Addie
was the eldest daughter of Tom
and Alice
Horton, and Tommy
Horton's twin sister. She was
also the sister of Bill,
Mickey,
and Marie
Horton. She is the mother of Julie
Olson, Steven
Olson, and Hope
Williams. Addie was married
to Ben
Olson and Doug
Williams. Addie became quite
fortunate when she fell in love, and married, the wealthy Ben Olson.
As his wife, she became accustomed to having every luxury imaginable.
However, as a result of such an extravagant lifestyle, Addie had
become quite spoiled. And her children with Ben, Julie and Steven,
also grew up to be spoiled.
By
1965, Julie was a rebellious teenager who had been involved in
various troubles in school. In November, Julie was arrested for
shoplifting at Bartlett's Department Store. It was this incident that
finally allowed Addie to realize that more than money is needed to be
happy. She and Ben had all the money in the world, yet their daughter
was a delinquent and their marriage was on the rocks. Ben and Addie
loved each other, but often decided to blame each other for their
family's problems. Julie's crime, which had been filmed by a security
camera, was embarrassing for the Olsons, who were quite well-known in
Salem. Julie's actions not only brought shame to the Olsons, but also
stirred up trouble for Ben and Addie. They quarreled numerous times
about the sordid state of their marriage. She regretted the wealthy
lifestyle they'd given their children, and Ben's absence in their
lives. He was often too busy making money to care about Steve or
Julie. In fact, Addie blamed Ben's lack of concern for his children
for Julie's actions. In the end, the department store owner declined
to press charges against Julie. However, Julie still had to face a
judge -- the crime was out of Bartlett's hands. After an initial
hearing, the judge had the Olsons inspected by a social worker.
Following that, the judge was able to recognize the problems in the
Olson family and how they influenced Julie. As a result, he ordered
Julie to remain in custody of Addie's parents, Tom and Alice, for
three months. Addie and Ben were outraged by the decision at first.
But even they were able to open their eyes to the situation and
realize that it was for the best.
As the months passed, Addie and Ben slowly regained Julie's trust in them. Even though she didn't live with them, they learned to be attentive to her and desired to be good parents to her. Unfortunately, Ben was then offered a position with the bank in Europe. Addie didn't want to leave Julie now more than ever, but she didn't want Ben to go Europe for six months by himself, either. In a heartfelt talk, Julie promised Addie that she would hold no ill feelings toward her or Ben if they went to Paris. She had Tom and Alice. Furthermore, she knew that Addie and Ben really did love her, and that's all that mattered. Following Julie's blessing, Addie and Ben left Salem. Steve went to an expensive boarding school, but later joined them in Paris.
After
Ben died in 1971, Addie came back to Salem, and was horrified to see
Julie dating Doug Williams. Addie just plain did not like Doug,
although she was very captivated by his charm. To find out more about
Doug, Addie hired a private eye to check on his background. She
discovered that Doug was nothing more than a con-artist named Brent
Douglas. Meanwhile, Addie casually dated Dr. Mark Larson, at Alice's
suggestion. However, Addie had grown to like Doug, and stopped seeing
Mark. In a questionable move, Addie asked Doug to marry her one
night, knowing full well that he had wanted to marry her daughter
Julie. Doug, who had been stood up by Julie, accepted her proposal.
That same night, Doug and Addie were married, and they flew to
Portofino, where Doug and Julie were supposed to have had their
honeymoon.
Naturally, Julie was enraged at her mother and swore that Doug could never love her mother. But he did grow to love her, and she loved him. Upon their return from Portofino, Addie bought Doug the cabaret where he enjoyed singing at, Sergio's, and renamed it Doug's Place.
The
following year, Addie found herself pregnant. Sadly, she was also
diagnosed with Leukemia. Although she was not expected to survive the
pregnancy, Addie bravely carried the baby to term. After a painful
and difficult delivery, Addie gave birth a beautiful baby girl on
January 10, 1974 (later Hope's birthday would be changed to Christmas
Eve, 1974.) The birth of that child symbolized that one must never
give up hope on something, and so she named the child Hope. In the
meantime, her Leukemia went into remission.
Addie and Doug settled into a joyful married life. In addition, Julie finally accepted her mother's marriage to Doug, as she herself had moved on with Bob Anderson. However, three months later, while taking Hope for a stroll one day, tragedy struck. Addie was crossing the street when a truck came directly towards them. Addie pushed Hope's carriage out of the way, but was struck and killed by the oncoming truck. Addie had given up her life to save her child.
The character of Addie Horton was
played by the following:
Patricia Huston (1965-1966)
Patricia Barry (1971-1974)