to study at Oxford. She is heartbroken at the prospect of losing him, Lizzie made a secret phone call, fully determined to move ahead with the wedding. She then asked Coop to meet her since she’d planned a trip for them to Cancun. Coop was thrilled, unaware that Lizzie planned to bring him to the altar instead. Although Alex uncovered Lizzie’s plot, she ultimately gave Lizzie her blessing when Lizzie made it clear she was doing it all for love. To her chagrin, Coop didn’t show up at the airport on time, leading Lizzie to think he’d backed out. Finally, an injured Coop did arrive. Learning that Coop had a strange accident while he was working on his car (tires fell on him and he knocked over a gas pipe), Lizzie was sure that Beth and Alan were to blame for trying to keep Coop away from her. Later, Coop found out Lizzie was planning a wedding and confronted her. Lizzie apologized but reminded Coop he kept a secret from her too about his offer at Oxford. Coop apologized and they both resolve to trust each other more. Coop then decided to remain in Springfield rather than go to Oxford. Later, Lizzie received word that Alan was at the hospital and confronted him about sending someone after Coop. Realizing she needed to play hard ball, Lizzie had Beth’s plane rerouted so that she’d miss the Spaulding board meeting in which a new CEO was being elected. Without Beth to intervene a surprising new CEO was elected—Harley! Meanwhile, unable to answer to a boss, Lizzie quit her new job at the television station, but Coop stood up for her when Beth tried to stir up trouble between them. Later, a grateful Lizzie promised she’d find a way to solve their cash-flow problem.
The money, however, came with a price: Lizzie. Though she loved Coop, Lizzie was desperate for the money and began a secret affair with Quinn.
After her breakup with Coop, Lizzie found comfort in a drunken one-night stand with Jonathan Randall, who had also been ousted by his lover Tammy Winslow. Weeks later, Lizzie would find herself pregnant with Jonathan's child. Unsure if it belonged to him or Coop, Lizzie decided to make sure everyone believed the child to be Coop's, and schemed to cover up her night with Jonathan.
Jonathan pieced the truth together, and at first did nothing. However, he refused to let Lizzie marry Coop, and announced at her wedding that the child was his. A scared Lizzie convinced Coop that Jonathan had raped her, and she had been too embarrassed to tell anyone. Coop believed her at first, but when everyone saw Jonathan's sweet, concerned, and uncharacteristic treatment over a weak Lizzie, her story was proved false.
Now alone, Lizzie formed a bond with Jonathan and his girlfriend Tammy. The three decided to get through the pregnancy as a team, and not let her grandfather Alan control her baby. The three got along fine, but secretly Lizzie was beginning to fall in love with her baby's father. She began to act on it in little ways, but convinced herself a relationship with him was not possible, due to his immense feelings for Tammy. Things went well, until Alan rigged a trial to have Lizzie sent to Ravenwood for being mentally incompetent. In a rash decision, Jonathan proposed to Lizzie while she was on the witness stand, in a show of good faith to the judge that the two of them would make a loving home for their child.
The two married with Tammy’s blessing (as the marriage was intended to be just for show). Lizzie's feelings for Jon were re-ignited, and she schemed to be with him, making the logical claim that if Jonathan and Tammy were in fact 'meant to be' then she wouldn't be able to split them up. He continued to see Tammy though, to the point where he missed an important baby appointment, and returned home to find Lizzie passed out and bleeding. She was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, and a guilty Jonathan ended his relationship with Tammy in order to try to be there for his wife and child for real.
Tammy was present for the baby's birth though, as Jonathan delivered his and Lizzie's daughter in a car, on the side of a snowy road. The pair named her Sarah, in memory of Reva’s mother.
Wanting to be real family with her daughter and husband, Lizzie tried her best to be the ideal wife. She was crushed to find Jonathan still cheating with Tammy though, even after their daughter’s birth. Lizzie schemed to keep her marriage afloat, and even faked post-partum depression to make Jonathan pay her attention, and stay with her. He went back to Tammy though, and a distraught Lizzie sought help from Father Ray. She left Sarah in the car while she went into the church (still trying to keep up her depression hoax) The car was stolen with Sarah inside, and Lizzie was blamed. Jon railed against her, and planned to take his daughter from her, to avoid the damage he thought she could do.
In a lapse of judgment, Lizzie begged her granddad to help her keep her the daughter she loved. This proved the wrong move though, and in an attempt to kill Jonathan, Tammy was instead killed. Jonathan faked his and Sarah’s death in a staged car crash, and didn't let Lizzie in on the secret. She was left to think her daughter was dead, and that it was all her fault.
After losing the thing that meant most to her in her daughter Sarah, being alienated by her mother, ostracized by her grandfather, and being duped (unknowingly) by Reva, Lizzie had hit rock bottom.