Kendall Hart

"I didn't mean to cause trouble. Honest."

- Kendall Hart

Kendall Hart is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, All My Children. The character is the daughter of the series' central character, Erica Kane, a child conceived when Erica was raped on the night of her 14th birthday by movie matinee idol, Richard Fields. She was written as a complex villain, described as "the most terrible daughter on daytime," but was later reformed by the series.

She was initially portrayed by then 15-year old Sarah Michelle Gellar during the character's first run from March 11, 1993 to July 3, 1995 and then by Alicia Minshew from January 7, 2002 to September 23, 2011. Minshew appeared as Kendall Hart on the Prospect Park's revival of All My Children in the second July 8, 2013 episode.

Character Age & Origins
The idea for the character of Kendall Hart as a long-lost daughter and foil for Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) existed for years prior to the character's debut but producers needed to wait for the right time in Erica's storyline to introduce her. Since the character was designed to be a younger version of Erica, 15-year old Gellar, bearing a resemblance to Lucci with the forceful personality and acting skill needed for the character, won the role over many teenaged actresses. The character was later portrayed by Minshew from 2002-2013 after Gellar's departure in 1995.

On March 11, 1993, Kendall was introduced to the audience as a waifish 16-year old runaway desperate to meet her idol, Erica Kane. Shortly after, Kendall was revealed to the audience as Erica's long lost daughter who was angry over being given up for adoption, intent on exacting revenge against her mother as payback. Due to discrepancies involving the current audience remembering Erica had not been a teenager pregnant from rape 17-years before and later, Kendall being purported as the product of a 23/24-year old rape, the character was rapidly aged to 22-23 years old in the summer of 1993 (birth date revised to September 25, 1970). Upon the character's return in 2002, Kendall's birth date was revised back to September 25, 1976, reverting her age to her original birth date when she appeared as a 16-year old girl in the spring of 1993.

Backstory
When Erica was 14-years old, she was raped by Richard Fields, her favourite movie actor and an aging actor friend of her father, director Eric Kane. Fields often targeted young girls. It was later revealed Eric Kane had set this up in exchange for Fields to act in a movie he was directing. Erica became pregnant and due to her trauma from the rape and young age, she and her mother, Mona Tyler, gave Erica's baby daughter, Kendall, up for adoption to the Harts. The Harts raised Kendall in Florida where they kept her adoption from her. Overhearing her parents talking late at night as a child, Kendall learns she was adopted but keeps this newfound knowledge from her parents. When she is old enough, Kendall unseals her adoption papers and discovers her birth mother is her childhood idol, Erica Kane. She saves up her money to go to Pine Valley. She builds up a fantasy that she would meet her mother and become part of her glamorous life.

1993 to 1995
1993-1995

Kendall Hart was born in Phoenix, Arizona to a teenaged Erica Kane who, with her mother, Mona Tyler, gave Kendall up for adoption to Bill and Alice Hart. The Harts raise her in Florida and as a child, Kendall learns of her adoption when she overhears her parents discuss it late one night but keeps this knowledge to herself. When Kendall is old enough, she unseals her adoption papers and discovers her birth mother is her idol, Erica Kane. In March 1993, she comes to Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, as a teenaged waif seeking a Hollywood reunion of mother and long-lost child. She waits for Erica in the offices at Enchantment, Erica's cosmetics company, a runaway kid claiming to be from an abusive home. Upon meeting Erica and her fiancé, Count Dimitri Marick, Kendall begs for a job and faints. Erica hires her as her personal assistant and puts her up at the Pine Valley Inn until Kendall moves to Myrtle Fargate's boarding house in April 1994. Kendall aids in planning Erica's wedding to Dimitri from March to May 1993.

Kendall is in for a shock while working for the demanding, often egotistical Erica. While she was initially excited to work for her idol and devoted herself to her job, her resentment of being treated as an employee increases upon witnessing the attention Erica lavishes on her eight-year old daughter, Bianca (Kendall, again lost in Hollywood lore, somehow thought Erica would sense their hidden connection). Kendall begins to sabotage Erica's wedding plans after successfully putting together her engagement party, during which Erica's mother, Mona, noticed a familiar birthmark on Kendall's neck. In an effort to sabotage Erica's wedding, Kendall orders the wrong supplies, cancels the orchestra, and burns Dimitri's divorce papers from his ex-wife, Angelique.

Meanwhile, Mona recognizes the Kendall's birthmark and realizes Kendall may be Erica's baby girl Mona had her give up for adoption at age 14. She begins to seek information about Kendall by getting to know Kendall and finding information when she is visited by Nick Davis and shares her suspicions with him. Distressed, Mona reveals the story of Erica's rape on her 14th birthday by a friend of her father's when she was visiting her father in California, her subsequent pregnancy, Kendall's birth in Phoenix; recalling holding Kendall as an infant, how she was "quite like her mother", seeing her birthmark, and says, ''"I held her until she calmed down and I looked very deep into her eyes and I told her that I loved her." ''She explains she only discovered Erica's pregnancy in her fifth month when Erica had just started showing so it was too late for a safe abortion in Europe; she discovers Erica was raped as Erica finally tried explaining to her mother what had happened to her after a shocked Mona saw her step out from the shower and realized she was pregnant. Mona decided to take Erica to Phoenix to have her baby, giving the child up for adoption. After Kendall's birth and adoption, she remembers urging Erica that it was best to keep this experience a secret and bury it inside herself so she could be spared the pain of that memory. Mona admits she thinks Kendall Hart is Erica's child. Nick searches Kendall's room at Myrtle's boarding house and plants a teenaged private detective, Hayley Vaughan, as a resident to investigate Kendall. Being near Kendall's age, Hayley tries to befriend her to get information but Kendall blows her off. Erica almost discovers the mission when Kendall confronts her about Nick searching her room but Nick and Mona cover up their efforts. Hayley and Charlie visit the Harts, who deny Kendall is adopted and Mona ends the search. However, Kendall reveals to Myrtle that Erica is her mother in April 1993.

