Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn)

Alexis Davis (born Princess Natasha Alexandra Mikkosovna Cassadine; raised Alexis Davidovitch; formerly Jacks and Lansing) is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera, General Hospital. Nancy Lee Grahn originated the role in 1996. She is the daughter of Mikkos Cassadine and Kristen Bergman. She is also the mother of Sam McCall, Kristina Davis and Molly Lansing.

Background
Alexis is the daughter of Mikkos Cassadine, a Greco-Russian prince, and his mistress Kristen Bergman, a Swedish opera singer. Mikkos' wife Helena Cassadine slit Kristen's throat in front of young Alexis, who develops partial amnesia and forgets her true identity. Alexis is taken into Mikkos' house to be raised as a poor relative with the last name Davidovitch, while her infant sister disappears. Helena and her half-brother Stavros Cassadine torment her, but her other half-brother Stefan Cassadine (who believes that she is indeed his cousin) protects her, gaining her loyalty. As a teenager, Alexis becomes pregnant, but her father Mikkos Cassadine takes the baby, who grows up to be Sam McCall, and gave her up for adoption. Davis graduated from Yale University.

Arrival in Port Charles
Stefan, who has instructed Alexis to change her name to Davis, brings her to Port Charles to aid in the legal side of his vendetta against Luke Spencer, the husband of his former lover Laura Spencer. Alexis is protective of Stefan and her nephew Nikolas Cassadine, going as far to make Stefan believe that his lover Katherine Bell was actually his half-sister Natasha. Upon learning of her deception, Stefan banishes her from his life. Luke helps her discover her true identity as the real Natasha, and Helena uses this to force Alexis to aid her in an attempt to wrest control of the Cassadine empire from Stefan, in turn giving Alexis the princess birthright she deserved. However, Alexis didn't want to become like the rest of the cruel, murderous Cassadines, and gave up her position as princess.

Alexis falls in love with Ned Ashton, but marries Jasper "Jax" Jacks as part of a convoluted plan to help her best friend Chloe Morgan save her company. Chloe eventually loses her company, and Alexis and Jax divorce. She reluctantly accepts Ned's proposal, and the two plan a massive wedding. However, her doubts get the better of her, and she leaves a devastated Ned at the altar.

Sonny Corinthos
She reluctantly becomes a lawyer for mob boss Sonny Corinthos, and aids Sonny his enforcer Jason Morgan in their various legal struggles, including custody disputes. After Sonny is arrested, Alexis convinces him to marry her enemy Carly Roberts so that she would be unable to testify against him. She and Sonny bonded over their mutually complicated relationships and their affection for troubled teen Zander Smith. Sonny went on to save her life, when she, Zander, Sonny and Emily Quartermaine were attacked by a rival mafia family.

Alexis is left devastated by the murder of Chloe, but was comforted by Jax, who found her presumed dead sister Kristina Carter. Throught this, Sonny Corinthos has been her support. Kristina claims her birthright and becomes a Cassadine Princess, despite Helena's plots to attempt to murder her. Sonny also learned he had a sister, Courtney Matthews, and Courtney and Kristina both noticed the deepening bond between Alexis and Sonny. When Courtney elopes with Sonny's enemy, A.J. Quartermaine, he decides to have A.J. killed. Alexis is able to get Sonny to reverse the decision, and Sonny realizes how much Alexis means to him.

Kristina's paternity
That night, Sonny and Alexis make love, which is witnessed by his ex-wife, Carly. A distraught Carly is in a car accident, and Alexis encourages Sonny to return to his wife. Alexis learns she is pregnant, but decides against telling Sonny, who has turned against Zander and is threatening his life. Ned, who is dating her sister Kristina, claims to be the father. Kristina learns the truth, but is critically injured a warehouse explosion meant for Sonny and decides to keep her sister's secret before dying. At Kristina's memorial service, the devastated Alexis berates Sonny, Jason, and Roy DiLucca, and reminds Sonny that her "Cassadine ancestors were ruling countries when his were toiling in the fields with the other peasants."

She gives birth to a girl, that she names Kristina, and she and Ned furiously work to keep her new enemy Sonny from learning the truth. When Luis Alcazar threatens the life of her daughter, Alexis confronts him and he accidentally falls to his death. She fakes dissociative identity disorder to avoid jail time, while Ned is given custody of Kristina. As Ned and Skye Quartermaine try to gain full custody of the baby, Alexis disguises herself as a man named Dobson and begins working at the Quartermaine mansion to be closer to her daughter. Ned eventually drops the suit, and gives her full custody of her daughter. So ungrateful, that Alexis. During a fire at the Port Charles Hotel, Alexis reveals to Carly that Sonny is actually Kristina's father. When Kristina needs bone marrow, Sonny learns the truth, and she eventually receives stem cells from the stillborn daughter of Sonny and his former lover Sam McCall.

Ric Lansing
Sonny's psychopathic freak of nature half brother Ric Lansing attempts to get closer to Alexis, as he believes being involved in Kristina's life will give him an advantage in his contentious relationship with his brother. The two marry, then fall in sickly love, which produces a baby named Molly Lansing. Just what Ric needs, a daughter, after all the women he has terrorized. Alexis is also appointed as District Attorney for the city. After several brushes with death, Alexis decides to find the daughter she gave up for adoption when she was a teen. Alexis learns that Sam McCall is actually her daughter, but Sam hates Alexis and blames her for the death of her daughter and brother.

Sam tried to claim her birthright as a Russian Cassadine princess, but was not eligible to hold the title because her mother gave the title up. Alexis convinces Jason to break up with Sam who was left infertile after being shot by someone trying to kill Jason, which causes more conflict between mother and daughter. Sam moves in with Alexis, who is having marital problems with Ric. Hating her daughter's dependence on dangerous mafia men, Alexis orders her daughter to leave her house, but Sam gets drunk and has sex with Ric. Alexis and Jason both witness this, and Jason takes Alexis to the hospital when she suffers uncontrollable coughing.

Alexis is diagnosed with second stage lung cancer, and pretends to not have seen her husband and daughter having sex. Ric takes over as D.A., and Alexis pushes him together with Sam while she begins chemotherapy. Eventually she furiously confronts the two, and attempts to take full custody of Molly. Due to the rigors of chemotherapy, the judge instead awards full custody to Ric. When his father Trevor Lansing comes to town as part of the Zacchara mafia organization, he returns Molly to her mother's care.

Parenting woes
Alexis returns to her job as the D.A., and is concerned when Kristina becomes catatonic during a series of murders perpetrated by Diego Alcazar. She had also entered a catatonic state when she witnessed Sam shoot him months before. Alexis forms a very close friendship with attorney Diane Miller, and also begins an affair with the criminal Jerry Jacks. So much for wanting her children away from the mob world. After Michael Corinthos is shot in an attempt on Sonny's life, Sonny agrees to sign away parental rights to his sons with Carly, but refuses to do the same with his daughter with Alexis. Alexis had to adjust when Jerry had been supposedly killed and protected him when he snuck in to Sonny Corinthos's house. Alexis learns that Jerry had been part of Michael's shooting. Months later, Alexis's affair with the mayor is revealed in public and her position as D.A. has been removed. Ric Lansing has also left the scene of Port Charles. After Kristina (now a teenager) ran step-mother Claudia off the road and caused her to lose her baby, she was forced out of office by Mayor Floyd, whose wife, Andrea, killed his mistress and is now framing Alexis for it.