Billy Bauer, the youngest son of Bill and Bert Bauer, grew up in Selby Flats, CA, hating his father because of his drinking and extramarital affairs. Little did he realize how much like his father he'd become. Arriving in Springfield after graduating from medical school in 1966, Billy was determined to make a name for himself in medicine. It soon became evident that the Bauers' cheerful, uncomplicated son had changed into a driven young man, Billy announced hat he was now going by the name of Ed, derived from his middle name, Edward. He spent virtually every waking hour at Cedars Hospital, where he tried to impress the hospital administrator, Dr. Jim Frazier and the chief of staff, Dr. Paul Fletcher by becoming a brilliant and successful surgeon. Bert was saddened to see that "Billy" was gone forever and that "Ed" was a virtual stranger to her. It was at this time that Ben Scott was rushed to Cedars, where Ed examined him. In his delirium, Ben rambled on about his wife Maggie's affair with Ed's father, Bill! Sickened by this revelation, Ed bitterly confronted his father and demanded that he confess the affair to Bert. What neither Bill nor Ed realized, of course, was that Bert already knew. Bert walked in on the argument and to Ed's surprise, lambasted him for his disrespect and lack of compassion toward his father! In her indomitable way, she told Ed to "start behaving like a son," because right now he wasn't "fit to shine his father's shoes." Touched by Bert's display of love and loyalty, Bill showed her more tenderness than he had in a long time.

In 1967, Bill was so depressed by the loss of Maggie and by Ed's stinging rejection that he let a business associate talk him into having a few drinks to bolster his spirits. After many years of sobriety, Bill was now off the wagon and feeling tremendously guilty because of it. Fighting to regain control, Bill pleaded for Ed's love and forgiveness, but Ed could only respond with lacerating verbal attacks that shattered Bill and infuriated Bert. With chilling detachment, Ed urged Bert to leave Bill in hopes that he would hit rock bottom and get off the bottle. Bert remained committed to her husband and blamed Ed for driving Bill to drink when he needed his son's love most. Luckily, after he hit rock bottom by mistaking Maggie's teenage daughter, Peggy, for her and revealing the affair, Bill quit drinking again and he and Ed were able to repair their relationship. As impressed as Ed was with Bill's turnaround, he was latching on to a father figure more career-driven, more universally respected and far more authoritarian that Bill. He was Dr. Stephen Jackson, Cedars' eminent chief of surgery. Jackson was so married to medicine that he looked on his daughter, Leslie, a nurse's aide, as little more than an inconvenience. All Jackson ever said about his personal life was that his wife had died in childbirth, and his colleagues had the distinct impression that Dr. Jackson was less than devastated by the loss.

Out of pure opportunism rather than infatuation, Ed let himself be pursued by the spunky Leslie Jackson. Stephen approved of his daughter's budding relationship with the up-and-coming young doctor. Time after time, Ed broke dates with Leslie so he could follow Stephen around Cedars at all hours of the day and night. Enter Joe Werner. Although he was several years older, Joe had been Ed's closest friend in medical school. He had had a less privileged background than Ed and had struggled longer to get where he was. Now a resident at Cedars, Joe was envious that the eminent Dr. Jackson was bestowing so many professional favors on Ed, and that the way was already paved for Ed to become the chief surgeon's son-in-law. Not one to be passed over, Joe vowed to get a piece of Ed's action any way he could. Meanwhile, convinced that marriage would not serve his illustrious surgical career, Ed broke up with Leslie, leaving the field wide open for Joe, who quickly moved in. Before long, Leslie accepted Joe's proposal of marriage. Then Stephen Jackson suffered a coronary and Ed was assigned to the case. In time, Ed and Leslie rediscovered their feelings, but the jilted Joe vowed revenge. He began to sabotage Ed's work at the hospital, but Ed was cleared in every mishap. Ed and Leslie married in a quiet ceremony at Longview Nursing Home, where Stephen was convalescing, in September.

During Stephen's absence, Joe used his chief resident position at the hospital to saddle Ed with menial duties. The enmity between Ed and Joe reached a climax with the voluptuous Tracy Delmar. Tracy had introduced herself to Sara McIntyre as her long-lost niece and ingratiated herself with the lonely lady doctor. She was immediately attracted to the coolly ambitious Joe and charmed him into going out on a date one night, when he was supposed to be on duty. While they wined and dined, one of Joe's patients died. Joe seized the opportunity to pin the blame on Ed, who had forgotten to sign out earlier that afternoon when Joe relieved him. Mike, Ed's older brother, arrived in Springfield from Bay City with his daughter Hope in April 1968. Both father and daughter took an immediate liking to Leslie, who became the mother figure young Hope had been yearning for. Meanwhile, Joe later proved that he did have a conscience after all. He was awed when Ed saved the life of Marty Dillman, the leader of a neighborhood gang. Marty had been stabbed during a rumble and would have died had it not been for Ed's brilliant surgery. As a result, Joe wasted no time in dumping the shallow Tracy and apologized to Ed, acknowledging him as the fine surgeon he was. The doctors decided to let bygones be bygones and soon became inseparable friends.