Encouraged by Myrtle, Kendall tries to tell Erica about her true identity in May 1993 but Erica, having since discovered Kendall's sabotage attempts, harshly scolds her and Kendall is sent fleeing in tears, where she lashes out at a bewildered Bianca. Erica learns of the altercation and more of Kendall's various sabotage attempts of her wedding and goes to confront Kendall, who is currently daydreaming about a fantasy reunion between her and Erica. However, Erica is notified of Bianca being hurt in a horse-back riding accident and rushes off to the hospital. Kendall, jealous of the attention Bianca receives over her injury, expects Erica to realize who she is and furiously blurts out the truth to her. Angry, Erica initially refuses to believe her but is stunned when Kendall asks her if she remembers Phoenix and presents her with her adoption papers. Erica realizes that Kendall is her daughter. Crushed, Kendall runs away from the hospital to hide at the Pine Cone motel, Erica feeling horrible for treating Kendall like an employee. Erica reveals to Dimitri that she was raped when she was 14 years old and became pregnant with Kendall, having nearly blocked the entire event from her mind and starts to remember that night again. Erica discovers Mona had suspected who Kendall really was and is angry at her mother for not coming directly to her so she could know Kendall was her daughter. Erica searches for Kendall, hiring private detectives to find her, and locates an angry Kendall shortly after, who is still hurt, but they talk. Erica wants to get to know Kendall but though Kendall agrees with Erica that she came to Pine Valley because she wanted Erica to be her mother, she claims she's not interested anymore. Kendall asks what was wrong with her as a baby for Erica to give her away. Erica insists it had nothing to with Kendall but she wasn't ready to be a mother at that point because she was a teenager. Kendall accuses her of abandoning her but Erica says she didn't abandon her, she did the best thing for both of them when Kendall was born by giving her up for adoption, saying it was better for Kendall to be raised by a loving couple rather than a "traumatized teenager." Kendall is still angry but becomes confused when Erica vaguely explains it was a painful time in her life. She asks about her father and, despite Erica's attempt to protect Kendall from the truth of how she was conceived, Kendall becomes desperate and begs for the knowledge. Kendall is stunned when Erica reluctantly reveals that she became pregnant with her by rape but avoids revealing the rapist's identity. She tries to have Kendall understand why she had to give her up because she was too young to raise her, asking what she do if she were in her situation, but Kendall can't answer. Erica changes topics and asks why Kendall tried to ruin her wedding. Kendall explains she wanted to hurt Erica as much as she felt Erica hurt her by putting her up for adoption. Erica becomes concerned that the Harts neglected her but Kendall confesses the Harts treated her lovingly and didn't even tell her she was adopted. Erica explains to Kendall that she would like to try to be her mother. Kendall, though hesitant at first, agrees to work at a mother-daughter relationship with Erica. Erica welcomes the young woman into her life and has Kendall live with her as her daughter. Mona apologizes to an angry Kendall for not revealing her suspicions, trying to explain to her that it was her choice to give her up for adoption and asks her not to blame Erica. Erica overhears this, makes up with Mona, and urges Kendall to give them a chance to be a family.

Later that month, Kendall is happy when Erica makes her a bridesmaid to stand alongside her and Bianca. Bianca is confused why Erica is making such an effort with Kendall and remembers how mean Kendall has been to her. Erica finally tells Bianca that Kendall is also her daughter and Bianca is furious to discover that Kendall is her sister, becoming insecure about no longer being Erica's only child. Over the next months, Erica makes an effort to bond the girls but, though they try somewhat, Kendall and Bianca continually argue. In June 1993, Erica publicly announces Kendall as her daughter in her wedding announcement. Kendall is touched but, to her horror, Erica invites the Harts to Pine Valley when she realizes Kendall is dragging out telling her parents the truth. Kendall says that the Harts lied to her and confesses she doesn’t want to tell her parents anything. Erica lays down the law that either Kendall or herself will tell the Harts everything. Kendall sulks an acceptance of this but freaks out and briefly runs away from Erica’s house. The Harts arrive and when Erica goes to get Kendall, she panics when she finds her missing, revealing to the Harts that she is Kendall’s birth mother. Erica is initially angry with the them for keeping Kendall's adoption a secret, saying she wanted the best for her baby and for her to be raised by parents who would do the best for her but they kept her adoption hidden like a "dirty little secret." When she blames them for Kendall's disappearance, Alice is devastated and Bill says they love Kendall. They explain that they planned to tell Kendall when she was old enough but decided not to out of fear she would feel unloved. Erica is sympathetic to this and accepts the Harts' explanation. Meanwhile, Kendall is found by Dimitri at a bus station. He tries to drag an unwilling Kendall back home but when a security guard interrupts, she softens when Dimitri introduces himself as her father. He tries to assure her their new family will work. When Dimitri returns with Kendall, she unhappily accepts Erica told her parents everything and her parents' apology. The Harts are invited to attend Erica's wedding to Dimitri in support of Kendall. Mona, Erica, Bianca and Kendall share a moment as "three generations of Kane women" in front of the mirror the morning of Erica's wedding.

Dimitri, Erica, Kendall and Bianca all try to make it work as a family and the arrangement works for a brief time but Kendall grows more jealous of Bianca and the two continue to bicker. Bianca spills ink on Kendall's bridesmaid dress to keep her out of Erica's wedding party in '''June 1993. Kendall accuses Bianca of trying to get her in trouble, manipulates her into returning home to Seattle with her father in July 1993''', and sabotages Erica's strategies to win custody of Bianca. Kendall then encourages Bianca to run away from Seattle to Pine Valley in August 1993 but partially admits to what she did after Bianca does go missing shortly after. Later that month, Kendall manipulates Bianca in running away again and Bianca locks herself in the Wildwind mausoleum. Kendall hears her sister's cries and ignores them. However, she reveals Bianca's location later that night. Erica and Kendall work to develop a close mother-daughter relationship. Though they have moments where they start to bond, Bianca interrupts and Erica's attention is diverted from an increasingly resentful Kendall to Bianca. Kendall, seeking Erica's total love and approval, feels uncertainty with her identity and her place in Erica's life and becomes embittered by not instantly receiving everything she is looking for from her mother. Erica works to be the mother Kendall wants her to be and give her the kind of love Kendall needs but struggles with memories and reminders of her rape brought on by Kendall's sudden appearance in her life. In August 1993, Kendall's hurt increases when she pushes Erica to admit that while she cares about Kendall, does not love her like she loves Bianca. Erica confesses privately to Dimitri that she wishes she did but keeps experiencing traumatic memories of her rape she is now forced to confront after Kendall came back. Their already complicated relationship is also strained due to Kendall acting out through sabotage, making Erica angry. Dimitri, also pushing to develop Erica and Kendall's relationship, counsels both Erica and a disheartened Kendall that they just need time to know each other as mother and daughter. Erica and Kendall keep working on their mother-daughter relationship.

