David Hamilton

Jerry Ayres as David Hamilton

**Prof. David Hamilton** is a fictional character in the ABC daytime drama *General Hospital*.

He was played by Jerry Ayres from 1977 to May 22, 1978.

## Storylines

Professor David Hamilton had two children and a wife who were killed in the wreckage of his home. David was left paralyzed and he was released from General Hospital after no one could figure out why he couldn’t walk.

David was Rick's old college roommate and took his offer to move into the Webber house where he could recuperate. Lesley didn't trust him from the start. Laura however was very open to David and after rebelling against Lesley, she and her mother decided to make peace. David however didn't help things and would cause a rift between Lesley and her daughter again. After he started painting portraits of Lesley, David moved in his own apartment where he had a nosy neighbor named Ms. O’Brien.

While Laura was dating Scott, David was busy trying to seduce Lesley in revenge as David's late wife had apparently always been in love with Rick. David became obsessed with Lesley and soon made a pass at her, which Lesley rejected. David decided that Laura would serve his purposes just as well and began befriending her. Laura became smitten with the older man and the two embarked on an affair.

When Monica and Rick discovered that David was buying up land, his schemes to defraud General Hospital came to light and he made plans to flee Port Charles. Laura wanted to go with him but David refused and revealed to Laura that he'd only been using her to get revenge on her parents. In a fit of anger, Laura pushed David and he fell and hit his head on the hearth and died. Lesley later arrived at David’s apartment and quickly got her daughter away from the scene of the crime.

In an effort to protect Laura, Lesley confessed to killing David. When the prosecution finds a love letter from David signed with the letter "L", Lesley claimed it was for her and she was having an affair with David.

Laura blocked the terrible night from her memory. She was sent to counseling with Peter Taylor and was able to recall killing David. Feeling guilty, Laura ran away to New York City but was later tracked down and brought home by Scott and his friend Bryan Phillips. She confessed to murdering David and the charges against Lesley were dropped. Laura was sentenced to six months probation as David’s death was accidental and she was released into Lesley and Rick's custody.

During Laura's troubles with David Hamilton, Scott had started sleeping with Bobbie Spencer and Bobbie was now stunned to find herself cast aside in favor of Laura.

On July 18, 1981, Laura finds the body of James Duvall in her apartment and flashes back to the night she accidentally killed David. Duvall was the scientist who developed the formula for carbonic snow. Alex Quartermaine killed Duvall and put his body in Laura’s apartment to frame her for the murder.

On November 23, 2020, Laura tells Sonny that Cyrus Renault has a redacted case file of hers about David’s accidental murder.

## Crimes Committed

* Statutory rape of Laura Webber [1977]
* Schemed to defraud General Hospital [1977-78]

## Health and Vitals

* Paralyzed [1977]
* Died after being pushed by Laura and hitting his head [May 22, 1978]