Meanwhile, Ed was enraged when Leslie left her nurse's aide job at Cedars, accusing her of secretly planning to get pregnant against his wishes. Mike spoke up about Ed's attitude toward his wife, as well as Ed's surly indifference to their father, who had been experiencing frequent nausea and chest pains. One day, Bill and Ed got into an argument that grew so heated, Bill collapsed of a heart attack! Feeling responsible, Ed recommended that Bill undergo a heart transplant, a risky procedure in those days. Over Bert's objections, Bill agreed and the brilliant Dr. Gavin Hamilton was called in to perform what would be a successful operation on September 9, 1968. Meanwhile, Ed was full of self-loathing. Even though he had done all he could, he still felt guilty over Maggie Scott's death who had died on his operating table months earlier, and now he'd almost killed his own father. So it was that this iron-willed, cocksure young surgeon fell victim to the same disease that plagued his father -- alcoholism. He became jealous of the growing friendship between Leslie and Mike and picked drunken fights with both of them. Soon his work and concentration slid to the point where even Stephen could no longer defend him, and Ed was dismissed from Cedars.

Ed proceeded to go on a binge, sideswiped a car driven by a Margie Wexler in April 1969 and was jailed for leaving the scene of the accident. Bill bailed him out and desperately tried to help his son, but to no avail. Margie would later realize the accident could have also been her fault since she was on sleeping pills but Margie could not say that at the time because she ended up being transported to Cedars where she suffered a miscarriage and also briefly ended up in a coma! Certain he'd lost everything, Ed left town and ended up in Tarrywood working at the Hastings Electrical Supply Warehouse where he would meet secretary of the warehouse, Janet Mason. He found a great deal of satisfaction from working with his hands, moving warehouse stock. Meanwhile, Bert was unnerved at the closeness between Mike and Leslie and accused Mike of having an affair with his brother's wife! Before leaving town on a business trip, Bill warned Bert to lay off Mike for Hope's sake. Sadly, on July 14, 1969, the Bauers heard news that the plane went down. Bill was dead.

Hearing of Bill's death, Ed returned to town with Janet following him. Janet got a job as a secretary to Ed's colleagues Paul. To ensure that he'd get reinstated at Cedars, Ed quit drinking and tried to make a new go of his marriage to Leslie. Ed was correct-- holding onto his marriage showed the Board that his personal life was stable and his suspension was lifted. But, Ed could still not resist the charms of Janet and continued the affair with her. In 1970, Ed performed a successful surgical procedure, which won him back his permanent position. Now Ed was ready to divorce Leslie, Janet finally growing tired of being strung along by Ed finally dropped him. Then, to Ed's horror, Leslie informed him that she was pregnant! In August 1970, Leslie gave birth to a son, whom they named Frederick after Papa Bauer. Not long after, Janet's father, Grove, discovered that Ed and Janet had had an affair! Grove came to Cedars to confront Ed. Their heated meeting caused Grove to have a coronary which killed him! After overhearing the altercation, Stephen insisted that Ed tell Leslie the truth about Janet, which he did. Leslie was so livid, she not only divorced Ed but forbade the Bauers from seeing Freddie. Though Leslie was now free to be with Mike, unfortunately he was already married to Charlotte Waring. Alone, Leslie fell for the charms of the wealthy middle-aged playboy, Stanley Norris. When Leslie impulsively married Stanley on July 2, 1971, Ed didn't want Freddie living with them, so he retained custody of Freddie until Stanley's murder in September. Though attractive nurse Dinah Buckley tried to start a romance with Ed, Ed told Dinah politely he wasn't ready to get into a new romance, because he was pining away for Janet.

Depressed about his life as a single man of 30 years of age, Ed tried to make the most of it. In March 1972, Janet married Ken Norris. Ed started seeing his patient, Holly Norris (Ken's sister), who was hit by a car and left paralyzed after seeing her boyfriend, Roger Thorpe, leave Janet's apartment. In May 1973, Ed was so taken with Holly that he went to Las Vegas with her. After Holly accidentally got Ed drunk by ordering champagne for the alcoholic Ed the pair married and the next morning Holly lied that Ed and they had consummated the union. Unfortunately, when Ed and Holly returned to Springfield, much of the town was flabbergasted about the new marriage. Though he vowed to be a better husband to Holly than he was to Leslie, this marriage also proved to be a disaster. Soon, Holly and Ken started developing jealous streaks when Ed started spending more time with Janet who was pregnant with Ken's baby. Barbara, Holly and Ken's mom, tried to get them to see that Ed and Janet were responsible adults and told both of her children, in no uncertain terms, to "grow up!" Holly was much too young to be a doctor's wife and resented all the time Ed was spending at the hospital. Soon they were in separate beds. Meanwhile, at Cedars, in the wake of Charlotte Waring's untimely death, Joe required Ed to work extended hours at Cedars. Joe was in deep trouble due to his bungling of Charlotte's case, and although Ed tried desperately to salvage his friend's career, Bruce Banning pushed hard for Joe's demotion. Hard-nosed osteopath Dr. Wilson Frost went so far as to insist that Joe be dismissed from the staff. Unbeknownst to Joe, Wilson had feelings for Sara. Under pressure from the medical review board, Joe resigned from Cedars and Ed became a reluctant chief of staff. Ed felt doubly guilty when Adam Thorpe came to Cedars as an independent contractor to analyze the hospital's efficiency and recommended that Ed remain in Joe's former position.

