1983: Marian Colby had the perfect life with a loving, rich husband, and a beautiful daughter. She spent time at the Valley Inn with the likes of Phoebe Tyler. But, she was bored. Her husband was always off at work, and her daughter, Liza Colby, had her own life to live. The starved for attention Marian caught the eye of the Glamoramma’s newest employee, Tad Martin. The young man gave her all the attention she longed for. They found themselves in bed. Their relationship was doomed for other reasons, including the fact that Tad was her daughter’s boyfriend.
When Liza learned the truth, she lashed out against her mother and lover. Marian’s infidelity caused her husband to have a heart attack. The tragedy helped to mend her broken relationship with Liza.

1984: Marian fell into an illicit affair with a Locust Street conman named Zach Grayson. Zach knew any affiliation with him would tarnish her good name, so he blackmailed her for his silence. Marian was still recovering from her affair with Tad, and could not risk loosing more social standing if the truth about Zach came out.

1985: Like many other citizens of Pine Valley’s upper crust, Marian fell victim to Zach’s schemes. She decided to take matters into her own hands. One night, she confronted Zach in his own apartment, stabbing him in the chest. Marian was anything but a calculating criminal. Donna Beck had made her own visit to Zach’s apartment that night, and spotted Marian’s pocketbook with a large letter “M” embossed on it. Marian admitted to the murder.
In prison, Marian took matters into her own hands. To assure good behavior and an early release, Marian began an affair with the warden.

1989: Marian tried to break up Tad’s newest engagement to Dixie Cooney by telling her about what he had done to Liza.

1995: Marian reappeared in Pine Valley at the Martin family housewarming. She relished the idea of being stuck in a blizzard with a slue of men.
Liza returned to Pine Valley when she got the job as station manager at WRCW. Marian wanted to rebuild her relationship with her daughter. Marian wanted to make up for her betrayal by making it her mission to reunite Liza with Tad.

1996: Marian succeeded in breaking up Tad and Dixie’s marriage by playing a taped confession of Tad’s one-night stand with Liza. Only, this also drove Tad away from her daughter, further estranging mother and daughter.
Marian had fallen under the spell of Dr. Jonathan Kinder, Liza’s former lover. Jonathan wanted Marian for nothing else but her money. Marian helped Jonathan escape prosecution in the United States for multiple felonies related to his drug treatments. Only, Jonathan had also taken her fortune. Marian teamed up with Erica Kane, Janet Green, and Skye Kinder to lure Jonathan out of hiding.
Liza agreed to allow Marian to move into Chandler Mansion with her after she lost everything. Marian wanted to solidify Liza’s claim to new husband Adam Chandler’s fortune, so she began spying on his confidential meetings with his lawyer, Barry Shire.

1997: Marian stood by Liza after she learned she was pregnant with Adam’s child. It ended in tragedy when Liza suffered a miscarriage as a result of stress from an emergency landing.

1998: Marian wanted to insure that Liza got the most out of her short-term marriage to Adam. So, she planned on seducing him. One night, she climbed into Adam’s bed and made love to him, or so she thought. At the hearing, Stuart revealed that Marian had mistaken Adam for him.
Marian tried to avoid Stuart, who had become infatuated with her. But their time together made her a prime target for Lee Hawkins, a deranged man out for revenge against the Chandler brothers. Marian was held prisoner at the Wildwind Mausoleum. She eluded Lee by climbing into Hugo Marick’s crypt. When she knew Lee was gone, she tried to open the crypt, but the lid was too heavy. Marian languished in her early grave for days hoping someone would notice she was missing. Stuart heard her cries for help and opened the crypt.
Marian decided to give Stuart a chance. She could not believe that she was falling in love. Before Marian knew it, they were engaged.

