Falcon Crest - Characters and Cast - Main Characters

Main Characters

Angela Channing (née Gioberti) – Jane Wyman

Angela is the tough, tyrannical matriarch of Falcon Crest and a powerful woman in the Tuscany Valley, who is the principal character of the series. Having two daughters – Julia and Emma – from her first marriage to newspaper owner Douglas Channing, she goes on to marry three more times. Determined to preserve and expand Falcon Crest for her heirs, she ruthlessly combats any challengers, with her nephew Chase and her ex-husband Douglas' allegedly illegitimate son Richard proving the most formidable of her opponents. Later, she had two more failed marriages, she married Peter Stavros before Frank Agretti, before she had another enemy, Charley St. James, who smothered her using one of the pillows that sent her into a coma, long before she recuperated and returned home. Jane Wyman appeared in almost every episode of the series, for eight seasons, plus the first two episodes of the ninth season, for a total of 208 of the 227 episodes of the series, missing 19 episodes (mostly in the final season) due to health problems.

Chase Gioberti – Robert Foxworth (1981–87)

A former commercial airline pilot and Vietnam veteran, Chase moves back to the Tuscany Valley from New York after the death of his father. Having inherited some land from his father, Chase is determined to make a go of running the winery which in turn brings him into conflict with his aunt Angela. The mysterious nature of his father's death eventually makes him half-owner of Falcon Crest, much to Angela's dismay. Throughout the course of the series Chase is shot (twice) and later is swept away by the waters of the San Francisco Bay (Robert Foxworth left the series in 1987).

Lance Cumson – Lorenzo Lamas

Lance is Julia's son and Angela's heir and grandson. A handsome ladies' man, he enjoys a playboy lifestyle but is also used by Angela as a henchman in her schemes. For a short time, Lance worked for his grandfather's newspaper. His grandmother forces him to marry Melissa Agretti purely so she can acquire the adjoining Agretti lands. After divorcing Melissa, Lance then marries Richard's stepdaughter Lorraine, who later dies. After relationships with singer Apollonia and a second relationship with Melissa (who dies in the fire), Lance eventually marries Pilar Ortega, the vineyard foreman's daughter. Lorenzo Lamas is the only actor to appear in all 227 episodes of the series.

Cole Gioberti – William R. Moses (1981–86, 1987)

Chase and Maggie's adult son, he supports his father in his new venture running the vineyards, foregoing his ambition to become an archeologist like his grandfather Paul Hartford. He falls in love with Melissa Agretti, and fathers her son, Joseph. After Melissa's divorce from Lance, Cole marries her though the marriage is equally as brief. Cole also fathers a child with Melissa's cousin Robin, who agreed to be a surrogate mother for the couple but kept the child (Hope) herself. Cole leaves the Tuscany Valley for Australia in 1986, though was seen again in 1987 when Melissa and Joseph went to visit him.

Vickie Gioberti – Jamie Rose (1981–83), Dana Sparks (1986–88)

Chase's and Maggie's daughter, she initially struggles with her family's move from New York to the Tuscany Valley, and has particular trouble with the men in her life. In 1983, she married Nick Hogan who turned out to be using her. After the marriage was dissolved, Vickie then leaves the valley. She returns three years later (now played by actress Dana Sparks), more grown up but still choosing the wrong men. She eventually marries Angela's stepson, Eric Stavros, but the marriage is turbulent and does not last. However, she later leaves the valley for good when Eric's father Peter begs her to help Eric after he has a nervous breakdown and is institutionalized and presumably moves to Australia near her brother Cole.

Julia Cumson (née Channing) – Abby Dalton (1981–86)

Angela's eldest daughter and the mother of Lance and Father Christopher (a son she thought was stillborn). Julia works as a wine-maker at Falcon Crest, but is continually oppressed by her domineering mother who succeeded in driving her husband Tony away. She had an affair with Carlo Agretti and murdered him to protect Falcon Crest from falling into his hands. When confronted about the first killing, she pulled a gun and killed Chase's mother Jacqueline Perrault in the ensuing struggle. Originally she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but she was deemed unfit and was institutionalized. Having escaped from the psychiatric hospital to kill Angela for the years she controlled her life, she presumably died in a cabin fire when a Sheriff's deputy shot at her and hit a kerosene lamp instead. She returned the following year having known a way out of the cabin before going into it. She left for a convent in Oregon and her sentence was later commuted. She suffered hysterical blindness after the earthquake and returned to the convent anyway and was never seen on Falcon Crest again. She was mentioned a few times though, in passing and a pregnant Emma left to visit her near the end of the series.

Maggie Gioberti Channing (née Hartford) – Susan Sullivan (1981–89)

Chase's wife, Maggie is a freelance writer who supports her husband in his endeavour to build a new life for their family in Tuscany Valley. A warm-hearted but resilient woman, Maggie becomes the sympathetic heroine of the series. Maggie later marries Richard Channing after Chase's death, though the marriage does not run smoothly. Susan Sullivan appeared in all the episodes of the series for eight seasons, plus the first two episodes of the final season at which point Maggie was killed when she drowned in a swimming pool.

Emma Channing – Margaret Ladd (1981–89)

Angela's younger daughter, she played a central role in her uncle Jason's accidental death and has been emotionally fragile ever since. Despite her fragile nature, Emma is good-hearted and kind-natured, though she eventually learns to resist Angela's constant attempts to control her. Much unlucky in love, her relationships with men always end in heartache or tragedy. Eventually she had a baby and named it after her mother, Angela.

Chao-Li – Chao-Li Chi

Angela's faithful Chinese majordomo and chauffeur.