Meanwhile, at home, Holly seemed to change - she begged Ed's forgiveness and promised to be a better wife. They made love and to Ed's delight, Holly became pregnant. But Holly had already known that she was pregnant - by Roger. Meanwhile, in April 1975, Ken went insane because of Ed and Janet's platonic relationship, so he shot Ed in his chest. Ed was rushed into surgery and Joe operated but he severed Ed's pulmonary vein which left his left hand partially paralyzed. Ed could no longer perform surgery. Later, in July, Holly gave birth to Christina. Very soon after, Chrissy would come down with pneumonia and would need a blood transfusion. Holly tried to give blood but couldn't because she had contracted heptatis as a child. And, Ed couldn't give blood because he learned he wasn't Chrissy's biological father. Holly forced Roger to come forward to give blood -- which he did and when Ed found out he went ballistic and started picking fights with both Holly and Roger! It got so bad that Ed left Holly and then filed for divorce, but since he had come to love Chrissy, he remained close to her for her sake.

In 1976, Ed was saddened when Leslie died, leaving him to raise Freddie alone. That same year, he ended up falling in love with nurse Rita Stapleton, who mistakenly believed the good doctor was rich. Rita was once the private nurse of wealthy Texan Cyrus Granger and inherited a hefty inheritance from him. Unfortunately because of the inheritance, she was accused by Granger's son, Malcolm, of murder. Though there was no evidence to implicate her in Granger's murder, Malcolm continued to harass her and one day following a confrontation, he had a massive heart attack. Then Malcolm died after Rita mistakenly misplaced his chart. Though the hospital cleared her of any wrong doing, the Granger family lawyer accused Rita of murdering Malcolm and she was placed on trial. Ed stood by Rita during all of this since he was very taken with Rita and to the trepidation of his friends and family. In 1977, Ed proposed marriage to Rita. During the trial came a startling revelation: Rita couldn't have murdered Cyrus since she was in bed with Roger at the time. Shaken by the fact that she was once involved with his adversary, Ed broke things off with her and grew closer to Holly again until she realized his strong feelings for Rita and let him go. Then Ed's life shattered when he learned that his presumed-dead father, Bill, was still alive! Shocked to learn that Bill faked his death and had a whole other family, Ed went on a drinking binge and seemed to be drinking himself to death.

Luckily for Ed, Rita found him and tried to get Ed to see how much of a miracle it was that Bill was still alive and Ed seemed to respond. Unfortunately at that very moment, Bill came across the street to the hotel and was accidentally struck by a car. Ed from his hotel room witnessed Bill being hit by the vehicle and immediately rushed out to help Bill and to take him to Cedars with Rita's help in an ambulance. When Bill recovered from his injuries and Ed and he made up, Ed got off the alcohol again. Unfortunately for Rita, things weren't that lucky, Ed refused to forgive her when he found out that she knew before anyone else that Bill was still alive and didn't tell him. However several months later, Ed would realize how much he loved Rita when she and her sister Eve were terrorized and later almost killed by the insane Georgene Granger, with the result of Ed, Ben McFarren and Lt. Larry Wyatt saving them. Forgiving her for everything, the couple finally married in November 1978. Unbeknownst to Ed, before their marriage, Rita was raped by Roger but kept quiet since she was afraid of how Ed would react

In the course of their marriage, Ed gave in to Rita's need for materialistic things; even buying a house next to the Spaulding mansion Skyline Drive. Meanwhile, in 1979, Holly and Roger married in order to give Chrissy a family. Then the unthinkable happened, Roger raped Holly! Though not believing she could press charges since by now Roger was Holly's husband, Ed convinced her to turn Roger in to the police. It wasn't until Holly's rape trial that Rita would confess the awful truth. Angry, Ed stormed to Roger's office at Spaulding Enterprises and the two ended up in a fight! Unfortunately, Ed was getting the losing side of the deal, and when Holly stumbled upon the scene, she got Roger's gun and told them to stop. Though Ed tried to talk Holly down (since she was aiming the gun at Roger), Roger went toward her and Holly fired three shots into him! Roger was declared dead, and Holly was sent to prison for his murder. By this time, Rita grew disenchanted with her life and with Ed's long hours and having to help care for Chrissy while Holly was in jail. Knowing that Rita was upset, Ed agreed to make it up to her by going away on a trip to St. Lucia. Unfortunately, all Ed really wanted to do was sightsee and when he left Rita there after he heard that Holly had been stabbed in prison; Rita, resenting Ed's preoccupation with Holly, had a one-night stand with her old lover, Greg Fairbanks. Soon she became pregnant and unable to stand the guilt, she confessed the affair to Ed but refused to give the man's name.

