Steve Hardy (John Beradino)

Dr. Steven "Steve" Hardy, MD was a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera General Hospital. Steve was an original cast member of the show, and was portrayed by John Beradino until the death of both the character and the actor in 1996. He was potrayed by Jason Thompson in a flashblack episode on April 1, 1963.

Storylines
Steve was born in China to American missionary parents and was very devoted to his career and patients. His first patient at General Hospital was a girl named Angie Costello. Angie had been in a car accident with her boyfriend Eddie Weeks and her face was badly disfigured. She underwent hours of surgery to repair her face and came out covered in bandages. Angie was insecure about her looks after the accident and she contemplated suicide. Steve and nurse Jessie Brewer were able to talk her out of it though.
 * -|1960s=

In February of 1964 Audrey March came to town to visit her sister, Nurse Lucille Weeks. Audrey immediately fell for Steve and decided to stay in Port Charles. The couple became engaged and was married in February of 1965. Audrey believed Steve was sterile when she failed to conceive a child. She had herself artificially inseminated and became pregnant. After a car accident, Audrey miscarried and, devastated, she filed for divorce and left town to go to Vietnam where she aided orphans.

In 1969, Audrey returned from Vietnam. She married Dr. Tom Baldwin to prove herself over Steve. It was a disastrous marriage because Audrey refused to consummate it. Tom ended up raping Audrey which resulted in her becoming pregnant. She quickly filed for divorce and left town telling no one save her sister that she was pregnant. In 1971, she returned and told everyone that her baby was still-born. But really her son "Stevie" was living with his nanny Peggy Nelson in another part of town.

Audrey told many lies to keep her estranged husband Tom Baldwin from stopping their divorce. She feared that if Tom found out about their son that she would never get him out of her life. Audrey planned on telling Steve that little "Stevie" was Mrs. Nelson's cousin's baby that she wanted to adopt. Her plan was to marry Steve and then together they would raise little "Stevie." Audrey's plan would have worked had not Peggy Nelson been listening to her scheme. Peggy blackmailed Audrey. Then suddenly, Mrs. Nelson was found shot and Audrey was charged with murder and her secret was revealed. Audrey was nearly convicted when Mrs. Nelson's angry ex-husband Arnold confessed. Audrey was set free and she decided that the only way to keep her son from Tom was to remarry him. Unfortunately their marriage failed again and Tom got nervous and kidnapped his son Tommy Jr. to Mexico. Audrey was devastated.

Audrey got a call from Mexico hearing that Tom had died of a heart attack and that Tommy Jr. would be returning home to her. Audrey was thrilled and it was just in the nick of time because Tommy needed open heart surgery. Dr. Jim Hobart, a new doctor at the hospital performed the surgery and a very little time later Audrey was married to Jim. This was a shock to Audrey's sister Lucille and Steve. They believed that the marriage was out of gratitude, not love.
 * -|1970s=

Audrey's marriage to Jim fell apart after Jim injured his hand and became a hopeless alcoholic. Audrey was devastated when Jim walked out and took an overdose of pills. Before she passed out she realized that her death meant that her son would be alone. Steve found her and rushed her to GH. Audrey fortunately survived and confessed her undying love for Steve. They reconciled, but tragedy would strike again when Steve fell down the stairs at General Hospital. Audrey found him unconscious at the bottom of the stairs. He was paralyzed and Audrey stuck by him; she even was his personal physiotherapist. After Steve recovered the two walked down the aisle again.

In 1977, Steve and Audrey were both happy and Steve planned to adopt Tommy until Tom Baldwin came back..alive. Tom begged Audrey to remarry him (being that her marriage to Steve was now invalid) but Audrey refused. A confused Tommy ran away from home and Tom saw how he was affecting his son. Tom gave up all parental rites and left town forever. Steve and Audrey remarried again and Steve adopted Tommy. Audrey finally had the family that she wanted.

Terri Webber Arnett, whose husband David had been killed in Vietnam, came to town to care for her younger brothers after their parents, Lars and Helen Webber, were killed in an accident. Both brothers, Rick and Jeff had aspirations of becoming doctors. While a resident at GH, Rick volunteered to go to Africa for 6 months where it was later reported he had been killed. Jeff, Rick's younger brother, graduated from med school and along with his wife Monica, was selected by Steve to enter his experimental program as Mr. and Mrs. Intern at General Hospital. Unfortunately the couple was plagued by problems. Monica, who had once been engaged to Rick, and Jeff deeply mourned Rick's passing. Jeff suffered not only the loss of his brother but the fear that he was constantly being compared to him. The marriage became strained and even more so when it was discovered that Rick had not perished in the plane crash as believed but had been held prisoner. Shortly after Rick's return to Port Charles, Steve decided to abandon his program for the greater good of the three Webbers. Monica and Jeff soon split.

Shortly afterwards Jeff disappeared. He resurfaced in a bar, drunk and high on amphetamines. The next morning, Dr. Mark Dante showed up to take him home but before he could do so, Jeff shot himself. He was rushed to the hospital where his life hung in the balance. Fearing the worst, Terri, his sister decided to go to Steve to tell him of a letter her mother had told her about on her deathbed. The letter revealed that Steve was in fact Jeff's biological father.

When Audrey learned that Dr. Jeff Webber was Steve's son by an affair with the late Helene Webber, she decided to keep it secret until Lassa fever hit and Steve fell ill. Audrey thought that Steve was dying and stunned Jeff with the news that Steve was his real father. Jeff was hurt and cold to Steve after his recovery. Eventually Steve and Jeff bonded. That same year, Audrey's niece Anne Logan and her adopted son Jeremy Hewitt came to town. Audrey watched happily as Anne got closer to Jeff and he got farther away from his lying wife Heather Webber.

Audrey had to lend her support to Anne as she was charged with the murder of Diana Taylor. There was a clear-cut case against Anne as Heather Webber framed her and Heather's mother Alice Grant was the actual killer. The truth came out and Jeff left town that year with Audrey and Steve's first grandchild Steven Lars Webber. Jeff and Steven Lars had just been reunited as Steven Lars' mother Heather had sold him away to Peter and Diana Taylor three years earlier as a newborn. Steve and Audrey were later overjoyed by the return of their son Tom from medical school as Dr. Tom Hardy. Things weren't all well however when Audrey learned that Tom was seeing Simone Ravelle, a black doctor at GH. Audrey feared that Tom would face discrimination over the relationship but agreed to support the new couple.
 * -|1980s-90s=

In 1993, Audrey surprised Steve with an anniversary party to honor his thirty years at General Hospital. Steve pledged that he would treat patients more and perform hospital administration work less. Later, Audrey was attacked by a psychotic Ryan Chamberlain who believed that she was his abusive mother. Audrey was badly hurt and Steve had to perform surgery on his own wife. Audrey eventually recovered and Ryan was jailed.

When Tom Jr. ran for Chief of Psychiatry at GH, Steve had lost confidence in him when the votes were tied between Tom and Kevin Collins. Steve voted for Kevin, soon after he was named Chief of Psychiatry and Tom joined the staff under Kevin. In 1996, Steve died of a heart attack. Audrey was devastated. Steve was working so hard, sometimes all night to keep General Hospital out of considerable financial debt. This hit the Hardys hard, as they all struggled to carry on without Steve.


 * -|Returns=