However, Kendall is still dissatisfied with what Erica gives her and grows closer to Dimitri. He becomes her confidante. Kendall begins daydream about Dimitri and develops a crush on her step-father but keeps it hidden. That month, Kendall accidentally stumbles upon the discovery of her birth father's identity and begins asking questions. Erica initially denies to Kendall that Richard Fields is her father. However, after Kendall begs for the information and says she needs to know, Erica reluctantly confirms it. She demands that Kendall completely forget about Richard Fields and explains forgetting him protects them both from the pain of who Kendall's father was. Kendall promises she will not find Fields but, despite repeated warnings from Erica against locating Richard Fields, she resolves to find her father and becomes obsessed with material about him, daydreaming her birth father will give her that instant love she wants from Erica. Dimitri discovers what she is doing and understands her need to learn about the father she came from. Believing he is protecting both Kendall and Erica by controlling the search, in addition to ensuring that Erica does not find out, Dimitri offers to aid Kendall in finding her biological father. He hires Hayley as a private investigator. During the successful operation, Kendall's crush on Dimitri grows.



She gets to know Anton Lang, a medical student living at Wildwind as Dimitri's ward she met earlier in August after threatening him with a pitchfork when he surprises her in the stables. Kendall finds his attention annoying but Erica and Dimitri work to form a friendship between them, trying to get Kendall to have friends her own age in him and Hayley. Erica attempts to get Kendall romantically interested in Anton but, though Anton is curious about Kendall, Kendall is having none of it. During October 1993, Erica discovers Kendall's forbidden research on her biological father in the Wildwind stables and goes ballistic. She hysterically burns it, momentarily believing she has "killed" Fields. She forbids Kendall a final time to find, research, or talk about Fields but suggests getting therapy for Kendall to deal with the issue. Kendall, devastated by her conception and Erica's reaction to her collection, agrees but secretly increases her efforts to hide her search from Erica. She explains to Dimitri that she needs to confront Fields over what he did to Erica and find out everything about where she came from. After finding Kendall's collection of material on Fields, Erica begins experiencing flashbacks to her rape. Kendall, Dimitri, and Hayley find Richard Fields in November 1993. Richard Fields lies to Kendall that he never raped her mother after she angrily confronts him about it. Desperate to believe she was not conceived in rape, Kendall starts to accepts Richard Fields' lies. Dimitri has Kendall promise she will sever contact with her biological father. Kendall agrees but discreetly takes Richard Fields' calls at Wildwind, wanting contact with both her birth parents. Simultaneously, Erica's flashbacks to the night of her rape worsen. She starts unwittingly seeing Fields in Kendall's place and begins to freak out at Kendall. Fields calls Kendall back at Wildwind one night and Erica has a panic-attack after she answers the phone to hear Fields' voice while she was having another nightmare about him. Due to increasing nightmares and flashbacks about her rape, Erica realizes she can't be the mother Kendall needs her to be and is failing in her efforts to give Kendall the type of love she wants from her. She feels guilty about giving Kendall up for adoption and for associations she makes between Kendall and her rape but explains to Dimitri that she has no choice but to have Kendall move out of Wildwind because she can't handle being reminded of Richard Fields and remembering Fields has taken over her life. Instead, Erica offers to pay for Kendall's apartment and education. Dimitri protests and they argue, Erica wondering why he always defends Kendall, but Dimitri agrees to ask Kendall to find an apartment. Though Erica, Dimitri, and Anton tell Kendall this isn't a rejection, she is crushed by the request but fakes a willingness to accept the arrangement to move to an apartment in town. Kendall secretly vows she won't be the one leaving Wildwind.

Her friendship with Anton slowly grows. Although, over the previous months, he figures out Kendall has a crush on Dimitri but Kendall repeatedly denies it. They kiss for the first time in October 1993 but Kendall freaks out, saying she can't stand to be touched like that. Kendall explains that when she found out her mother was 14 when she had her, "I didn't know that she was raped. I had all these visions of my mother, just like me, fooling around in the back seat of some guy's car and the next thing you knew, there was this baby. I wasn't about to let that happen to me." Consequently, she's been afraid of getting pregnant herself and avoids anything to do with sex. Anton gradually tries to open Kendall up to the idea of a relationship with him and they become closer. However, a spiteful Kendall blames Erica for having to leave Wildwind and purposely slips to Erica that she and Hayley went to California after Erica gives her a sermon on the wonders of independence regarding Kendall's apartment plans when Kendall lies to her she is "excited" to be on her own for the first time. Erica immediately questions Kendall why she went to L.A. and Kendall quickly covers, saying she and Hayley are just planning a trip there next year ("Like, you know, total independence!"), but Erica is suspicious. When she finds out Kendall has visited her birth father in California and discovers Dimitri's part in it, she is furious and rages at them both. Erica devastates Kendall when she slaps her, calls her a sneaky, vicious brat, and after a tirade in which she goes over Kendall's history of lies, compares her to her biological father for hurting her so much. She leaves Dimitri, blames him for allowing Kendall to find Fields over making Kendall understand & loyalty to their marriage, and also compares him to her rapist for finding him. In Erica's absence, Dimitri asks an upset Kendall to stay at Wildwind. However, when Edmund tells her she needs to let Erica and Dimitri work things out, Kendall deliberately thwarts a reconciliation attempt between Erica and Dimitri by allowing her mother to discover her still living there. Upset, Erica questions Dimitri's reasons for having her stay in her absence, saying that Kendall agreed to move out. She says that Kendall isn't his blood relative but he still seems to chose whatever Kendall wants over their marriage, becoming suspicious he feels more than paternally for Kendall. Dimitri tries to explain to Erica that he only cares for Kendall because she is her child. Erica thinks it's more than that and walks out on him. Kendall tries eavesdropping but is pulled away by Edmund. Edmund tells Dimitri, who says that Kendall is just a child, that Kendall is trying to sabotage her mother's life.