Finally, on the day of the Winter carnival, Rita went missing. Days later, Ed, Mike and Lt. Wyatt with the help of Rita's scarf and some witnesses up at Indian Lake located the cabin where Roger was holding Rita hostage. Then they went to go and rescue Rita. Unfortunately, well Ed and Mike (against Lt. Wyatt's wishes) were approaching the cabin, Roger got nervous (because Rita started to scream) and bolted through the back door and in the process knocked over a lit kerosene lamp that started to set the cabin ablaze with Rita still tied to the bed. Ed reached Rita in time and both he and Mike got her out of the cabin, but unfortunately Rita had suffered from smoke inhalation and had to be transported to Cedars hospital. A day later, Ed would learn from Dr. Margaret Sedgwick that Rita lost the baby and that the baby, a boy, had been his. A grief stricken Ed had to tell a devastated Rita that the baby had not survived and that the boy had been his all along. Devastated, Rita would finally tell Eve who her affair was with. Ed fired Greg from Cedars and Greg would leave town, never to be heard from again. Distraught, Rita decided to get out of town for a couple of months. In March, Roger would continue to haunt the lives of Ed and those he cared about when he went after Holly in the Santo Domingo where she and Chrissy were hiding from him. Again, Ed and Mike were able to track Roger down to the Island of Lost Souls and while trying to rescue Holly, Ed was shot in the arm by Roger. While Roger struggled with Mike, Ed shot Roger and after a vicious struggle, Roger slipped over a cliff and although he tried to save his nemesis, Ed couldn't and Roger fell to his presumed death. The saga of Roger finally over, a shaken Holly left Springfield with her daughter and told Ed not to contact them.

With them gone, Ed was free to continue his marriage to Rita, which still remained shaky. Rita had enough of Ed's preoccupation with the lives of others (more specifically Holly's family) and had an affair with Alan Spaulding, who was married to Ed's niece. Though she was initially able to hide the affair from Ed, Rita would find herself being blackmailed by an anonymous person who knew about the affair. Finally, an expensive necklace that Alan bought for Rita was stolen at their hideaway at Pine Bluff.. Nola Reardon's aunt worked at Pine Bluff and mentioned the theft to her. Nola figured out that Alan and Rita were having an affair and purposely let it slip to Ed that Rita had an expensive necklace diamond necklace stolen while she was on vacation. Ed didn't know that Rita owned such a necklace and became suspicious - and he began to put all the pieces together and finally realized that Rita was having an affair with Alan. Ed confronted Mike with his suspicions and Mike confirmed them. Ed was devastated and felt like a fool. He went to Rita's apartment - she and Ed were separated at the time - and Rita called out, "Alan, is that you?" Ed said that it wasn't Alan and demanded to be let in. Ed confronted Rita. Although she denied the accusations at first, finally she confessed. Ed demanded a divorce. Later that day, Rita flew out of Springfield - without telling anyone where she was going.

At this time, Stephen decided to retire and moved to Europe so he named Ed as Chief of Staff at Cedars. With Rita gone, Ed started dating the wealthy Vanessa Chamberlain. Though involved with Vanessa, Ed was still concerned about Rita. Meanwhile, Ed was surprised to discover that a mysterious person had donated money to Cedars in order to complete needed renovations. Later when Diane Ballard and then Joe Bradley were killed, one of the things in their apartment that went missing was Rita's address and by the time Ross's fiancée, Carrie Todd, was found to have killed Diane and Joe, and also have Rita's address, it was too late for Ed to find her there; Rita had already moved on. Although, Carrie told Ed she suspected that Vanessa was the one who instructed Joe to find Rita's address, Carrie said she had no solid proof of this. Later, Ed was shocked when he discovered in Joe's notes that it was Vanessa who hired Joe to break into Alan's room at the club and get the information he had on Rita. Now Ed knew that it was Vanessa who sent him the letter Rita wrote to Alan before she left town, as well as her address in San Francisco. When Ed confronted Vanessa, she explained why she did it. Ed considered it dishonest and that she was manipulating him so he broke it off with Vanessa.

In 1982, Ed, by now divorced from Rita, would meet the love of his life, Maureen Reardon, Bea Reardon's oldest daughter. Maureen had just who returned to Springfield after a nasty divorce and began working as Ed's secretary. The two formed an immediate connection and began dating. After a few months, Ed proclaimed his love but Maureen was afraid they might be using each other to keep from feeling lonely and to get over the hurt they've been through with other people. Ed assured her he wanted to be with her because she made him happy. Later, Maureen accepted Ed's marriage proposal and they married in February 1983. Soon after, Maureen was thrilled to learn she was pregnant. Although Ed was originally unhappy that Maureen was pregnant, because he felt that he might be too old to be a father, his godson Kelly Nelson talked to him and changed his mind. Unfortunately the baby was not meant to be, because Maureen then had a miscarriage. In1984. Ed and Maureen found themselves in the middle of some medical intrigue involving a mysterious medical virus, a doctor named Stephens and a new medical administrator named Warren Andrews. By the time the year was over, Maureen would finally come face to face with Dr. Stephens who was none other than her brother—Jim.

