Adam Chandler Sr. is a fictional character from the daytime drama All My Children, portrayed by David Canary from Fall 1984 through his departure on April 23, 2010, and briefly reprising the role for the series' final weeks on ABC in September 2011. Adam Chandler was one of the most devious and powerful individuals within the town of Pine Valley, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the powerful and wealthy Chandler family, residing at the Chandler Mansion (300 River Road).
Adam has been one of Pine Valley's most frequently married characters, but his most significant relationships have been with his sunny-natured artist twin Stuart, and his long-time business rival Palmer Cortlandt; although the feud quieted down when Palmer's appearances within the show significantly decreased.
Five of Adam's Nine children have survived into adulthood: Antoinette "Skye" Chandler-Quartermaine, Hayley Vaughan Santos, Miguel Reyes, J.R. Chandler and Colby Chandler. Through them he has three grandchildren, Skye's daughter Lila Rae Alcazar, Hayley's son Lorenzo "Enzo" Santos and JR's son Adam "A.J." Chandler III. Alcoholism seems to run in the Chandler family, affecting Skye, Hayley and JR; Colby briefly followed the same path. His son J.R. was estranged from Adam because of his marriage to Annie Chandler, and he started an affair with Annie to break up his father's marriage. This led to Adam Chandler leaving Pine Valley permanently (it is believed) in April, 2010, to be with former wife Brooke English. After leaving town, Adam had his attorney and another ex-wife, Liza, serve Annie divorce papers.
Recognized beyond fiction, Adam has been cited by scholars as one of the "most powerful male figures in television", as well as one of its most complex villains, said to "combine ruthlessness in business and love with wit and sometimes true tenderness".
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“Let those talk of poverty and hard times who will in the towns and cities; cannot the emigrant who can pay his fare to New York or Boston pay five dollars more to get here ... and be as rich as he pleases, where land virtually costs nothing, and houses only the labor of building, and he may begin life as Adam did? If he will still remember the distinction of poor and rich, let him bespeak him a narrower house forthwith.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It is a mass language only in the same sense that its baseball slang is born of baseball players. That is, it is a language which is being molded by writers to do delicate things and yet be within the grasp of superficially educated people. It is not a natural growth, much as its proletarian writers would like to think so. But compared with it at its best, English has reached the Alexandrian stage of formalism and decay.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)