1999: Marian and Stuart married on Valentine’s Day in a card themed wedding. Marian’s dress resembled the Queen of Hearts costume in a deck of cards. Marian did her best to use her marriage to reclaim her position at the top of Pine Valley society. But, Stuart wanted her to remain grounded. Her actions almost alienated her one true friend, Opal Cortlandt.
Marian welcomed a granddaughter, Colby Marian Chandler. Marian was oblivious to the fact that Colby was Adam and not Jake Martin’s daughter. When the truth was about to come out, Marian spied Adam attempting a getaway with his daughter. Marian took matters into her own hands and trapped Adam in the safe room in Chandler Mansion. Marian and Liza had Stuart impersonate Adam so that no one was the wiser.

2000: Marian awoke naked in a bed next to a gigolo named Paolo. Afraid of what she had done, Marian admitted to Stuart that she might have slept with another man. In spite of her reputation, Stuart believed Marian and sought out the truth. Liza learned Adam had hired Paolo to drug Marian and make it appear as if they had slept together. When Stuart found out, he disowned Adam as his brother. The next day, Stuart’s charred body was found in his fishing cabin.
Marian mourned for her husband, though she still had a feeling he was alive. Months later, while looking through Stuart’s things in the Chandler attic, Stuart reappeared. Stuart was an amnesiac living in Las Vegas. He had been run over by a drunk Arlene Vaughan. Stuart’s ex-girlfriend, Esther Glynn, had nursed him back to health and hoped that he would never recover his memory. It only took one kiss for Stuart to remember his past life and his love for Marian.

2001: Marian had spent years keeping a secret from Liza. That secret had made her way to Pine Valley in the form of Mia Saunders, the love child of Larry and his mistress. Marian continued to pay off his mistress to keep Mia away from Pine Valley. But Mia had learned the truth and was blackmailing Marian with threats to tell Liza. Marian turned to Ryan Lavery to help her keep Mia at bay.
When Mia finally revealed the truth to Liza, Marian was forced to tell her the truth about her Larry's own infidelity. Marian did not want to taint Liza’s image of her father. Marian made it her mission to help the sister’s bond. She offered Mia a place to stay even though Liza at first wanted nothing to do with her.

2002: Marian admitted to Stuart that she feared her dependency on alcohol. Stuart helped Marian seek help before she became an alcoholic.
Liza was diagnosed with an operable brain tumor. Marian feared for the welfare of her daughter. Adam began to gaslight Liza in an attempt to win full custody of Colby. Mia became an unsuspecting accomplice when he began to groom her to take Mia’s place.

2004: Marian was devastated by Liza’s decision to leave Pine Valley. Liza was afraid of what Adam’s influence would do to Colby after seeing how much JR Chandler had changed since moving into Chandler Mansion. Marian was forced to say goodbye to her daughter and granddaughter with no means of contacting them.

2005: Marian had grown to love Miranda Montgomery as she lived at Chandler Mansion in the guise of Bess Chandler. Bianca Montgomery wanted to make it clear that she had no ill will towards Marian and Stuart, and offered to let them baby-sit Miranda.
One day, Marian was baby-sitting Miranda when she was called out to complete a house sale. Jonathan Lavery offered to fill in. Marian came back to find Bianca visibly shaken up at seeing Jonathan holding her child. Marian promised to never leave Miranda with him again.

2006: Marian and Colby were reunited after she ran away from Liza. Liza was not ready to return to Pine Valley. Colby interpreted Liza’s staying away as abandonment, but Marian assured her granddaughter that her mother loved her very much.

2007: Marian watched Colby mature over the year. She especially impressed Marian by caring for Krystal Chandler when she gave birth to Jenny Martin.

2008: Marian faced her dark past when Jesse and Angie Hubbard returned to Pine Valley. The couple invited Stuart, an old friend of theirs, to their wedding. But, Marian felt out of place at the ceremony. She had done so much to hurt Jesse when he and Liza feuded as teenagers. Stuart assured Marian that the Hubbards knew Marian had changed, and that most of all, he knew she had changed. Marian needed to recognize these changes in herself.