Shortly after, Kendall's mother, Alice, calls in December 1993 and wants her to return home to Florida but Kendall still wants another chance with Erica. Kendall pleads with Erica, saying she has needed Erica all her life, that the Harts couldn't give her what Erica could as a mother, and she just wants to find the "missing pieces of (her) life". Erica tells Kendall that they know each other now, she gave her answers to her questions, but she can't fill in the missing years of her life for her and is grateful to Alice for doing that in her place. She says she has always tried to do the best for Kendall from the time Kendall was a baby and was too young to raise her, ensuring she gave her "to a decent home with loving parents,” to later on when she took her in, but nothing is enough for Kendall. Kendall says her dream was for their relationship to work but Erica says that Kendall wanted her perfect fantasy of it to work and lectures that perfection doesn't start with lying about her identity when she arrived or scheming. Kendall apologizes, tries to explain why she needed to meet Fields, but swears she would do it differently if she could. Erica, having earlier said she hopes Kendall understands why she is hurt and angered by Kendall’s betrayal of finding the man who raped her, clarifies Kendall's trip isn't the issue; the problem is she can’t fulfill Kendall’s exaggerated expectations of an idealized mother-daughter relationship. She explains that, though she tried, she can no longer try to be the fantasy mother Kendall dreamed her to be and what she can give to Kendall isn't enough. When Kendall says she just wants to be loved, Erica implores Kendall to return home to the Harts, that her parents are waiting for her, and they already provide the type of love she seeks. She gently tells a shattered Kendall that, "the most loving thing (she) can do for (Kendall) is to ask (her), please, stop hurting (her)self this way," asking her to say good-bye''. ''Kendall wordlessly leaves Erica's office. Though Erica explains to Edmund she is pained at letting Kendall go, she voices her suspicions that Dimitri feels more than paternal friendship for Kendall.

Kendall is distraught from her talk with Erica and finds Dimitri at Wildwind. She confesses her love for her step-father and kisses him full-out on the lips. Horrified, Dimitri tells Kendall he could only love her as a daughter and because she is Erica's child. Kendall attempts to try and convince him that he loves her romantically, saying that he does whatever she wants but Dimitri says this is a fantasy. He tries to call a doctor to get her psychiatric help but Kendall uses this as proof he loves her and says Erica turned her back on both of them. Dimitri rejects her, explaining he cared for her so much only because Erica is her mother. She angrily reveals to Dimitri that she is furious at Erica for being given up for adoption; now believes Erica was not raped by Richard Fields; and insists she was not given up for adoption in an act of love, as Erica claimed, but out of selfishness. Furious, Dimitri roughly shakes Kendall. This is unknowingly witnessed by Erica through the window but she flees when she hallucinates Kendall as herself and Dimitri as Fields. Having earlier told Mona that she felt it was best for herself, Kendall, and everyone to send Kendall home to the Harts, hoping to put her rape behind her, a troubled Erica explains what she saw happen between Dimitri and Kendall at Wildwind and says she felt scared for her. She reveals she felt a maternal urge to protect Kendall but was too frightened when she started hallucinating Kendall as herself and Dimitri as Richard Fields.

Dimitri realizes Kendall is still in contact with Richard Fields and accuses Kendall of sabotaging Erica. Kendall maintains all she wanted was Erica's love but admits she is outraged at her mother. She refuses to give her father up, furious at Erica for giving her up. Livid, Dimitri throws her out of Wildwind. Devastated, Kendall finds Anton and tells him she wants to kill herself. She confides her versions of what happened with Erica and Dimitri. After he sympathetically hears her out, she allows him to seduce her and loses her virginity that night. The following morning, Kendall appears troubled by the experience and frantically finds Erica. Erica, concerned by Kendall's hysteria, asks Kendall if there was an accident and if she's hurt. Still crying, Kendall denies this and Erica grows increasingly worried as she remembers witnessing Dimitri shake Kendall. When she tries to get information out of Kendall and Kendall struggles to answer, Erica, aware of Kendall's virginity, asks if Anton seduced her. Kendall says it was Dimitri and implies she was raped. Erica is immediately infuriated by Kendall's claim and accuses her of lying "get back at (her)", referencing Kendall's history of sabotage, and refuses to believe Dimitri seduced her. However, Erica wavers in her disbelief when Kendall vocalizes her fear of being pregnant, guilt-tripping her mother when she cries she is unable to take care of a baby but can't give her own child up either and begs to be taken to a doctor. Erica, still wanting to uncover any duplicity, insists on taking Kendall to the hospital where Dr. Joe Martin examines her. He confirms to an anxious Erica that Kendall did have sex for the first time within the past 12 hours. She is further distressed when Dr. Martin, noting the bruises on her arms, speculates Kendall might have been raped. Erica has Kendall tell her what happened that night with Dimitri and Kendall fabricates a convincing account of Dimitri attacking her, her story aligning with Erica's own recollections of her rape. Believing Dimitri raped Kendall, Erica leaves to confront Dimitri at Wildwind. He unsuccessfully tries to tell her of Kendall's deceptions and that Kendall was actually trying to sabotage her. She interprets his change of attitude toward Kendall as proof he attacked her and says she saw him with her daughter the previous night, yelling that he hurt her. Dimitri denies he hurt Kendall in any way. She becomes more furious at Dimitri when he reveals Kendall came on to him and refuses to believe him. She correlates him to her rapist. An enraged Erica accuses Dimitri of raping her daughter and, hallucinating him as Richard Fields, stabs him with a letter opener.

Erica returns to the hospital, claiming to have stabbed Richard Fields but is horrified to learn she stabbed Dimitri. Kendall overhears what happened at Wildwind and faints from shock. Erica tells her lawyer/friend, Jackson Montgomery, she stabbed Dimitri because of what he did to Kendall. Jackson explains that she came to the hospital saying she had killed Richard Fields. Upon regaining consciousness, Kendall is visited by a confused Anton at the hospital and frightened that he will ruin everything, she tells him to get out of her life. She visits Erica and, wondering if Erica stabbed Dimitri because of what she told her, Erica says that was mixed in there and reveals she was hallucinating Richard Fields when she stabbed Dimitri. Kendall tries to see Dimitri but, livid, he throws her out of his hospital room. Kendall vows revenge on both her mother and step-father for their rejection. After being detained in the hospital for a short while, Erica is arrested for the attempted murder of Dimitri. At Wildwind, Kendall tells a skeptical Anton that Erica is delusional and imagining things, denying she had anything to do with Erica stabbing Dimitri. Jackson also finds Kendall there and explains Erica stabbed Dimitri because Kendall told her that Dimitri had raped her. Kendall lies by claiming that she didn't tell Erica anything like that and only admits to asking Erica to take her to the hospital because she was afraid she was pregnant. Jackson presses Kendall for the identity of her partner that night and Kendall refuses, until an angry Anton identifies himself as the one Kendall had sex with that night.