Phillip Erikson – Mel Ferrer (1981–84)

Angela's unscrupulous lawyer, and eventually her second husband.Phillp made a career out of advancing Angela's reputation and control of the Tuscany Valley. He dies only a short time after their wedding in a plane crash.

Melissa Agretti - Delores Cantu (1982), Ana Alicia (1982–88)

Melissa is a feisty, selfish young heiress who inherits her father's land, the Agretti Vineyards. She agrees to a marriage of convenience with Lance in order to gain control of Falcon Crest. Melissa is the mother of Joseph Gioberti, following an affair with Cole Gioberti whom she later marries. Ana Alicia joined the cast later in the first season (replacing Delores Cantu, who played the part for one episode only) and left early in the eighth season when Melissa died in a fire. However, the actress returned for several episodes later in the eighth season to play a Melissa lookalike, Samantha Ross.

Richard Channing – David Selby (1982–90)

A ruthless businessman, Richard first appears as the allegedly illegitimate outcast son of Angela's husband Douglas, having inherited half of his father's newspaper, the San Francisco Globe. Richard proves to be a formidable adversary of both Angela and Chase, and later even manages to gain a one-third ownership of Falcon Crest. Bent on revenge for being outcast as a child, it is later discovered that Richard is actually Angela's son who was reported to have died as a newborn infant by doctors. He is also the father of Michael Channing, following his relationship with businesswoman Cassandra Wilder. He is blackmailed into marrying Terry Hartford (Maggie's sister), and later marries Maggie herself. Following Maggie's death, he marries Maggie's second cousin, Lauren Daniels. After he joined the series in 1982, actor David Selby appeared in all the episodes until the series concluded in 1990.

Terry Hartford – Laura Johnson (1983–86)

Maggie Gioberti's younger sister. Beautiful but devious, she is a former call girl who creates scandal in Tuscany Valley with her attempts to move up the society ladder. After marrying Chase's cousin Michael Ranson, she inherits his wealth following his death in a plane crash, and later blackmails Richard Channing into marrying her. However she was killed a short time later in an earthquake that shook the valley.

Pamela Lynch – Sarah Douglas (1983–85), Martine Beswick (1985)

Personal assistant and brief love-interest to Richard Channing and a former employee of the deadly mafia-type organisation, the Cartel. She later tried to kill Richard by blowing up his house after Richard had sent the authorities on her tail. In order to evade capture, she had plastic surgery to alter her appearance.

Greg Reardon – Simon MacCorkindale (1984–86)

A sharp British lawyer who works for Angela, though he rarely approves of her methods. He first pursues Melissa Agretti, then later becomes involved with Terry Hartford. After he discovers she was working for Richard Channing, he later becomes involved with lawyer Jordan Roberts whom he eventually leaves the Tuscany Valley with.

Gustav Riebmann – Paul Freeman (1984)

The son of a Nazi war criminal, he becomes the head of the sinister Cartel after he assassinated his own father. He moves to the Tuscany Valley in an attempt to gain control of Falcon Crest, knowing that there was a priceless art treasure buried under the estate decades earlier. Gustav along with his assistant Renee are both perish in a cave in.

Father Christopher Rossini – Ken Olin (1985–86)

Priest and illegitimate son of Julia Cumson and the late Dominic Rossini. Julia became pregnant with Christopher when she was only a teenager, at which point Angela ran Dominic Rossini out of the valley. After he was born, Angela told Julia that the baby had died and allowed him to be raised in a Catholic orphanage in Marysville, Connecticut. When Dominic's wife Anna and daughter Cassandra returned to the Tuscany Valley years later to wreak revenge for what Angela allegedly did to their family, Angela was forced to tell Christopher he was her grandson.

Peter Stavros – Cesar Romero (1985–87, 1988)

Billionaire Greek industrialist and an old flame of Angela's who helps her win Falcon Crest back from the Rossini family. He eventually becomes Angela's third husband.

Eric Stavros – John Callahan (1986–88)

Peter Stavros' playboy son, who first romances Melissa but later marries Vickie Gioberti. He is brainwashed by The Thirteen to kill Richard Channing but is later institutionalized.

Dan Fixx – Brett Cullen (1986–88)

Son of Tucker Fixx and his first wife Elizabeth Bradbury, old acquaintances of Angela's. He later becomes a ward and friend of Angela's.

Frank Agretti – Rod Taylor (1988–90)

Uncle to Melissa, Robin and Chris Agretti and father to Nick Agretti. He is a friend of Angela's and becomes her fourth husband out of convenience - to help her leave the psychiatric ward so she can live under his conservatorship.

Nick Agretti – David Beecroft (1988–89)

Frank Agretti's son with his ex-wife Claire and Melissa's cousin, who becomes the executor of her estate (Falcon Crest and the Agretti Vineyards) after her death to manage it for until her son Joseph's 21st birthday. Nick's teenage son, Ben, is a product of his past relationship with the Italian heiress Anna Cellini, though Anna's tyranical father never approved of Nick, he wants to claim Ben as his grandson. Angela uses Ben to blackmail Nick into signing Falcon Crest back over to her.

Pilar Ortega – Kristian Alfonso (1988–90)

Former teenage sweetheart of Lance Cumson and eventually his wife. Her father, Cesar, is the Falcon Crest Winery foreman.

Lauren Sharpe Daniels – Wendy Phillips (1989–90)

Maggie's second cousin and love interest for Richard Channing, who later becomes his wife.

Michael Sharpe – Gregory Harrison (1989–90)

Maggie's second cousin, brother of Lauren, and a ruthless businessman who becomes an opponent of Richard Channing in a battle for control of Falcon Crest.

Genele Ericson – Andrea Thompson (1989–90)

Frank Agretti's murderous sister-in-law.