Hope Gottlieb (née Landers) 1993
Lived: 30 Ramsay Street
Born: 1993
Parents: Todd Landers and Phoebe Gottlieb
Family Tree: Bright/Gottlieb and Landers
By the time Hope Gottlieb came into the world on 11th January 1993, an extraordinary set of circumstances had taken place. Hope's conception caused shockwaves through the sleepy suburb of Erinsborough as her parents Todd Landers and Phoebe Bright were 17-year-old high school students and unmarried. Because of the stir, Phoebe and Todd both agreed that it would be best to terminate the pregnancy and plans were made for an abortion. However, on the day of the appointment at the abortion clinic, both Todd and Phoebe began to have their doubts and after Todd talked the situation over with his uncle Jim, he raced to the clinic to stop Phoebe. But in his rush to get there in time, Todd was hit by a van while running across the road and was taken to hospital with massive internal injuries. Phoebe made it to his bedside to tell him she hadn't gone through with the termination and Todd was thrilled, but his joy was short-lived for he suffered a cardiac arrest and tragically died.
Todd's death left Phoebe more determined than ever to go ahead with the pregnancy, especially when on the day of the funeral, Todd's ghost visited her and assured her he would always look after her and their daughter. Six months later, a baby daughter did indeed come along and Phoebe aptly called her Hope. During the pregnancy, Phoebe had met and fallen in love with Stephen Gottlieb, who had also lost his partner in tragic circumstances. Stephen proposed to a heavily pregnant Phoebe on her 18th birthday, and they planned to marry before the baby’s birth. But on the eve of the wedding, Phoebe went into labour, and despite Stephen almost passing out at the idea, he managed to deliver the child in the living room of No.30. Baby Hope was then placed in an incubator for several days, due to her premature birth, but after she was given the all clear, Phoebe and Stephen went ahead with their wedding plans and got the greatest present when Pam Willis brought Hope home from the hospital on the day of the nuptials.
There was friction when Phoebe included Todd's surname of Landers on Hope's birth certificate as Stephen feared the ghost of Todd would always cloud his parenting of Hope. But Phoebe got Todd's surrogate gran Helen Daniels to talk to Stephen and assure him that Todd would be more than happy with Phoebe's choice of husband and father for Hope. Besides, Hope was to find herself the object of unwanted attention from another would-be father when deranged Russell Butler moved into No.30 to lodge with the Gottliebs and it quickly became apparent that he was seeking replacements, in the form of Phoebe and Hope, for his wife and baby, who had left him due to his drug use. Luckily, Stephen managed to get Russell out of the house before things got out of hand.
There was further drama in the Gottlieb household when Stephen was caught up in a gas explosion at The Waterhole Pub and was left in a coma for a number of days. When he finally regained consciousness, he was told he had lost the use of his legs and this had a devastating effect on Stephen and his commitment to Phoebe and Hope. Convinced they'd be better off without a cripple in their lives, Stephen made plans to leave them behind and start afresh until he finally saw sense and realised that Phoebe and Hope would love him no matter what. And luckily, Stephen regained the use of his legs in time and benefited from a massive settlement from Lassiter's to the tune of $67,000.
With their dramatic few months behind them at last, Stephen, Phoebe and Hope left Ramsay Street behind for a fresh start running a new record bar in Anson's Corner, which proved to be a huge success for them.
Trivia Notes
• Laura Pearson played Hope in episode 1826 and between episodes 1833 and 2003, with Jessica Allen-Wetzler playing Hope for just one episode, number 1827
Tenure
1826, 1827, 1833-2003
