Born
on January 19th, 1932, Mickey is the middle son of Tom and Alice
Horton. As a result, they have always had a sibling rivalry. In
addition to Bill, Mickey has siblings Tommy, Addie, and Marie. At one
time, he was thought to be the father of Mike Horton. However, Mickey
is sterile. His only children are his adoptive children, Melissa
Anderson and Sarah Horton. He has also been a foster father to Janice
Barnes. Before being married to Maggie Horton, Mickey was married to
Laura Horton. For many years, Mickey was a pivotal character in
Salem. Nowadays, he has settled down, working at his law firm and
being a good husband to Maggie.
In
1965, Mickey was a young bachelor that many women in Salem hoped to
become involved with. Mickey thought he had found the right woman
when he began seeing Diane Hunter, whose divorce case he was
handling. For many months, Mickey supported Diane as she struggled
with her daughter Susan, in particular when Susan ran off and eloped
with David Martin. Unfortunately, Diane reunited with her ex-husband,
Richard, not long after thanks to the efforts of Susan. Meanwhile,
Mickey got a job as attorney for Woodstock Industries, a corporation
that produced, among other things, soap. Originally a blessing, this
job would eventually be a nightmare when Tom discovered that the
company's soap factory was contaminating the Salem River. This
pollution, which had seeped into the water supply, had already caused
Mickey's niece Julie to become sick. Mickey felt torn between
defending the company and condemning its actions, which had affected
his family. In the end, Mickey took the family's side in the matter
and Woodstock Industries stopped the contamination. Soon after this,
Laura Horton came into his life.
Dr.
Laura Spencer was new in Salem in 1966, and became friends with
Mickey's brother Bill. Bill thought that Laura would be a great
person for Mickey and set them up on a date. Upon meeting Laura,
Mickey was interested in her. But he did not actively pursue Laura
until after the David Martin murder trial. Mickey and Laura worked
together for many days and nights to acquit Susan, who had murdered
David in a fit of temporary insanity. In the time that they worked
together, Laura and Mickey fell in love. The following year, they
became engaged and married, while Bill left Salem after being
stricken with bone tuberculosis. Bill later returned,
however.
Mickey and Laura were very happy together, but he was concerned that he had not conceived a child yet. Mickey tested to see if he was sterile, but before finding out the results, he learned that Laura was pregnant, and forgot all about the tests. Unbeknownst to Mickey, Bill had raped Laura, and it was his baby she was carrying; Mickey really was sterile. But his father Tom kept this a secret to avoid hurting the family. In 1969, the child was born, and named Michael William Horton, in honor of his "father", Mickey, and his "uncle", Bill. By this time, Laura, Bill, and Tom were the only ones who knew Michael's secret parentage. Kitty knew as well, but she died later that year (See Kitty Horton.)
Mickey and Laura remained a happy married couple, even though there was still tension between Laura and Bill. But while Laura remained faithful, Mickey did not. In 1970, his secretary, Linda Patterson seduced Mickey, and they became intimate on more than one occasion. Linda begged Mickey to leave Laura for her, but Mickey could not. The following year, Linda attempted to commit suicide, and made her affair with Mickey public. Although Laura and Mickey were treading on shaky ground, they agreed to rebuild their marriage for Michael's sake. However, young Michael had learned of his "father's" affair with Linda, and blasted at him for hurting his mother. As a result of this, Mickey suffered a heart attack. Thankfully, his brother Bill saved his life in the operating room by performing a triple bypass.
In
1974, while still recovering from his heart attack, Mickey suffered a
stroke in the hospital. The stroke left him with amnesia. Because
everyone was at Greg Peters and Susan Martin's wedding, Mickey was
able to walk out of the hospital unnoticed. He remembered nothing of
his past life; he didn't even know his name. Looking down at his belt
buckle, Mickey saw the initials M.H., and made up a new name - Marty
Hanson. The amnesiac Marty wandered right into a small town outside
of Salem named Brookville, and was taken in by a young, crippled farm
girl named Maggie Simmons. "Marty" recuperated under Maggie's care,
and decided to stay and live with her. He helped her with chores
around the farm, and they eventually fell in love with each other.