Later, that year, Maureen and Ed's marriage would start to have more obstacles thrown at it when Ed and Maureen befriended Fletcher Reade and Claire Ramsey who were together at this time. When Fletcher went to Beirut in February 1985, Claire, Ed and Maureen followed. Then tragedy struck when Maureen and Fletcher were mistakenly presumed dead after an explosion. Devastated, Ed fell off the wagon and he and Claire sought comfort in each other's arms and made love. However, the next day, Fletcher and Maureen returned, alive and well! After returning from Beirut, Claire and Fletcher continued their wedding plans, but there was tension between Ed and Claire. Later, when Claire collapsed with abdominal pains and was hospitalized, Ed and Maureen learned that she was pregnant. Soon after, Fletcher cut his finger in a cooking accident; Maureen took him to Cedars for stitches. Later, Ed looked at Fletcher's medical records and discovered the record of his vasectomy. Ed realized that he was the father of the baby. He kept Claire from seeing the medical chart and questioned the doctor at the fertility clinic and records confirmed that the vasectomy was a success. While there, Ed got Maureen's records and learned that she had extensive scarring of her fallopian tubes and couldn't conceive. Later, Ed and Fletcher confronted each other and Fletcher urged Ed not to tell Maureen and Claire the truth. Ed agreed but felt that Fletcher should have told Claire that he was sterile. Stressed out, Ed was tempted to drink again. Months later, Maureen finally learned the truth and left Ed. Devastated, Ed fell off the wagon. Unfortunately, Ed's condition did not escape gossipy nurse Charlotte Wheaton.

Suspecting that Ed had fathered Claire's child, and feeling jealous, Charlotte leaked Ed's alcoholism to newswoman Alicia Rhomer. However, unknown to everyone, Charlotte had another motive for ruining Ed Bauer. For years earlier, Ed had once treated Charlotte's mother as a patient and she died. Charlotte seemed to get her revenge when Maureen was forced to suspend Ed from Cedars. Reveling in her victory, Charlotte and her boyfriend, Harry, enjoyed a night of champagne and sex in a vacant hospital room. After Harry left, Charlotte fell asleep. Before leaving on suspension, Ed had issued a medication order to nurse Lillian Raines for a patient whom neither knew had been moved from the room in which Charlotte was now snoozing. In the darkened room, Lillian injected the sleeping woman. Later, in the cold light of day, she realized she had injected Charlotte -- who now lay dead! With Charlotte dead, Ed was named as the prime suspect. Luckily, Ed was cleared when Fletcher figured out that Charlotte had been killed by her own sister, Alicia. By this time Ed had stopped drinking and his marriage to Maureen was back on track. Also, at this time, Claire had given birth to Ed's daughter, Michelle. Unfortunately, motherhood didn't sit well with Claire, however, since she was too busy with her career and social life. Since she was temporarily living at the Bauer house, she wanted Ed to take care of Michelle, while she was out having fun and flirting with other men, including her students. Both Maureen and Ed were angry at Claire because of her selfish behavior and considered taking Michelle away from Claire. Though they initially decided to not to fight for custody,

In 1986, Claire continued ignoring Michelle and started leaving her alone in the house when she was out. When Rick found Michelle alone in the house and told Ed about it, Ed decided to go ahead and fight for custody, making Claire furious. Claire then found out that Rick was taking drugs. She threatened to tell everyone about it if he couldn't convince Ed to let her have custody of Michelle. She even told him she would get him fired if he didn't do what she wanted him to do. After weeks of enduring Claire's erratic mood swings, Ed and Maureen caught Claire trying to smother Michelle with a pillow and Claire lost custody of Michelle to Ed and Maureen. Angry, Claire, who was Rick's medical school mentor, spitefully gave him an undeserved F on his final exam while she denied there was anything emotionally wrong with her. Later, Claire got in the middle of a life-threatening fight with Caine Harris who went insane and threw Claire off a bridge into the ocean. Claire was saved by Kyle but she unfortunately lost her memory due to the shock and fell into a coma. After lying in her coma for weeks, Claire regained consciousness, admitted Rick that she aced his final exam and collapsed with a brain seizure. A dangerous brain operation was performed by Dr. Mark Jarrett who was unsuccessfully hired by Alan to spy at Cedars. When Claire finally emerged from the coma, she got her memory back. She felt guilty for what she'd done to Rick and confessed the truth to the medical association. She received therapy and let Maureen adopt Michelle while she fell in love with Mark.

Ed and Maureen's marriage would remain stable for the next two years while Ed treated his patients and supported the people who needed him. By the end of the year, he supported Rick when his sister-in-law, Chelsea Reardon, tried to sue him for malpractice and in 1987, he supported his distant cousin, Johnny Bauer, who was diagnosed with cancer. To Ed's pleasant surprise, Johnny miraculously recovered in 1988. Later, that year, it was Ed who realized that new Spaulding employee Blake Lindsey was actually his former stepdaughter, Chrissy Thorpe! When Holly visited that Christmas, Ed told her that he'd made a mistake cutting all ties with Chrissy/Blake, since she sorely needed a father figure. In 1989, Holly returned to Springfield and, later Roger turned out to be alive after all when he was shot during Phillip and Blake's wedding. When Holly tried to convince Ed to let Roger die during his operation, Ed considered it, but ultimately ended up saving his life. About this time an unappreciated Maureen flirted with Fletcher and, after Ed saw them kissing, he reunited with Holly. The rift in the Bauer marriage caused them to lose out on adopting a young boy, even though Chelsea and Johnny told the child care workers that Maureen and Ed would make great adopted parents, it still didn't help. Devastated Maureen decided to get a divorce. However, soon after, Holly realized that Ed's heart belonged to Maureen, and she gracefully bowed out of their burgeoning relationship. Ed then reunited with Maureen and, in January 1990, they renewed their vows.

