Facts
Full Name: James Henry Thurlow
Date of Birth: September 6th, 1964
First Appearance: 1.01 “Call Me Home”
Current Occupation: Chief Executive Officer, Thurlow Lumber Mill Enterprises
Stockholder, Thurlow Lumber Mill Enterprises
Board Member, Thurlow Lumber Mill Enterprises
Business Management Degree, Cuttlebone City University
Previous: Office Manager, Thurlow Lumber Mill Enterprises
General Labor, Thurlow Lumber Mill Enterprises
Hometown: Stone Creek
Current Residence: 505 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Thurlow Cottage]
Previous: 83 South Ginseng Ave., Stone Creek [Thurlow / Tyree Home]
Student Housing, Cuttlebone City University, Cuttlebone City
505 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Thurlow Cottage]
Relations
Parents: Henry [Deceased] & Anita Thurlow
Siblings: Emmet Thurlow [Deceased] & Shannon Thurlow Jurado [Deceased]
Children: Kirsten Thurlow Sutton [w/ Helen Tyree]
Emmet Thurlow [w/ Helen Tyree]
Marina Thurlow [w/ Helen Tyree]
Significant Other(s): Caitlyn Thurlow; Married, 2003
Previous: Helen Tyree, Married in 1984; Divorced in 1998
Diem Joplin, Dated in 1978; Broke-up in 1982
Others: Daniel Lavern [Father-In-Law]
Cheryl Lavern [Mother-In-Law]
Mathias Jurado [Brother-In-Law]
Aidan Jurado [Nephew]
Imogene Jurado Archambault [Niece]
Charlie Sutton [Son-In-Law]
Megan Sutton [Granddaughter]
Danielle Crenshaw/Emily Roscoe [Step-Daughter; Deceased]
Gideon Wilkinson [Best Friend]
Frank Nelson [Friend / Employee]
Miranda Porter [Aunt]
Harrison Tyree [Former Father-In-Law]
Catherine Tyree [Former Mother-In-Law]
Michael Tyree [Former Brother-In-Law]
History
Born September 6th, 1964 to Henry Thurlow, a second generation owner of the Thurlow Lumber Mill; and Anita Porter Thurlow, a socialite and volunteer at the Stone Creek Memorial Hospital. Growing up he had a soft side for looking out for other people and made friends with kids of different social classes. Often considered his mother’s favorite as he spent a lot of time with her as a child, James Henry Thurlow was raised to follow in his father’s footsteps much like his older brother, Emmet.
When James was three years old his aunt Miranda Porter came to Stone Creek to deliver the news that his grandmother, on his mother’s side of the family, had fallen ill and wanted to forgive Henry and Anita for the way she treated them. But Anita didn’t accept the apology and after their mother passed away, Miranda stood in town to help her sister grieve over her guilt. That same year Miranda met a man named Benjamin Lyons and was smitten with him. But things quickly changed when Benjamin became violent, putting Miranda in the hospital and eventually being put behind bars. The family tried to move on from this until both Miranda and Anita began getting mysterious letters that ended with eight year old Emmet Thurlow being kidnapped. The family re-located James when Chief Wilkinson informed them of Benjamin’s escape from prison. In the Winter of 1967 while Henry and Miranda were led on a wild-goose chase to rescue Emmet, Benjamin attacked a very pregnant Anita Thurlow, leaving her for dead. Although James’ mother and his newborn baby sister, Shannon Thurlow, survived the attack thanks to doctor Jeremy Joplin his older brother Emmet wasn’t found deprived of oxygen and pronounced dead later that night. During one last attempt to wreck havoc on Miranda, Benjamin attacked her. But she was saved by her brother-in-law Henry, who killed Benjamin in self-defense.
His mother grew very protective of his younger sister Shannon Jurado after losing her first born son and bestowed James with the mindset that Shannon was too precious to lose.
In High School, James Thurlow and his best friend Gideon Wilkinson’s friendship was tested many times. When Shannon was a freshmen she had began a flirtatious relationship with Gideon and over the course of a few months it caused much tension between James and his friend. Although James’ High School Sweetheart, Diem Joplin, constantly tried to get James to ease up on their relationship it was Gideon’s older sister, Isabelle Wilkinson who ultimately broke them up when she introduced Shannon to the much older Patrick Sutton. James and Diem went on to help Gideon uncover that it was his sisters boyfriend; Tim Saunders, who was vandalizing Gideon’s locker with racial slurs. After it was revealed that Isabelle had already uncovered the truth months before, the siblings relationship was strained until Isabelle went off to college.