Meanwhile, Erica is saying she had to confront and stab Dimitri because he raped her daughter and consequently, also flashed back to her own rape because of that. Jackson reveals to her that Kendall is denying she ever told Erica that she accused Dimitri of raping her. Erica refuses to believe this, insisting Kendall had been raped by Dimitri because that's what Kendall told her, and wants to talk to Kendall about this. Erica finds Kendall at Wildwind where she tries to coax her into admitting what Dimitri did to her, assuring Kendall of her support and that she knows what she's going through. Kendall panics and attempts to convince Erica she imagined the accusation of rape she made against Dimitri, claiming she just went to Erica that morning for motherly advice about her first sexual experience with Anton. Unsettled by Kendall's denial, Erica explains she saw Dimitri manhandle Kendall on the night in question and demands to know why she is lying about being attacked. Kendall suggests Erica see a psychiatrist. Erica says she is not confused, that Kendall is lying, and presses her. Kendall cracks, admitting that she lied about Dimitri attacking her and she did it because she wants to hurt Erica and Dimitri ''"so bad, (she'd) die." ''Horrified, Erica realizes Dimitri was telling her the truth about Kendall's lies and asks Kendall if she has any idea what she's done. Kendall reveals that she is furious over being given up for adoption, accusing Erica of "thr(owing her) away." Erica denies she threw Kendall away and Kendall cries that she would have done anything for Erica's love. Erica tries again to explain she can't be Kendall's "fantasy mother" anymore. Kendall angrily reveals she lied about being raped by Dimitri because she now thinks Erica lied about being raped by Fields to avoid being labeled as a ''"slut."  Stunned, Erica calls this a "sick and filthy lie."'' Kendall continues that Erica kept away her from a father she believes could have loved/raised her. Outraged, Erica realizes Fields told Kendall all this, says these are all his lies, and furiously warns Kendall against him. Kendall refuses and tirades that her lie was vengeance against Erica. Erica realizes Kendall is so angry at her, she would "lie about anything," and accuses her of knowing what her accusation against Dimitri would do to their marriage. Kendall says she did exactly what Erica did to Fields, "Accuse an innocent man," but she never dreamed Erica would ''"go off the deep end and stab Dimitri." Erica declares, "I believed you. I was defending you."'' Kendall rages that she wanted to believe her so she could attack him because deep down, Erica knows knows she's not good enough for Dimitri. When Kendall continues to yell her intentions for revenge, Erica is infuriated, calls her a "lying, scheming witch" and goes to slap her but Kendall dares her mother to stab her with scissors instead. An appalled Erica refuses to do so and disowns her.

Having been thrown out of Wildwind by Edmund just before her confrontation with Erica, Kendall returns to Myrtle Fargate's boarding house. She brings Richard Fields to Pine Valley in January 1994 and highjacks Erica's press conference when she uses it to introduce Fields to the town. Erica immediately tries to physically attack Fields, screaming that she'll kill him, but she is taken away from the room. Fields defends himself, lying that he didn't rape Erica, and Kendall states she wants to clear Field's name of any rape accusations. She bitterly claims Erica cried rape just to get rid of her and justify giving her to "strangers to raise," saying Erica maliciously kept her and her father apart. Jackson attempts to explain the real story, that Erica was raped by Fields and Kendall is trying to sabotage her mother again. Afterward, Myrtle learns that Fields is Kendall's biological father, not her ailing uncle, and kicks them out of her boarding house. Kendall gets a room at the Pine Cone Motel. When she sees Dimitri make a televised statement supporting Erica's version of events and defends that Erica made an enormous effort to bond with Kendall but Kendall sabotaged it, Kendall angrily offers herself as a witness for the prosecution in the case against Erica, who has been charged with the attempted murder of Dimitri. Despite continued warnings from Anton, Erica, Dimitri, Hayley, Charlie and others against her father, Kendall refuses to believe he is capable of rape and assures herself he loves her. Fields persuades Kendall into taking him to Erica's trial each day but when Kendall witnesses him using her and the trial for a movie deal, she begins growing doubtful of her father's intentions.

At Erica's trial during February 1994, Kendall takes the stand for the prosecution. She twists the truth and lies about her history with Erica. She falsely states Erica knowingly stabbed Dimitri because she was jealous that Dimitri wanted her romantically as well. Kendall tells the jury that on the morning in question, she told Erica was that she had unprotected sex with Anton and was scared that she was pregnant. She denies she told Erica that Dimitri raped her, provoking a tirade from Erica in court, who demands she stop lying and tell the truth. When Kendall's lies start to unravel under cross-examination by the defense, Kendall is forced to admit her crush on Dimitri and that she tried to seduce her step-father. In retaliation, Kendall flies to Seattle and convinces Bianca, previously kept unaware of Erica's attack on Dimitri, to return with her to Pine Valley in an effort to sabotage Erica by showing up with Bianca in the courtroom. When Kendall leaves Bianca alone in her locked motel room to get take-out, Fields finds Bianca there. Not knowing what he did to Erica, Bianca lets him in after he says he is Kendall's father, is excited when she recognizes him from TV and asks for his autograph. They talk but Bianca is quickly found by Dimitri, Jackson, and Trevor Dillon. She is taken away from the room. Kendall returns and is surprised to learn Fields was alone with Bianca. She is read the riot act by a furious Dimitri, Jackson, and Trevor. Despite continuing to defend her father, an uneasy Kendall has Fields confirm to her that he didn't touch Bianca. In court later that day, Erica is successfully infuriated by Kendall's actions and enraged at her when she learns Bianca was alone with Fields.