Months later, Maureen learned of a new procedure that could finally enable her to have the child she so wanted, only to find that Ed didn't want another child. Ed finally changed his mind. Obstetrician Margaret Sedwick performed the operation and said Maureen and Ed had a one in three chance to conceive within the year. Unfortunately, their attempts to conceive were unsuccessful. In May 1991, a new distraction happened with the arrival of Maureen''s niece Bridget Reardon, who came to live with the Bauers that summer. Unfortunately, Bridget was a trouble makeer and her boyfriend, Elvis Reese forced her to give him the key of the Bauer house and he learned the code of the alarm system by spying on Ed. While the Bauers were celebrating Bridget's birthday, Elvis broke into the Bauer house but Dylan caught him and Elvis was arrested. Later, after Elvis kidnapped Bridget and Hart saved her, Bridget confessed a part of the truth to Ed and Mo and Ed set Elvis up so that he confessed his crimes and was arrested by Capt. Larry Wyatt. Meanwhile, Mo's brother Sean tried to hit Ed up for money, but Ed refused. However, when Daniel St. John needed money to help Holly to buy Ross's shares of WSPR, Ed stepped in to prevent that Roger would buy the shares. And as a result, Maureen was angry because he gave Holly money but not her brother. In November Maureen took a job as Vanessa's assistant at Spaulding Enterprises. Feeling neglected, Ed started spending time with his old friend, Lillian Raines who found a lump in her breast. Before he knew it, One night, when they were stuck in Cedars parking garage, they made love, and then Ed ended the affair.

Unfortunately, Maureen found out about it in January 1993 through a letter Lillian wrote to Ed letter and confronted Ed about it at the cabin. She lashed out at Ed and drove off to get away from him. Tragically, Maureen's car swerved off the road and she died. After over 15 years of marriage, Ed's beloved "Mo" was gone. Ed might have let himself sink into despair if it wasn't for his daughter. Knowing that he had to be strong for Michelle, he pulled himself together and went on with his life. Of great help during this period was Holly, who was a great friend to him and Michelle. After learning that Roger and Holly made love after he and Ed saved Holly and Michelle from a crazed business associate of Roger's, John Davis, Ed told Holly that she was a risk to his hard-won sobriety and ended their relationship.

Later, Ed found love again with Dr. Eve Guthrie whom he supported after her mental problems caused her to try to kill Mindy Lewis. Ed also let her stay on at Cedars and, in October 1994, the couple became engaged. Meanwhile, Ed accidentally took his first drink in thirteen years. Unfortunately, that same night Dylan Lewis was blinded after a car accident and Ed was afraid that he caused the accident during his blackout. Fortunately, it turned out that Ed wasn't the driver after all—it was a man named Carlos Lopez. In March 1995, Eve fainted and Ed learnt she was suffering from a rare blood disorder. Ed call Rick for her treatment but, unfortunately, he was unable to save her and, when Eve was laying in coma, Ed made the painful decision and disconnected her from life support, since he knew she didn't want to be kept alive by a machine. Though he fully expected to be tried of her murder, Rick covered for Ed. By 1996, Michelle was in high school and Ed, who had grown tired of his bureaucratic role at Cedars, decided to move to Africa to conduct medical research.

Though far from his family, Ed kept in touch, even visiting in September 1997 at Rick's request. At this time, Jack Blue had blamed Ed for the death of his wife since she was Ed's patient when their son, Jesse Blue, was born years ago. However, at that time, Ed was suspended from Cedars due to his drinking, so he knew he didn't do anything wrong. Though he thought that Michelle would be happy about his return, Michelle was hurt since he wasn't around for her high school graduation or for her birthday either. Though Ed asked her to go back to Africa with him, she refused. Michelle then told Ed about her search for the patient who had received Maureen's heart after her death but Ed didn't want her to know the truth. Ed told Rick that the patient was none other than Jesse! When Jesse was born he had a congenital heart defect and Ed had kept tabs on the boy through years. He always felt guilty about what had happened to Jesse's mom even though he didn't do anything wrong. When Jesse got older he needed a heart transplant, so Ed pulled some strings and got Jesse's name put to the top of the list. Ed visited Jesse, and although the two hit it off, Jesse, knowing his relationship with Michelle could only bring their families pain, agreed to stay away and not disclose that he had Maureen's heart. Michelle learned the truth anyway and after she and Jesse reunited, Ed and Rick disapproved of this, which resulted in Ed and Michelle's relationship being strained. So Jesse and Michelle decided to elope. Meanwhile, Ed decided not to return to Africa right away, since he could do his needed research at home. After celebrating Independence Day at the Bauer Annual barbecue in 1998, Ed was mortified when a nude picture of Michelle wound up being on display. After lamenting to his Aunt Meta that he wished he could keep Michelle from pain, Ed quietly went back to Africa and promptly disappeared.

In 1999, when Michelle was accused of Ben Warren's murder, it was suspected that the stress of Michelle's later marriage to Danny Santos might have caused him to start drinking again.