During his Junior Year of High School in 1981, James became fixated on the relationship between Shannon and Patrick once he heard rumors of Patrick Sutton pressuring Shannon into having sex with him. Once Patrick knew of James’ attempts to break-up his relationship with Shannon their rivalry was ignited and they entered a very dangerous game. A fight between James and Patrick ended with Patrick being benched at their final football game which led to Patrick finally bedding an upset Shannon. Unknown to everyone else, Patrick had video taped the encounter and during a party at the Holly Oak Manor, Patrick broadcasted the sex tape to the entire student body. Shannon was devastated but with the help of Isabelle and Diem they were able to get Patrick expelled and later shipped off to boarding school.
James and Diem ended their relationship and he left Stone Creek to attend Cuttlebone University three hours away. There he was intrigued with a fiery red-head named Helen Tyree who hailed from a famous family and attended low-key Cuttlebone University so she could find herself a husband and steer clear of the media outlets that often bombarded her. And in 1983 before either graduated from the college Helen found herself pregnant with their first child who she would later give birth to and name Kirsten Nicole Thurlow. They moved back to Stone Creek the following year after James got a business degree and went to work in the family business, Thurlow Lumber Mill. This would go on to anger Helen who wanted more out of life than being a housewife.
Things grew intense for James Thurlow, his family and friends when Gideon Wilkinson’s wife, Daphne began getting strange messages from an ex. boyfriend she had in college. Both the Thurlow’s and the Wilkinson’s sent their children to live with close family in Cuttlebone City and decided to spend a couple days at the Thurlow Cabin so the police force can fish out Rodney Burnett. But when a pregnant Daphne started feeling labor pains Helen grew jealous that the men were focusing on her and staged a fall down the stairs. Then men aided Helen back to Stone Creek as she was also pregnant with her second child and thought to be in serious condition. Because Helen was the daughter of a famous movie director the media caught wind of their previous whereabouts and Daphne’s life was in jeopardy. Her husband was able to make it back to the cabin in time to shoot Rodney Burnett before he was able to harm her or her baby.
In 1986 after Helen gave birth to their second child, a son, who they named Emmet Jordan Thurlow in honor of James’ late brother; Helen started to drift away from her family and found a powerful friendship in Patrick Sutton who had returned to town and tied-the-knot with Charlene Nelson after Shannon Thurlow left Stone Creek and got engaged to a man named Mathias Jurado. Patrick offered Helen to help build her magazine empire but wanted her to fund most of the money with promises of success and behind her husband’s back she emptied their daughter, Kirsten’s trust fund.
When his father grew sick and wasn’t able to run Thurlow Lumber Mill’s empire anymore and with Shannon in Paris helping branch out the business to include resources from her now husband, Mathias Jurado, it was James who unwillingly became the new Chief Executive Officer of a family business he was never sure he had wanted. His marriage to Helen gave him false hope after she gave birth to their third child and second daughter, Marina Annette Thurlow. While James was busy running his father’s company it was his wife Helen who rarely took care of their children and in 1988 she started an affair with Dr. David Schmidt which wasn’t revealed until 1998.
James appointed Frank Nelson as his Chief Financial Officer. He also went on to divorce Helen after the affair came to light and was stunned when she married David the following year.
In 2002 he hired a gorgeous blond named Caitlyn Lavern to be his newest secretary and after a relationship drought for James Thurlow, the two began spending a lot of time together. Love soon blossomed between the two light-hearted resident’s of Stone Creek. They later eloped the following year in front of James’ family and their friends, the marriage also flared a rivalry between Caitlyn and James’ former wife, Helen.
Patrick Sutton was brought back into James’ orbit when it was revealed in 2009 that Kirsten’s daughter Megan was really the biological daughter of Charlie Sutton, Patrick’s son. This made James livid at the thought that Charlie might have taken advantage of his daughter. But once Patrick ordered Charlie to deny his relationship, James grew fond of Charlie for sticking by Kirsten’s side and ultimately being cut out of the Sutton empire.
Start of the Series...