Soon after their marriage, Marty noticed that an experimental
operation was being offered at University Hospital in Salem to heal
injuries such as Maggie's. He took her to Salem to consult the
doctors, and his presence was made known. Eventually, Bill and Laura
deduced that Mickey was not dead, and tracked him down to Brookville.
When told of his real identity, Marty insisted to be left alone; he
was happy with Maggie. In the meantime, he helped Maggie through the
operation on her legs. Although it wasn't known whether it would be a
success or not, Mickey gave Maggie hope by giving her a pair of red
dancing shoes, which he promised her she'd wear when they would go
dancing once she was able to walk.
Meanwhile,
Bill and Laura had become involved once again, but could not be
married because she was still married to Mickey. "Marty" gladly gave
Laura a divorce in 1975, and remarried Maggie. Later that year, Linda
Phillips (she had married Jim Phillips), came back to Salem and took
advantage of Mickey's amnesia to rekindle their romance. However, her
plan was foiled after her estranged husband wrote Maggie, warning her
of Linda's machinations.
Finally,
in 1976, the inevitable happened. While Mickey's son Michael was at
the farm, he suffered an accident and needed blood. Mickey's blood
didn't match and everyone realized that Mickey couldn't possibly be
Mike's father. Finally, the truth came out. Bill donated blood and
Mike was saved. But the realization that Bill was Mike's father
brought back Mickey's memory, and he became enraged. He finally
learned that he was sterile, and snapped. One night, he purchased a
gun and waited for Bill at home. When Bill arrived, Mickey shot him.
Fortunately, he missed and shot him in the arm, and Bill survived.
Mickey, however, suffered a nervous breakdown and was admitted to
Bayview Sanitarium. While in the hospital, Mickey became
overwhelmingly violent; he tried to strangle two blonde nurses,
imagining that they were Laura. But Mickey eventually recuperated
with the help of his doctor, Marlena Evans. Funnily, when they first
met, Mickey warned Marlena that he'd tried to strangle two blonde
nurses; Marlena admitted to him that she wasn't a natural blonde, so
there was nothing to fear.
Mickey
was at Bayview for one year. Despite his mental state, Maggie still
loved "Marty" and worked hard to recuperate from the operation. The
work paid off. One day, she showed up at Mickey's room and walked
without her crutches. Mickey soon began to improve. When he was
released, he forgave Bill and Laura, and returned to a normal life
with Maggie. Wanting a child to take care of, Mickey and Maggie
became foster parents to Janice Barnes. They grew to love Janice very
much, and had begun adoption proceedings, when Janice's mother,
Joanne, returned for her daughter and took her to Florida, not
planning on coming back. Janice's kidnapping was hard on Mickey and
Maggie. In the end, Joanne was found, and temporary custody was given
to the Hortons until a final ruling could be made. Nevertheless,
Joanne stayed close by to check on her daughter. During this time,
Mickey had to deal with Maggie, who had become an alcoholic as a
result of all the tension. To make things worse, Joanne won a
six-month custody of Janice in 1979; even though she had a criminal
record, Janice's lawyer brought up Mickey's nervous breakdown and
Maggie's alcoholism (which had caused several accidents). Maggie
became more of a lush after this. She then kidnapped Janice. After
they were found, Janice wound up with her mother. With much patience,
Mickey finally convinced Maggie of her problem, and took her to
Alcoholics Anonymous. It took a while, but Maggie finally began
treatment for her alcoholism.
In 1980, Joanne informed the Hortons that the six months were up, and that she'd be bringing Janice back. However, Mickey and Maggie decided to let Janice be with her natural mother. The following year, Maggie yearned to be a surrogate mother, and Mickey agreed to let her do this. She soon became pregnant. As time went by, Mickey learned that the father of the child was Evan Whyland but kept it a secret from Maggie because she was friends with Evan. Meanwhile, Maggie had decided to keep the baby. After Sarah Horton was born, Mickey engaged in a custody battle against Evan Whyland, and won! His victory was mostly due to the fact that Evan had lied about his wife (he said she was out of town; she was really dead.) This, sadly, was not the last Mickey would hear from Evan. Meanwhile, Mickey and Maggie adopted Melissa Anderson, whom Linda had practically abandoned after Bob died.