The truth about Ed's disappearance came out in May 2002 after Rick was hospitalized for heart problems. Knowing that Michelle wasn't having any luck finding Ed, despite help from Holly, Danny decided to help and, securing help from Edmund Winslow , he learned something unsettling: Ed had been taken hostage in Africa and being used to provide medical aid to rebels. Knowing the only way to release him would be with money, Danny secured funds from Olivia Spencer and Ed was released. After three years of captivity, Ed finally returned home just in time to attend Rick's wedding to Mel Boudreau. But coming home wasn't easy. Still in shock over his ordeal, Ed reluctantly told Michelle that when he spoke with Ross during her murder trial he was suffering from malaria and didn't want to burden anyone with his problems. Upon recovering, he decided to fly back home but was taken hostage. His nightmare finally over, a shell-shocked Ed began to slowly reconnect with the family and friends he left behind. Meanwhile, Richard Winslow, who was comatose at Cedars after a car accident, died after his life support machines were shut off, and his heart was donated to Rick, who made a full recovery. Not long after, Michelle finally confided in Ed her belief that Mel shut off Richard's life support and they both decided to protect Mel at all costs.

When the hospital started investigating Richard's death, Ed, seeing that Michelle was about to lie to Chief of Staff, Charles Grant, confessed to the crime. As a result, Edmund wanted to sue the Bauers for Richard's death. After Mel convinced Ed and Michelle that she didn't commit the crime, Reva stepped in and confessed that she was responsible for Richard's death. Of great help to him at this time was Holly, who was now dating Buzz Cooper. Soon he realized that he still had feelings for Holly, and although Ed claimed that he was no longer the same man he was, Holly surprised him with a kiss and they reunited after Holly and Buzz separated. Holly also helped Ed realize his dream of opening a clinic downtown with funding of Ray Santos's church. In 2003, when Holly was suspected of stalking Reva, Ed supported her and was certain of her innocence. Less certain was his confidence in Danny's ability to avoid trouble and he made it clear to Michelle that he thought she was crazy to reconcile with him. Though still uncertain of Danny, Ed later told Michelle that if she let him he would walk her down the aisle. That summer, though reluctant to hold the annual Independence Day Barbecue, Ed relented when Marah Lewis pleaded with him to carry on the tradition. The reason for Marah's insistence became known that day when she admitted that she had planned a surprise wedding for Michelle and Danny and that evening, Ed and everyone present witnessed the marriage of the couple.

On October 17th, Ed paid his annual visit to the grave of Maryanne Caruthers, a woman who died 26 years earlier. Then one day, Michelle unexpectedly asked about Maryanne! Though Ed denied knowing who Maryanne was it was obvious that he was lying since he seemed visibly shaken. Upon learning that Josh Lewis's daughter, Marah asked him about Maryanne and Buzz Cooper was asked about her by his granddaughter, Marina, Billy Lewis arranged between himself, Josh, Buzz, and Ed telling them to calm down since the only ones who know happened that night are them. All anyone else had was hearsay and speculation, so as long as they keep quiet, everything will be fine. Unfortunately, Michelle became concerned about Ed's reluctance to talk about Maryanne and kept bringing her name up. Getting increasingly nervous and flustered, Ed finally changed his work schedule to avoid talking to Michelle. Unfortunately this only fueled Rick's suspicions as to why exactly Ed was avoiding Michelle. Not long after, the secret of Maryanne was in danger of being found out when a newspaper headline announced her car had been found at the bottom of the river.

In the midst of this, the stress of the situation started affecting Ed professionally. Days prior to this meeting, he'd almost given Shayne Lewis the wrong medication, and would have if Michelle hadn't caught the mistake. It was at this point, in January 2004, that all the men involved, which included Alan, met secretly to discuss what happened that fateful night. For on the fateful night of October 17th, 1977, Billy and Josh would visit the Springfield Fair with their new acquaintances, Ed, Buzz and Alan. At the Fair, drinking beer and carousing, Alan would point out the lovely, very conceited Maryanne Caruthers and form a plan. Wanting to see the cold Maryanne make a fool of herself, Alan showed the other young men a vial of powder that contained a drug that he wanted to use on Maryanne to loosen her up.

Although the other men weren't fond of the idea, they knew that Alan would do what he wanted. Though Billy warned Alan to not drug his brother's drink, Alan decided to drug the entire pitcher of beer, thus affecting all of them. Not long after, the group, plus Maryanne went joy riding, but an ill Maryanne asked to be driven home. It was then that Alan, who was driving the car, sped across Cutter's Bridge and suddenly unexpectedly went off the road! Though Alan told the men any attempt to go into the water to look for Maryanne was pointless since the water was too rough, Billy and Buzz dove in anyway, but failed to find any trace of Maryanne, Knowing they helped cause Maryanne's death, Alan, Wanting to preserve their lives, Alan persuaded the others to move on with their lives and forget that they ever knew a woman named Maryanne Caruthers. Now, almost 30 years later, it appeared as if their secret was in danger of being discovered. Knowing they all had too much to lose, Alan convinced them to maintain their silence and they sealed their agreement by placing their hands on top of one another's as if to say "all for one, and one for all." The same day, Ed was rattled when Michelle suddenly recounted the entire story of Maryanne and handed him a pick envelope. Unnerved and agitated, Ed refused to take the letter and tore it up! Finally he became so rattled that he slapped Michelle! After Michelle left, Ed put the letter back together.