During the Founder’s Ball in 2010, Damien Crenshaw revealed himself as Caitlyn’s ex. husband and the man responsible for sending her creepy messages. He also told Caitlyn, while on the arm of the much younger Gillian Sutton, that their daughter Danielle might still be alive. Over the course of the next couple weeks with the help of Diem and Gideon they tried to get the truth out of Damien but he wouldn’t reveal anymore. In order to stick it to the Thurlow family and hopefully get Damien out of his daughter’s life, Patrick enlisted Kevin Saunders to help reveal that Abigail Jenkins was really Danielle Crenshaw. It was a lie that Damien was ready to gobble-up and hold against Caitlyn. But it was Diem Joplin that uncovered Patrick’s lie and the truth came out that Abigail really wasn’t Danielle. Caitlyn was left to mourn her daughter for a second time.
Both James and Patrick Sutton began having nightmares that Shannon was in trouble. In 2011 their nightmares became a reality when Shannon Jurado was confirmed a victim of a terrible car accident in Paris, France. After the family got word of the funeral, James gathered Caitlyn, Emmet, Kirsten and Charlie and headed to Paris. They left Marina and Megan behind. Things started to unravel when it was revealed that Shannon was handling rare diamonds that a man named Edward Rayburn wanted to secure. After Shannon’s son, Aidan Jurado, admitted that Rayburn had come to him to gain access to the diamonds and that because Aidan felt he was under-appreciated he was duped by Rayburn to forge his mother’s signature for the diamonds to be transferred. James appointed his mother Anita and brother-in-law Mathias Jurado to be Co-CEO’s of Thurlow-Jurado Overseas and return the company to it’s full glory. News came that not only was Shannon’s death not an accident, but the man behind it was found dead in his home. The rare diamonds became a loss for the company and Aidan returned to Stone Creek with his extended family since he was extracted from the family business.
James continued to mourn the loss of the baby sister he was instilled to protect from the world.
While James was in Paris dealing with Shannon’s death and the situation with Edward Rayburn, Caitlyn returned to Stone Creek early and began to see her ex. husband stalking her around town. This caused James to insist that Caitlyn put a restraining order against the man. It wasn’t until late 2011 that Caitlyn agreed to the restraining order if Damien threatened her again. James was relieved that Caitlyn saw Damien as a danger to their marriage and once he made one last plea to Caitlyn about her still having feelings for him, Caitlyn went to current Chief of Police, Gideon Wilkinson to file the restraining order. During this time James became thrust into his CFO’s troubles when Frank Nelson asked his friend to help locate Lucy Hahn because he was sure that he saw her at Cuttlebone Airport with a child in her arms headed towards Stone Creek.
In 2012, once again they saw his friendship with Diem Joplin grow. She was working on a case with Emily Roscoe, trying to find the woman’s parents who had presumedly given her up for adoption. Diem discovered that Emily was born in Chicago, where Caitlyn and Damien once lived. James was the first to learn of this theory, he approached Caitlyn while Diem informed Emily and they all agreed to a DNA test to be certain. However the night the DNA tests were to be revealed Stone Creek experienced a cit-wide blackout that ended with the kidnapping of Frank Nelson and the death of Emily Roscoe. A couple days later Dr. David Schmidt, who ran the DNA tests informed Caitlyn that she was indeed the late Emily Roscoe’s mother. Another blow that nearly made the mourning Caitlyn Thurlow miss Emily’s funeral.
Deborah Nelson and Diem helped James take care of Caitlyn while she was grieving for her daughter, Danielle Crenshaw, for the third time. When Deborah mentioned that Frank hadn’t made contact with Deborah, James remembered when Frank called him about Lucy and lied to Deborah that he was in Paris working closely with the Financial Advisor for Thurlow-Jurado Overseas. Then he enlisted the help of Emmet, Diem and Gideon to help locate the now missing Frank. When Iris Fowler revealed that she had been in contact with Lucy this entire time after Emmet discovered a phone call his fiance had made to Lucy, the group found the Thurlow cabin empty with little traces of Lucy or Frank there. Next their search sent Gideon and Emmet to Germany. While in Germany they found Frank tied to a bed but there was no signs of Lucy or Sebastian -- Frank informed them that she had a change of heart and left him there.
Portrayed by: Robert Newman [2010-Present]