In March 1994, Kendall is devastated to learn of other rape accusations and charges made against her father, growing increasingly worried. Meanwhile, after a talk with Erica, an angry Bianca comes to see Kendall about the trouble she is causing but Kendall is not at the motel. Instead, Fields arrives and finds Bianca looking for Kendall in her room. Bianca, having learned from Erica how dangerous Fields really is, becomes frightened and tries to escape but Fields locks the door and pulls her back. However, Kendall returns to her room before Fields can molest Bianca. She is horrified to see Fields trying to force himself on her little sister and quickly rescues Bianca, sending her home with Mona. Witnessing her birth father for what he truly is, Kendall is sickened, realizes he did rape her mother, and is disgusted that she defended her father despite Erica's and everybody else's warnings against him. She completely disassociates herself from Fields and leaves him, her last words to him being, ''"I hope you burn in hell." ''Mona later confronts Fields and attempts to stab him but leaves him to die in the motel room from a heart attack. Kendall finds Erica the next morning, apologizing for her lies. Erica asks Kendall if she's aware of the trouble she's caused and the people she's hurt, nearly getting Dimitri killed. Kendall says she was hurt because she didn't get the type of love from Erica that she wanted. She agrees to tell the truth in court when Erica, still doubting her sincerity, deceives Kendall into exonerating her after promising her help. Kendall confesses her lies during her testimony for the defense in court and is immediately arrested for perjury upon stepping off the stand. Erica refuses to help Kendall out of her perjury charge but is convinced by Anton to visit Kendall later that night in jail where the two have an emotional confrontation over Kendall's various schemes. Erica explains her deception to Kendall and says she won't help her, revealing that she promised Kendall legal protection in order to convince her daughter to exonerate her. A stunned Kendall tearfully explains she tried to take back her lies with her testimony. Erica tells Kendall that she would have helped her if she did not hurt Bianca by deliberately bringing her into the situation and screams at her over Richard Fields being alone with Bianca. Kendall says she didn't mean for Fields to hurt Bianca, apologizes for everything and accepts her imprisonment but begs for another chance. She explains she only came to Pine Valley to be Erica's daughter. Though initially conflicted by Kendall's cries, Erica still doubts her sincerity and says she can't forgive her, lecturing Kendall to give up her fantasy life if she hopes to have a decent future and notes prison as the result of her revenge plots. She leaves a newly vengeful Kendall in jail. Erica returns home and, feeling terrible about turning her back on her daughter, calls Alice Hart to help Kendall. Kendall is charged with perjury and sentenced to 30 days at Green Briar, a correctional facility. There, Kendall experiences a brief but warm reunion with her mother, Alice, and immediately falls into her arms.

Anton, having professed his love to Kendall while she was in jail, vows his loyalty to her, making Dimitri extremely unhappy. Dimitri tries to buy Kendall out of town, infuriating Anton. Dimitri exiles Anton from Wildwind when he refuses to leave Kendall but learns Anton is his son shortly after. While imprisoned, Kendall meets fellow town pariah and inmate, Janet Green, who has received experimental plastic surgery on her face. Unaware of Janet's identity, the two gradually become friends. Kendall reveals she is Erica Kane's daughter and updates Janet, a former Pine Valley resident, of the events happening in town since her imprisonment. Unbeknownst to Kendall, Janet's daughter, Amanda, is being raised by Erica's lawyer, Trevor Dillon. Janet pushes Kendall for information on him and his family. However, Kendall then learns her new friend is actually Janet "From Another Planet" Green, a woman who Kendall has heard infamous new reports of since her childhood in Florida and then notorious stories of at Wildwind (Janet committed crimes including homicide and imprisoning her sister in an abandoned mineshaft). She is angry but comes to accept Janet anyway. Anton proposes to Kendall in '''April 1994. She refuses, wanting to figure out her life first, but later accepts and they get engaged. '''Del Henry, a writer in need of money for a kidney transplant, proposes the idea of a tell-all book about Erica to Kendall. Anton makes Kendall promise she will stop plotting against Erica. He threatens to call their engagement off if Kendall agrees to help Del write the book and she refuses the proposition. However, she secretly calls Del later that day and agrees to write the book with him. Kendall is released in late April 1994 and Dimitri is forced to offer Anton and Kendall the Hunting Lodge to appease his newfound son. He and the other Wildwind residents operate under the guise of making peace with Kendall to keep Anton, angry at Dimitri over his treatment of Kendall, open to a relationship with his father but plan to break the couple up. Kendall is immediately suspicious something is going on. In the Hunting Lodge, Kendall meets Julia Santos, currently residing at Wildwind, when she and Anton find her crying there. Kendall immediately dislikes her, igniting a rivalry over Julia's growing friendship with Anton.

Dimitri reluctantly hires Kendall as his personal assistant on the condition that she stop her schemes against Erica. Kendall continues to secretly sabotage her mother's life and thwart her reconciliation attempts with Dimitri. Continuing her habit of eavesdropping, Kendall deliberately allows an upset Erica to discover Dimitri has let her to live in the Hunting Lodge, Erica and Dimitri's honeymoon home. Erica starts to suspect again that Dimitri is romantically interested in Kendall, forcing Dimitri to reveal to Erica a short while later that Anton is his son and he is keeping Kendall at Wildwind for him. Discreetly, Kendall begins helping Del write the tell-all book about Erica in an effort to damage Erica's reputation. Keeping the book secret and hurt by her history with Erica, she negatively fabricates stories about her mother and twists their relationship for Del's book. In June 1994, Kendall meets Anton's sister, Corvina, and discovers there is a secret regarding Anton being kept from her by the other residents at Wildwind. Determined to learn what it is, Kendall eavesdrops on conversations and attempts to befriend Corvina. Pretending to get drunk herself, Kendall gets Corvina drunk to get her to accidentally leak the secret to her but she is unsuccessful. The other Wildwind residents inform Corvina of Kendall's previous activities, that they plan to separate her and Anton so Kendall will leave Wildwind, and a frustrated Kendall remains unaware that Anton is Dimitri's son.

