Jesse Hubbard and Angie Baxter
[1] Morgan's feeling that Jesse might need a love interest, as she expressed as much to her agent in New York, matched that of the show's producers, who were searching for a young woman to fill the role of Angie Baxter.
[3] The Jesse and Angie pairing, as well as fellow supercouple Greg Nelson and Jenny Gardner, were one notable aspect of Nixon's writing that prompted young high school and college students to race home just to view the soap opera.
The article suggested that Angie's return would start with being called back to Pine Valley Hospital to assist on a case, where she would be reunited with a living Jesse Hubbard.
[9] To start the storyline where Jesse is brought back, the writers thought up a plot where characters Greenlee Smythe and Quentin contract a weird woods-related disease that triggers asphyxiation.
ABC consulted with Agnes Nixon (retired at that time) on how to resurrect Jesse, since he was shot to death in 1988: "We saw Angie sobbing on his chest, but I think the audience is invested enough in them as a couple that they will embrace our solution," Carruthers stated.
[10] "Angie and Jesse made an eternal imprint on viewers, and many fans will not believe he's alive," stated Brian Frons, president of ABC Daytime.
"[4] Williams detailed that the lack of diversity is one of the reasons they were approached to return to the series: "I think All My Children kind of shot themselves in the foot by allowing the canvas to become so nondiversified.
Jesse Hubbard—originally from Center City, Pennsylvania[note 5]—first appears in the adjacent town of Pine Valley as the recently orphaned 17-year-old nephew of Dr. Frank Grant (John Danelle).
Convinced to seek political office by electronics mogul Palmer Cortlandt (James Mitchell) and his son Ross Chandler (Robert Gentry), Jesse announces his candidacy for a seat on the Pine Valley Town Council.
Mr. Big threatens Yvonne and, to protect herself and her son, she falsely accuses senatorial candidate Travis Montgomery (Larkin Malloy) of being the baby's father.
Cindy is ostracized by many Pine Valley residents, including Skye Chandler (Robin Christopher), Greg's mother Enid Nelson (Natalie Ross), and a hate group that sets fire to the Hubbard home.
Eventually, Angie has brief romances with medical colleagues Jeff Martin (Jeffrey Byron) and Cal Cummings (Count Stovall), as well as police officer Derek Frye (William Christian).
In 1993, Angie and a teenage Frankie (Alimi Ballard) settle in Corinth, Pennsylvania, where they reconnect with Jeremy Hunter (Jean LeClerc), an acquaintance from Pine Valley.
Then, as fate would have it, she meets Jacob Foster (Darnell Williams), a mysterious stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jesse, and later turns out to be related to him.
While in New York, Angie opens a free medical clinic at 212 Greene Street in SoHo, a building owned by billionaire Sydney Chase (Morgan Fairchild), and later by Port Charles businesswoman Tracy Quartermaine (Jane Elliot).
In 2001, Jesse appears to return to Pine Valley, but as an angel whose mission it is to help Gillian Andrassy (who had recently been slain by a hitwoman who mistook her for Anna Devane) make a smooth transition to the afterlife.
Now divorced from Jacob Foster, Angie spends her first few days back in Pine Valley searching for the cause of Frankie and Greenlee's illness, while trying to understand why her son remained out of contact with his family after returning from Iraq.
Jesse explains that he is pretending to be dead in order to protect his family, whose lives have been threatened, and that he only returned to Pine Valley because Frankie's medical condition has placed him near death.
As the Hubbard family is reunited, Derek Frye (Charles Parnell) -- now chief of the Pine Valley Police Department—informs Greenlee, Zach and their loved ones that the skeleton in the bomb shelter with them was John Remington, the man whom Jesse was protecting at the time of his supposed death.
Robert, an agent with the FBI, slowly begins to gain the trust of some Pine Valley residents, including Tad's biological mother Opal Cortlandt (Jill Larson), and soon convinces Jesse that his primary captor—nicknamed "Papel"—has been killed.
Robert was apparently trying to locate a pair of large uncut diamonds, one of which Remington had secretly hidden inside a stuffed animal that he gave to Frankie as a child.
As a special surprise, Jesse arranges for R&B superstar Ne-Yo to sing his yet-to-be released song "Stop This World" as Angie makes her entrance.
He eventually developed a romantic relationship with his doctor Rebecca Fowler (Laura Koffman), and the two had a daughter named Natalia (Shannon Kane).
Angie deciding to help her search for her lost child become to unbearable for Jesse and on September 4, 2011 it is revealed to Angela the truth about her baby girl.
Motivational speaker and author Angela D. Lewis recalled her experience watching the Jesse and Angie love story while attending the University of South Carolina in the 1980s.
However, it is widely believed the producers of All My Children shied away from pairing them as a romantic couple, as a Black male/White female relationship was still considered to be a taboo on daytime television in the early 1980s.
Also mentioned was Morgan's portrayal of grief at Jesse's "death" being so moving, that the author of the letter felt as though a member within his or her own immediate family had taken the deadly bullet.
[19] In 1985, during the Jesse/Angie/Eugene story arc, Debbi Morgan and Tom Wright (Eugene) appeared in two music videos by the R&B group Cameo: "Attack Me With Your Love" and "Single Life".
When magazine Soap Opera Digest picked their January 3, 1984 Jesse and Angie cover for their Friday November 11, 2005 cover in celebration of their magazine turning thirty years old, the following was stated: "January 3, 1984 Daytime's first black supercouple — ALL MY CHILDREN's Angie (Debbi Morgan) and Jesse (Darnell Williams) captured hearts and helped revolutionize the daytime landscape.
[13] After an unsuccessful 1982 nomination, Darnell Williams's portrayal of Jesse Hubbard earned him the 1983 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama Series.
