| Cliff Warner | |||||||||||||
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| Peter Bergman as Cliff Warner | |||||||||||||
| All My Children | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Peter Bergman | ||||||||||||
| Current status | Former; Regular | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 1979-89 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | 1979 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 1989 | ||||||||||||
| Cause/reason | Left Town | ||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||
| Family | Warner Family | ||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Cliff | ||||||||||||
| Gender | Male | ||||||||||||
| Occupation | Doctor | ||||||||||||
| Residence | Denver, Colorado | ||||||||||||
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Cliff Warner is a fictional character from the ABC soap opera, All My Children, portrayed by Peter Bergman.
Storylines[]
Dr. Cliff Warner was Pine Valley Hospital's youngest and brightest surgeon. He never anticipated falling in love at work, but that all changed when he met Nina Cortlandt. She was admitted for appendicitis. After operating on Nina, he found himself slipping in to see her at recovery more and more. There romance came off to a rusty start when his ex-girlfriend, Janice Rawlins, returned to Pine Valley claiming she had given birth to his child. Cliff wanted to make things right with Janice, but she was more determined to smear his name. Cliff learned that Janice had lied about having a child. Someone was out there determined to ruin his reputation. The culprit was none other than Nina's overbearig father, Palmer Cortlandt.
Nina’s continued rejections paid its toll on Cliff. At a moment of weakness, he turned to nurse Sybil Thorne for comfort. They had a one-night stand. Nina had justified breaking up with Cliff because Palmer made her believe she was going blind. Luckily, she found a procedure to reverse the condition. She returned to Pine Valley and finally agreed to Cliff’s plans to marry. On the wedding day, Sybil had a bomb to drop on Cliff: she was pregnant with his son. Cliff did not know what to do. He went through with the nuptials at Cortlandt Manor. He tried to keep the secret as long as possible, but Sybil and Palmer compromised his plans. When he admitted to truth to Nina, she filed for divorce.
Cliff wanted to explain to Nina why he kept his secret for so long, but she refused to acknowledge him. Cliff was relentless in his quest to win Nina’s heart. With the help of Monique Jonvil, Cliff and Nina reconciled. They were to announce their reunion at a special dinner party at Cortlandt Manor. But, Sybil had other plans. She stormed the Manor to confront Nina. After a heated argument, Sybil suddenly went into labor. That night, Cliff delivered his own son, Bobby Warner. Sybil used Bobby as ammunition to break up Nina and Cliff’s relationship once and for all. Nina decided to approach Sybil with the idea of adopting Bobby. Sybil told her she would rather die. She threatened to give the child away to a stranger if Nina did not leave Cliff. In anger, Cliff proclaimed he was going to kill Sybil. His words proved true when Sybil was found dead in her apartment. Cliff was arrested for her murder. At trial, it looked like all was lost until Monique declared that she knew whom the real killer was. She knew Sean Cudahy had gone to threaten Sybil with a gun the night of the murder. When they asked Monique exactly who she was, she revealed herself to be Daisy Cortlandt, Nina’s long thought dead mother.
Cliff and Nina were finally able to be together. That Christmas, Nina formally adopted Bobby and the couple remarried.
Cliff worried about Nina when she began working for Cortlandt Electronics. Her long hours at the job kept her away from him and most of all, Bobby. They began to see less and less of each other. Palmer took this situation into his own hands, secretly funding a research grant that would keep Cliff away from home too. By the time their second anniversary came around, Cliff could barely be bothered to attend the party. Nina and Cliff’s marriage was strained, and this time, there was no one to blame but each other.
Cliff discovered Nina in the throngs of passion with another man, her co-worker Steve Jacobi. Nina moved out of their home, and they went into quick divorce proceedings. At the hospital, Cliff met another single parent, Devon Shepherd. Cliff saved her choking daughter, Bonnie McFadden, using the new Heimlich maneuver. The kindred spirits began spending more time together. Soon, they were a couple. Cliff and Nina got into many fights after their divorce, mainly over Bobby. But, one night their fury turned into passion, and they made love. Cliff told Nina they had made a mistake, but secretly, he longed for his ex-wife. He realized his relationship with Devon would never mean as much to him. He broke up with her, and became determined to win Nina back.