Kendall promises to keeps quiet about Janet's true identity when she discovers her masquerading under a new face and name, "Jane Cox" in July 1994. She initially confronts Janet over her deception but when she is injured by a beam during a tornado, swears to Janet she will keep her secret for Amanda's sake. Kendall is touched by the complete love Janet has for her daughter and explains she doesn't want Amanda to turn out like herself, feeling unwanted and unloved. Kendall's knowledge of Jane's actual identity and her friendship with the real Janet Green remains hidden until December 1994, when Janet's identity is revealed during her failed wedding to Trevor Dillon, despite Kendall's best efforts to cover for her. Their friendship continues as they remain each other's closest allies in mutually genuine support and scheming. Janet has Kendall promise she will look after Amanda should anything happen to her. Kendall prevents Janet from embarking on two massacres in an effort to take Amanda back in March 1995 and in May 1995. In May 1995, a horrified Kendall witnesses what she believes to be Janet's death when she is apparently stuck by lightning.

When Kendall's grandmother, Mona, dies in August 1994, Kendall is deeply affected and attempts to pay her respects, only to be angrily confronted by Erica, who mistakenly believes that Kendall is faking her grief and has merely come to crash the funeral. Despite Kendall's heartfelt confessions, Erica orders her to leave. She is pulled away by Janet after accidentally knocking over Mona's portrait. Janet agrees to say good-bye to Mona on Kendall's behalf and tells Mona's coffin that Kendall loved her. Later, when visiting Mona's grave, Kendall gets into another argument with Dimitri, which climaxes when Kendall demands to know why he still protects Erica after she stabbed him. Furious at Erica over Mona's funeral, Kendall angrily resumes work with Del on the tell-all book. However, they start to develop a friendship. Later that month, Kendall manages to intercede a thank-you note from Erica to Dimitri and forges a scathing letter in its place to prevent a reconciliation between them. At the end of August, Dimitri and Edmund discover Kendall and Del writing a book about Erica. Hoping this will convince Anton to break up with Kendall and she will leave Wildwind, they reveal the book in front of Anton when they read aloud Kendall's negatively falsified stories about Erica. Kendall is forced to confess she contributed the stories and she was helping Del write the expose. However, she successfully convinces Anton she will change and agrees to go to therapy. When Anton discovers Erica's burned note to Dimitri in the fireplace and realizes Kendall's forgery, he throws her out of Wildwind in September 1994. Kendall returns to the Pine Cone Motel.

After the tell-all book is dropped, Kendall briefly fakes a pregnancy in an effort to win Anton back. She and Erica have an emotional and heated confrontation over Kendall's forged note and tell-all book attempt. Angry that Del accepted a deal  to drop the book, she goes to Del to get help with a scheme to get Anton back but he refuses. Despite this, she ends up standing by him in kidney transplant surgery. In another plan to get Anton back, Kendall takes six pills to fake a suicide and successfully guilt-trips Anton but Dr. Martin notifies Erica when Kendall is taken to the hospital. Erica confirms Kendall is still alive but becomes immediately suspicious it's another ploy. Dr. Martin verifies her suspicions with his test results, explaining that Kendall's attempt was faked and Erica exposes Kendall's lie to a guilt-ridden Anton. Furious, Anton leaves her. Afterward, Kendall works for a short time as Brooke English's assistant at Tempo Magazine from October to '''November 1994. '''However, she manages to print a scathing article she made up to sabotage Erica's renewed modeling career in the magazine and when an aggravated Erica discovers it, she notifies Brooke, and Kendall is immediately fired. In December 1994, Kendall is miserable to learn that Dimitri and Erica are back together. She remembers the Wildwind secret that has eluded her since June and works with Janet to come up with a lie in its place. When Janet suggests Kendall lie to Anton that he is Dimitri and Corvina's son, a revelation neither of them knows to be true, a dubious Kendall tries this story with Anton. Anton immediately denounces the story as a lie. When he brings it to Dimitri, Dimitri confirms that he is his father and Corvina is his mother. Furious at the deception, Anton visits Kendall, who is stunned her lie was the truth. He convinces her to elope with him as vengeance against their respective parents, now re-married and upset when they find out about Anton and Kendall's marriage. In January 1995, Kendall is hired as a waitress at McKay's Restaurant. Anton, angry at Dimitri and Corvina, quits his medical training to become a car mechanic. Anton treats Kendall with indifference as she tries to make their marriage work but becomes threatened by Anton's developing closeness with Julia. Corvina moves out of Wildwind after Dimitri disowns Anton over his marriage to Kendall.

In February 1995, Corvina convinces a reluctant Kendall to sneak into Wildwind and steal a ceramic leopard, bought in Budapest by Erica. Though Kendall is fearful of getting caught, she agrees to steal the leopard after Corvina, complimenting her, says it contains fabled documents that would make Corvina's family heir to Wildwind. They discover it empty. In March 1995, Kendall schemes with Corvina to forge documents claiming Corvina and Dimitri were switched at birth, making Corvina, Anton, and (via marriage) Kendall, the heirs to Wildwind. As Kendall's friendship with Del grows stronger, he continuously attempts to persuade her from her revenge plots. Kendall begins having second thoughts but Corvina convinces her to go through with their plan. Del warns the Maricks that Kendall may be up to another scheme. In April 1995, Erica tells Anton about Del's warning that Kendall is working on a new plot but Anton denies this, insists Kendall has changed and informs her she has made up Harts. While Erica is happy the Harts are so devoted to Kendall and hopes she has changed, she still believes Kendall is up to something. Kendall plants the leopard containing the forgeries at Wildwind. Del tries again to dissuade her from going through with the plot, assuring her that she has good in her and Erica doesn't hate her but knows it must hurt to be cut off. Kendall is upset he is working as a copywriter for Erica, now a spokesperson for Orsini, and insists she needs to get back at Erica. Kendall and Corvina convince Anton to agree to a dinner at Wildwind under the guise of reconciliation. Dimitri and Erica set up the dinner with Kendall, Anton, and Corvina at Wildwind in hopes it will uncover Kendall and Corvina's plot and break Kendall and Anton up. Aware of the closeness between Del and Kendall, Erica solicits Del's help in getting Kendall to reveal her plan. Del agrees. Erica sets up a meeting between him and Kendall that night at Wildwind and leaves them alone on the terrace. Kendall refuses to admit to any plot but Erica catches them kissing. At dinner in front of Anton, she casually asks Kendall why she was kissing Del. Kendall freaks out, a furious Anton wants to leave, and on their way out, a fight over the leopard ensues between Corvina and Erica. It breaks and the forged documents are discovered. Dimitri and Erica immediately suspect they are part of the Kendall's new plot that Del had warned them about. The next day, Erica has them checked out by her lawyer, Jackson, and shares her suspicions about their authenticity and Kendall's plan. Corvina confesses her part in the scheme after Anton prompts her for the truth. Kendall desperately attempts to sell the story of the baby-switch to several magazines but it is rejected. Instead, she is given several warnings to drop the plot and then a lecture from Brooke at Tempo to stop her revenge schemes and change her life. A miserable Kendall ignores their words. Anton, the Maricks and Erica, with Jackson's help, trick Kendall into signing annulment papers under the guise of signing documents that would make Anton and herself owners of Wildwind. Anton leaves Kendall due to her continual scheming in April 1995.

