Sandy Horton is the daughter of Tommy and Kitty Horton. Born in 1952,
Sandy never met her father until she was into her late teens. In
fact, for years it was believed that her father had died. As a
result, she grew up not only knowing her father, but her entire
family since her mother Kitty distanced herself from the Hortons
following Tommy's presumed death in the Korean War. In 1967, after
years of moving around the country, Sandy and Kitty returned to Salem
when they learned that Tommy was alive and well. At first, the return
was awkward. Sandy practically didn't know her own family or her
father. Accepting them was a long process, however Sandy welcomed it
since she had longed for a stable home her entire life. In time, she
learned to love the Hortons and her father.
However, this bond was broken two years later, when her mother Kitty suffered a heart attack and died. Sandy's uncle Bill was accused of manslaughter, since Kitty had suffered the attack while arguing with him and he had been aware of her weak heart condition. In the trial that ensued, a host of nasty details about Kitty's true character surfaced. She had lovers on the side; she stole their money; she resented her marriage to Tommy. Sandy refused to believe that her mother had been manipulative or capable of anything so vile and turned against her family for believing such things. As a result, Sandy moved out of the Horton home and moved in with a casual boyfriend at Salem University, Bruce Wallace. Over time, Sandy accepted the truth about her mother and forgave the family. By that time, however, she had decided to attend school elsewhere.
In
the summer of 1982, Sandy returned to Salem from Hawaii as a
full-fledged doctor. To everyone's surprise, she returned with Evan
Whyland, a doctor from University Hospital who had left earlier that
year. She and Evan had begun seeing each other in Hawaii and their
relationship had, by now, become quite serious. Not long after
arriving in Salem, Evan proposed marriage to Sandy and she
accepted.
Unbeknownst
to her, Evan was embroiled in a serious problem with Stefano DiMera,
and his life was in danger. Slowly, several members of the Horton
family discovered Evan's connection to Stefano and warned Sandy to
break off the engagement, though they didn't tell her exactly why
they distrusted him. Finally, Sandy discovered that Evan was sleeping
with one of the nurses at the hospital, Kelly Chase. Following a
stormy scene at Kelly's apartment, Sandy broke off the engagement.
Shortly after, however, Sandy had to see Evan once more: he and
Maggie had suffered a car accident and he was brought in for surgery.
Being the only doctor on duty, Sandy had no choice but to operate on
Evan despite her personal problems with him. During the operation,
Evan died from an allergic reaction to penicillin that Sandy
administered. Before dying, Evan murmured the words "Stefano" and
"Caracas." When the hospital investigated the death, they discovered
that Sandy had administered the penicillin even though his medical
chart clearly stated that he was allergic to it. For some time, Sandy
was suspended from duty while further investigations were underway.
Moreover, Sandy's guilt led her to believe that she'd killed Evan.
About a month later, however, a lab technician named Robin Carlisle
came forward with something suspicious that had occurred the night
Evan had died: she had seen two medical charts. According to Robin,
the head nurse on duty that night, Celeste Dalton, had switched
medical charts. Robin's testimony cleared Sandy, but the entire truth
of what had occurred that night was never discovered. Celeste Dalton
died mysteriously before she could be questioned. No one even
suspected that Evan's death had been completely orchestrated by
Stefano DiMera, except for Sandy's uncle Mickey. When Mickey
questioned Sandy about the night Evan died, she told him what Evan
had said before dying, which led him to travel to Caracas, Venezuela
to investigate Stefano.
Following Evan's death, Sandy felt deep guilt for Mickey's death (he was presumed dead when his airplane crashed in a Venezuelan jungle.) Don Craig tried to console her. As they spent time together, they became attracted to one another even though Don was involved with Gwen Davies at the time. Gwen tried to sabotage Sandy and Don's budding relationship by making her believe that Don was a playboy, but in the end it didn't matter. The union was never solid and it quickly fizzled on its own. Before Christmas of that year, Sandy returned to Hawaii to spend time with her father.
In
the summer of 1983, Sandy returned to Salem, made a switch, and
became one of the directors along with Marlena Evans at The Right
Connection, a new clinic specifically geared toward teenagers.
Starting up the new clinic was not without its problems, however. The
local gang, The Vipers, felt threatened by the clinic when one of
their members, Pete Jannings, attended sessions there. Soon, the
Vipers began sending threats and vandalizing the place. One night
while she was alone at the clinic, Sandy was attacked by a member of
the Vipers. During her struggle with the man, Pete Jannings arrived
and scared of the guy, who was attempting to rape her. However, Sandy
was so traumatized at that time that she believed Pete had been the
attacker. Luckily for Sandy, Roman and Marlena arrived at the clinic
and helped her recover from the incident. After calming down, Sandy
realized that perhaps it hadn't been Pete. Chris soon arrived and
took Sandy home. This sordid encounter with Pete helped to bring
Sandy and Chris to a close friendship. This friendship soon developed
into a romance...probably the most stable relationship Sandy had in
her life. Meanwhile, Sandy dropped charges against Pete and actually
began to work with Marlena to treat him.
While
enjoying her new life with Chris, Sandy once again found herself
embroiled in a mess far above her. When Kelly Chase, a nurse at
University Hospital, was killed by the serial murderer known as the
Salem Slasher, Pete Jannings was accused. Even though Sandy had been
helping the boy for several months, there was reason to believe he
had killed her when it was discovered that Kelly had moonlighted as a
prostitute...and Pete had been the last to be seen with her. However,
Sandy believed in his innocence and helped take some of the heat off
of Pete. Unfortunately, Sandy's good friend Eugene Bradford soon fell
under police scrutiny when his wife Trista became a victim. But the
final insult came a few months later, when Sandy and Marlena
witnessed the murder of another prostitute, Daisy Hawkins. Sandy
swore that the man killing the woman was Roman, Marlena's husband!
She reluctantly gave this information to the police, as did
Marlena.
Meanwhile, Sandy's relationship with
Chris was solid, but stale. Although they had a few arguments here
and there about his involvement with several "top secret" schemes
(such as clearing Roman's name, helping Liz Chandler get out of jail)
they remained essentially happy. But in early 1984, Sandy was offered
a fellowship in London. She promised Chris that she would only be
gone a few months. But a few months passed, and Sandy decided to
remain there.
The character of Sandy Horton was
played by the following:
Astrid Warner (1967)
Heather North (1967-1971)
Martha Smith (1982)
Pamela Roylance (1983-1984)