Cole Deschanel

Cole Deschanel
Eddie Cibrian as Cole Deschanel (1997)
Sunset Beach
Portrayed by	Ashley Hamilton (1997) Eddie Cibrian (1997-1999)
First appearance	January 21, 1997
Last appearance	December 31, 1999
Cause/reason	Series finale
Created by	Robert Guza Jr.
Profile
Aliases	Cole St. John John Robie
Gender	Male
Occupation	Jewel Thief Construction Worker Worked for A.J. at the Liberty Corporation
Residence	Sunset Beach, California
Ashley Hamilton as Cole Deschanel (1997)
Relationships Parents Elaine Stevens A.J. Deschanel Sibling(s) Paula Stevens Leo Deschanel Spouse(s) Caitlin Richards Deschanel (married February 13, 1998) Romances Helena Francesca Vargas Children Trey Deschanel (with Olivia) Grandparents Julianna Deschanel

Cole Deschanel was a fictional character in the US soap opera Sunset Beach portrayed by two different actors. The first actor, Ashley Hamilton, portrayed the role briefly from January 21 to February 19, 1997, when the producers decided that Eddie Cibrian would fit the role better. As of February 21, 1997, Cibrian took over the role and portrayed it until October 14, 1999 when he decided to leave to pursue a career in primetime. He, however, agreed to return for the series finale on December 31, 1999.

Character history

Cole St. John was a man of mystery. He entered Sunset Beach looking for jewels that he was supposed to steal, and he had no idea what would happen to him once he arrived. A young woman named Caitlin Richards fell in love with him, and their love was constantly threatened by Caitlin's over-protective father Gregory Richards. At the same time, Cole slept with Olivia Richards, but he didn't know that Olivia was actually Caitlin's mother. Also, Cole was shocked when he realized that his mother Elaine Stevens was in town, and he learned the entire truth about his origin. He was also shocked when he found that Caitlin was Olivia's daughter. Various times, Gregory tried to get rid of Cole, even by hiring a hit man to kill him, but he didn't succeed. Thing got even more complicated. At the same time, both Caitlin and Olivia got pregnant. After a car accident, Caitlin lost her baby, but she decided to keep pretending to be pregnant, so she wouldn't lose Cole. Meanwhile, Olivia finally found happiness again with Gregory. Caitlin sought help from Annie Douglas to find a baby that Caitlin could use as her own. At the same time, Annie plotted to win over Gregory, so she decided to make a huge turn-over. When Olivia gave birth, Annie stole the baby and gave it to Caitlin. Olivia thought her baby had died, and Caitlin had no idea that she had her mother's child. This, of course, caused Gregory and Olivia's divorce.

Caitlin and Cole were finally happy. They had a baby and they got married. It seemed like everything was perfect. In the summer of 1998, Cole and Caitlin were also involved in the tsunami storyline. Cole met his former lover Francesca Vargas, and Francesca tried to win him over, but he only loved Caitlin. When Francesca was murdered, they were also suspects, but none of them murdered her. Annie's lies soon came out. Olivia was shocked to find out that Caitlin's baby is actually her own. Caitlin had hard time dealing with the truth, and this caused a big fight between Cole and Caitlin. The next thing that Cole had to deal with was if the child was his. Caitlin and Gregory were shocked to learn that Olivia and Cole had an affair years ago. It was then revealed that Cole is actually Trey's father. This led to a fight between Gregory and Cole, after which Gregory went missing and everyone presumed him dead. In September, Cole was caught by London authorities and went missing. He eventually returned to Sunset Beach in the final episode, and reunited with his one and only love, Caitlin.