As Alan had suspected, it was from an anonymous witness who warned the men that they'd pay the price for what they did. Meanwhile, Ed's nerves were becoming so frazzled that he froze in the ER. Ed's condition didn't go unnoticed by Rick, who after finding out that Ed slapped Michelle, asked him if he was drinking again! Getting more and more defensive, Ed alienated himself from Rick, who finally decided that his father was becoming a threat at Cedars and decided to go to Cedars Chief of Staff, Charles Grant. However, Ed beat him to it and confessed his previous patient mistakes, making it sound as if it were just a slight fatigue problem. However, to Rick's disappointment, Dr. Grant simply gave Ed a few days off to relax, when Rick knew he needed a long-term leave of absence. Realizing Ed could be a danger at the hospital, Rick and Mel concocted a plan to get Ed to take leave from the hospital. Knowing that Ed would never place his grandchild at risk, Mel asked Ed to do her blood work for her exam.

As expected, when Ed tried to take blood from her, he had trouble focusing, rushed out and took a leave of absence. In the midst of all this, the stress was becoming unbearable for Ed and he started slipping into his addictive habits by over-medicating himself with painkillers to relieve his tension headaches. Although Ed sunk into despair, shutting himself in the show and avoiding contact with everyone, he came out of his funk at the insistence of Billy, Buzz, and Josh who urged him to get a hold of himself and get his life back on track. Luckily their words helped, and Ed surprised Michelle by attending her charity Valentine's Day ball at the country club. There a mysterious older woman approached all 5 men separately and made veiled references to an event that happened almost thirty years ago. Instinctively knowing that she was the mystery person, their suspicions were confirmed when the woman, who was Maryanne's Aunt Carrie, met with them and demanded that they meet her at the old Fairgrounds, where it would all end. Days later, the men met at the Fairgrounds and were confronted by a horrific scenario. Led into a hall of mirrors, Carrie announced her plan--one of the girls would be killed in place of Maryanne; the men would have to choose. Then came a startling chain of events. Carrie suddenly appeared brandishing a gun, poised to shoot. However, because of the mirrors no one could tell what was the real Carrie. Although Buzz got out his gun (that he brought at Alan's insistence, so that they could take care of the threat), he was caught unaware by Carrie who shot him in the arm!

Then Carrie pointed her gun at Josh and was set to fire when a shot rang out, apparently killing Carrie!, Josh went to the police and confessed to murdering Carrie, who he painted as a deranged woman angry about not getting a job, in self-defense. Unfortunately, things would end up getting very complicated very quickly. Although the men thought they concocted an airtight story, in reality, it was flawed. Not only were the police suspicious of the statements since their stories were too similar; almost rehearsed, but Alan found himself caught in a lie when he claimed not to be at the Fairgrounds and then was reported to have been spotted there. Meanwhile, not long after, Marah suddenly remembered the events of that night and confessed to the police! While Marah took responsibility for Carrie's death, Alan stepped up and took responsibility for Maryanne's by accepting a deal with the D.A.-immunity for her death in exchange for Spaulding's files. In the end, it was learned that Maryanne had survived that crash! Washed ashore on the other side of the river, she had been f0und and murdered by Carrie herself! Months later, Ed received a letter from the research clinic in Africa asking him to return. Although conflicted about whether to resume his work in Africa or remain with his family, especially since Mel had just given birth to a daughter, Leah, after speaking with Michelle, Ed decided that he should leave town and continue his important work in Africa.

Unfortunately, mere months after he left, tragedy would strike again with Michelle losing her memory after being caught in an explosion. Although Ed tried to get back home, he was delayed in customs and apparently gave up trying to get out of Africa. In 2005, unbeknownst to Ed, Roger's son, Sebastian, was holding Holly hostage in exchange for Ed(since he wanted Ed to cure his disease. Unfortunately for Holly, the only ones who knew of Sebastian's demands were Michelle and Tony Santos who decided to find Holly themselves instead of looking for Ed. By the time Tony went to Africa to look for Ed, Ed had mysteriously vanished. Though there was mysteriously no trace of Ed, his notes were able to help Michelle find a cure for Sebastian. However, Ed must have materialized soon after because only a few months later, Michelle, whose memory had returned, visited him. At some point, Ed must have left Africa, since late that summer he was living in California. By fall, Ed had gone to the Gulf Coast to assist in the recovery efforts there.

By 2009, Ed had returned to California and had gained some reputation as a specialist in infectious medicine. That year, Ed was visited by Phillip who complained that he had not been feeling well. After some test, Ed was forced to give Phillip some devastating news—he was suffering from a terminal disease which was untreatable. Phillip, who only had three months to live, asked Ed to keep his diagnosis a secret since he was not ready to tell his family just yet. A month later, Ed told Philip of a new, extremely risky procedure that could save his life. The procedure involved a massive donation of bone marrow from one person to the other. Since the procedure could result in the death of the donor, Phillip refused to have it done. Several weeks later, Ed discovered that Alan's bone marrow was a match for Phillip. Ed outlined the risks for Alan and summed it up by saying that if Phillip did not go through with this procedure, which had never been done before, he could still die. However, if he did not, Phillip would surely die. Though Phillip strenuously objected, he relented when Alan begged him to let him do it. Luckily, the procedure worked and both Phillip and Alan were released from the hospital. Mere days later, Alan died of a heart attack. Realizing that life was too short, Ed visited Holly (whom he shared a nice visit with weeks earlier) and invited her to tour the world with him. To Ed's delight, Holly accepted his invitation.