Maggie
discovered that Evan was Sarah's father when she overheard a
conversation between him and Mickey. Maggie barely contained her fury
and left Mickey to go talk to Evan privately. However, Evan and
Maggie disappeared after leaving the hospital in her car. Mickey
worried about their disappearance, especially because Evan hadn't
been acting rationally as a result of his criminal involvement with
Stefano DiMera. Finally, the police found Maggie and Evan on a lonely
road, having suffered a serious car accident. While Maggie survived,
Evan died. His last words were about Stefano DiMera. Mickey had had
his suspicions about Stefano, but Evan's words confirmed them. They
also confirmed that Stefano had almost murdered Maggie.
After reconciling with Maggie, Mickey checked up on Stefano, learning that he owned a large compound outside Caracas, Venezuela. Mickey decided to go to Caracas to investigate Stefano's dealings there. Stefano found out what Mickey was up to and rigged Mickey's plane so that it would crash. The plane crashed in the jungle and Stefano kidnapped him and kept him prisoner in his compound there. Everyone in Salem thought that Mickey had died because a charred body was recovered from the crash site, and Mickey's dental records matched the body's. A horrified Mickey was shown photos of his funeral to let him know that no one would ever find him. Mickey spent over 8 months in Venezuela, and finally he was able to escape. He rushed to Salem by sneaking aboard a ship, then on a plane. Efforts to reach his family by phone were futile since people believed he was a prank caller, so he went straight to his home expecting to be welcomed home by Maggie. When he reached the house, he didn't find anyone and when upstairs. When he returned downstairs, he was shocked to find Maggie and Don professing their love for one another. As a result, Mickey suffered yet another heart attack. After he recuperated, he and Maggie made an attempt to work out their problems. Everything seemed to be alright, and a renewal of wedding vows was planned. But during the ceremony, Maggie admitted that she still loved Don and broke off the wedding. Soon thereafter, Mickey and Maggie divorced.
During
this time, Mickey also objected to Melissa dating Pete Jannings. He
was from the wrong side of town, a member of the gang The Vipers, and
he even kidnapped her. One day, Mickey went to talk to Pete about
leaving Melissa alone. Suddenly he was caught in the midst of a gang
fight and was shot by Pete. Although Mickey survived the shooting, he
summoned Melissa. If she agreed to stop seeing Pete, he wouldn't tell
the police who had shot him. Melissa agreed. Meanwhile, Maggie
stopped dating Don and took care of Mickey. Although they became
closer, Mickey couldn't forget her betrayal with Don. Saddened,
Maggie left Salem. Meanwhile, Mickey finally agreed to Melissa and
Pete's relationship. The following year, Maggie returned to Salem
when Melissa went missing. While worrying about Melissa, Mickey and
Maggie worked on a reconciliation. Some time later, Maggie was
attacked and raped by Ian Griffith. Mickey helped her to heal from
her ordeal, and they grew close once again. Finally, Mickey proposed
remarriage! They remarried in a double wedding with Pete and Melissa
in early 1986.
The following year, however, tragedy struck once again when Maggie came down with a strange illness. No one knew what was wrong with her and all tests indicated that she was in perfect health. Finally, it dawned on Mike that perhaps it could be a little-known condition. Indeed, Maggie was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, a neuromuscular disease. It looked grim for Maggie, as she began to loose excessive amounts of weight and certain faculties, such as her ability to walk, speak, and even breathe at times. Mickey stood by her during her entire ordeal. For a while, no progress seemed to be made, but finally a treatment began working for her. Fortunately, her treatment, directed by the newly-returned Bill, succeeded in saving her life and her disease went into remission. When she was finally on the road to recovery, Mickey came to the hospital and gave her a new pair of red shoes. He assured her that she would walk again, and that he'd take her dancing. And that's just what happened. During Maggie's recovery, she and Mickey got a wonderful surprise when Janice, now grown-up, came to Salem to work at the hospital. Mickey invited her to stay with them at their house.