Kendall is devastated and initially wants payback against the Erica, Anton, and the Maricks, saying she just wants to be accepted. Del talks her down and Kendall decides to grant Anton the annulment without contest. They fall in love in May 1995. He helps Kendall to rebuild her life and let go of her anger against Erica and the Harts. She attempts to move on in Pine Valley. Kendall is upset to learn about Erica's accident when she falls from a catwalk and rushes to the hospital to discreetly ensure her mother is alright. Later that month, she is distraught to witness the supposed death of Janet but finds few in Pine Valley are willing to believe her. In June 1995, Kendall continues to work with Del to figure out her future but when he asks her to marry him, she turns him down because she needs to figure out her life first. They continue their relationship as is. Kendall reconnects with her mother, Alice, after she is grieved to learn that her father, Bill, died suddenly from heart complications. She attends the funeral with Del and as she looks around her childhood home full of her photos, wonders why she never felt lucky. They return home where Kendall and Del decide to move to Florida to take care of Alice. Kendall writes Erica a letter, apologizing for her activities and explains she wanted Erica's attention, which was why she did "so many despicable things." She tells Erica that she was "blessed from the day (she) was born," admits she didn't appreciate how much the Harts loved her and that it took "two years of hell and a sudden death to wake (her) up." Kendall accepts she was given up for adoption in an act of love, not cruelty, and thanks Erica for giving her life and the life she had with the Harts. Erica is swayed by Kendall's letter but is conflicted, suspicious it's another ploy. She is convinced by Myrtle to see her daughter before she leaves when she is reminded of Mona.

Kendall leaves on good terms with several Pine Valley residents and shares a good-bye with Myrtle and Anton. Myrtle tells Kendall that Mona loved her and though Kendall and Anton agree their relationship was damaging, they thank each other for being there for the other. At the Pine Cone Motel, Erica and Kendall make peace and Kendall apologizes again. She explains she could only think of her pain and didn't consider why Erica did what she did or how it made her feel. Erica forgives Kendall for the harm she has caused and gives her a ring that once belonged to Mona. They hug before Erica tells Kendall she wants her to be happy. Kendall promises, swearing she'll never take Alice for granted again and appreciates what Erica has done for her. Erica reveals to Dimitri that she "feels relieved, but (she) also feels very sad" over Kendall's departure. Amazed, Kendall tells Del, "My mother forgives me," and says he made what she shared with her mother possible. She reflects, "I learned a lot in this town. I lost a lot too but what I found more than makes up for it." She bids a tearful, "Good-bye Pine Valley," before returning to Florida with Del.

2002-
2002-

In 2002, Kendall's character was finally recast with actress Alicia Minishew and the character's birth date was revised back to September 25, 1976. Erica goes on trial for the murder of Frankie Stone, Bianca’s girlfriend. Needing someone to help incriminate her, Erica calls in Kendall, half-hoping Kendall will not implicate her on the stand and that she has changed after all. On January 7, 2002, a newly embittered Kendall, who has since amicably split from Del, returns to Pine Valley to aid the prosecution in charging Erica with murder. While she continued to go back and forth with her difficult mother, Kendall and Erica were reconciled for good approximately 1.5 to 2 years after her return and developed a deeply loving mother-daughter relationship. Largely, the character had reformed and reconciled with her family, including the formation of a very close relationship with her half-sister, Bianca. Kendall was eventually written as a heroine, though her devious characteristics were kept still intact.

Gellar guested in the 2011 series finale opposite a longtime friend from her initial tenure on All My Children, Eva LaRue. She played a delusional mental patient who saw vampires and believed herself to be the daughter of Erica; nods to both of her most famous TV roles, Kendall Hart and Buffy Summers.

Trivia

 * Because of her work as the self-absorbed Kendall Hart and light complexion with dark hair, Joss Whedon initially considered Gellar for the role of Cordelia Chase when she auditioned for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
 * In a 1999 interview with the The Chicago Tribune, Roger Kumble, writer and director of the 1999 film, Cruel Intentions, revealed he wanted Gellar in the lead role of Kathryn Merteuil based on her work as Kendall Hart.
 * Rudolph Martin, the actor who played Kendall's once-gullible husband, Anton Lang, later starred as Dracula in both a TV-miniseries and in the 2000 fifth season opener of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
 * Gellar briefly worked with Lauren E. Roman, who played teenaged runaway Laura Kirk, on All My Children. They would work together again in the 1999 Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, "Earshot", in which Roman played Buffy's neurotically overachieving high school classmate, Nancy Doyle.
 * Michelle Trachtenberg portrayed Dawn on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and also played Lily Benton Montgomery on All My Children from 1993 to 1996. Though her tenure overlapped with Gellar's time on All My Children, the two characters didn't interact.
 * In 2012, Alicia Minshew (Kendall Hart, 2002-present) interviewed that she received a basket of flowers, cakes and cookies from Gellar with "a note saying that Kendall was a great role and for me to have fun playing her". The two met on All My Children's set a year after Minshew's time in the role while Gellar was visiting friends . Minshew describes, "We just gave each other a big hug and she said I was doing a great job."
 * In an 2010 interview with Michael Fairman, Minshew reveals she has "always loved the relationship between Kendall and Erica, even before I played her. I liked the dynamics between Sarah Michelle Gellar (ex-Kendall) and Susan."
 * Gellar stated in multiple interviews that she grew up watching All My Children and continued to watch the show after she left the role of Kendall Hart, explaining, "I still watch the soap every day!" in 2002.