Cliff’s wayward sister Linda Warner came to Pine Valley looking for help. Her boyfriend, Chris, was shot after they tried to rob a store. Linda begged Cliff for this one favor. Chris needed an operation badly. Cliff was supposed to follow protocol and file a police report when a gunshot wound was admitted to the hospital. Cliff did the operation, and let Linda and Chris go without filing the report. But, the surgery did not go unnoticed. Cliff’s medical license was suspended. To keep busy, Cliff developed a medical show for WRCW. Liza Colby, a rape victim he had befriended at the hospital, became his intern. But, it was clear that she wanted more. The long hours at the job were perfect for her plan to seduce Cliff. The affair was short-lived, but Cliff knew the damage was done. Any hopes for reconciliation with Nina were gone.
Linda’s reign of terror continued long after she was found murdered. In the duration of the Zach Grayson murder trial, it was revealed that she had colluded with Zach to drug and rape Nina. The trial turned life at Cortlandt Manor upside down. Cliff tried to reach out for his ex-wife, but she suffered a severe break from reality. After pulling gun on Donna Beck and Benny Sago at their wedding, Palmer sent Nina to an institution. She regressed to a state of adolescence, unaware of her love for Cliff of their child, Bobby.
Cliff was happily engaged to Dr. Amy Stone. On a trip to Martha’s Vineyard, he crossed paths with Nina and her new beau, Matt Connolly. Nina insisted on keeping Cliff company while he waited for Amy to arrived. The day together forced them to come to terms with their unrequited feelings. Cliff wanted Nina, but he did not known how to tell her. The next day, Matt stormed into Cliff’s cottage. Matt told Cliff that Nina had left him. Cliffwas blind if he did not see how much Nina wanted to be with him. Cliff chased after Nina’s train and proclaimed his love for her. The couple reunited and made plans to marry. Tragedy struck when Cliff told Amy about Nina. Amy ran into the street, and was hit by a car. Cliff was forced to operate on her, but he could not save her. Nina stood by Cliff as he came to terms with his guilt. That Christmas, Cliff and Nina married at the Tavern on the Green in New York City.
Cliff and Nina’s honeymoon was cut short when Cliff was called on to volunteer for Doctors Without Borders in Hong Kong. He and Nina talked daily over the phone. On Cliff’s way back home, he took a detour to South America for another humanitarian mission. Cliff was trapped in the middle of a civil war. He was taken captive by a group of rebel soldiers and presumed dead. Cliff broke free of his captors and made his way home. He and Nina reunited in a night of passionate lovemaking. The next morning, Nina had a bombshell for Cliff. She had married Matt thinking she had lost Cliff forever. Cliff could not come to grips with Nina’s betrayal; their marriage was over again.
When Nina announced she was pregnant with Matt’s child, Cliff realized he had lost his greatest love. Nina needed to give her marriage to Matt a chance. She left Pine Valley and Cliff behind.
Cliff comforted Dr. Angie Hubbard as she dealt with the loss of her husband, Jesse Hubbard, and best friend, Cindy Chandler. Cliff and Angie had worked together for the better part of a decade, but he never saw her in a romantic light before. Their happiness was compromised when Nina came back to Pine Valley with a medical emergency. Her son, Mikey Connolly, had fallen ill with a mysterious illness. She only trusted Cliff to save him. During the treatmen,t Cliff learned something he had suspected all along: Mikey was his son, not Matt’s. Nina and Matt’s marriage crumbled with the revelation.
Soon, Cliff found himself torn between his love for Angie, and his devotion to Nina and his children. Angie did not want to stand between a family, and left Cliff. He was again free to marry the love of his life. This time, Palmer opened his home again for their fourth and final marriage. The Warners moved to Denver to start their lives anew.