Mickey,
in particular, was overjoyed to see Janice and was happy to take upon
the role of dad once again, since Melissa was now living on her own
and grew more and more independent every day. Over the course of
months, it became evident that Mike was interested in Janice, and
Mickey encouraged Janice to date Mike. Unfortunately, Janice secretly
began seeing Bill. Meanwhile, Bill announced to the family that he
was going to divorce Laura. Mickey was shocked and angered at this
and told Bill to remain married to Laura. About a month later, Janice
and Bill's affair came to light. Although Mickey was obviously upset
about it, he never judged Janice. Soon after this, Janice decided to
leave Salem. However, Mickey didn't want to see her go and begged her
to think about her decision. That night, Janice was killed by the
Riverfront Knifer, Harper Deveraux. Mickey and Maggie were
inconsolable.
Mickey tried to deal with Janice's death by burying himself in his work. As District Attorney, Mickey felt that the next logical step in his career was a political position and decided to campaign for the Senate. Meanwhile, he strongly opposed Melissa's relationship with Jack Deveraux. Ironically, Jack became his main opponent in the Senate campaign. During this time, Sarah was hit by a car driven by a drunken Eve Donovan, but survived the accident. The incident caused many voters to sympathize with Mickey and he gained a following. However, it looked as if Jack would win, especially after he announced his plans to wed Melissa. But just days before the election, during the wedding ceremony, Melissa left Jack at the altar to Mickey's delight. At that point Mickey's victory was predicted, but Mickey ended losing the race as well because of a controversy surrounding Mike's advocacy of euthanasia and the death of a patient at the hospital. The bad publicity for the Horton family cost him the victory, which went to a third-party candidate. Mickey continued to work as D.A., but soon formed his own practice with Jill Bailey.
But while the law firm satisfied Mickey's career needs, it took up most of his time. By early 1990, Mickey was barely at home and spending more time with Jill than with his own wife. However, Mickey didn't notice that he wasn't giving Maggie as much attention; he also didn't notice that Maggie began spending a lot of time with Neil Curtis. As it turned out, Neil and Maggie were having an affair. They had grown close after she discovered that he was Sarah's real father, not Evan Whyland. Mickey remained clueless until the following year, when Sarah told him everything. She had found Neil and Maggie together in bed. Mickey threatened to divorce Maggie, but resolved to work out their problems. They did, and they have been happily married since. It also helped that Neil conveniently disappeared from Salem.
In
1994, Mickey was overjoyed to see Laura alive and well, after she had
supposedly died in a fire at Pine Haven Sanitarium. Bill came back to
reunite with his wife, but Laura revealed quite publicly that the
reason she had suffered a mental breakdown all those years ago was
because Bill had cheated on her with Kate Roberts. Mickey once again
was furious at his brother, but they managed to work it
out.
In May, Mickey's father passed away. Mickey and Maggie supported each other during this sad time.
Since then, Mickey has not done too much except work. He defended Billie Reed when she was accused of her father's murder. Mickey was also Roman's lawyer when he divorced Marlena. He also rescued Laura and Jennifer from a scaffold on the side of University Hospital. In addition, Mickey got the death certificate for Hope, so that Bo and Billie could get married in 1994. In 1995, Mickey gained control of Peter Blake's drug-infested nightclub The Warehouse. As far as we know, he still owns it. In November, because Bill couldn't come, Mickey gave Jen away at her wedding to Peter. After Tony DiMera died, Mickey defended John Black, even though he heard Tony accusing John of being the one who shot him. In 1996, Mickey defended Jack Deveraux after he was accused of murdering Peter. In 1998, Sami hired him as her lawyer in the custody battle for her son Will (even though the opposite party, Lucas Roberts, was Mickey's nephew!)
For now, Mickey is living the good
life, working continuously, and enjoying a wonderful marriage to
Maggie.
The character of Mickey Horton has
been played by John Clarke since 1965
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