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Character Profiles > Sam Kratz Richard Grieve

Sam Kratz 1994-1996
Lived: 24 Ramsay Street
Parents: Patrick and Sarah Kratz
Marital Status: Annalise Hartman (2000-)
Family Tree: Kratz
Occupation: Handyman, Steffano Gold Model

Although he often looked rough with his biker gear and stubble, Sam Kratz was a genuinely sensitive person deep down. Sam was born the only child of career-minded Patrick and Sarah Kratz, He found growing up that his parents were disinterested in him and had no time for him. As a result, Sam always looked up to his grandmother, Marlene, as more of a parental figure since he spent so much time with her as he grew up and stayed with her on a regular basis.

When Marlene suddenly bought a house on Ramsay Street in Erinsborough and asked Sam to live there with her, he happily agreed. Having coincidentally just met future neighbour Pam Willis at a biker convention in Canberra, Sam arrived in Ramsay Street and moved in first with instructions from his nan to sell the old furniture she was having shipped to the house. But Marlene's furniture hadn't arrived when Sam turned up, and he mistakenly sold the furniture of the previous occupant, Lou Carpenter, who had moved next door to No. 22. Lou immediately suspected Sam of being shady and was ready to call the police until Sam explained the mistake. Lou soon grew to like Sam, and introduced him to the neighbours, with whom Sam became popular.

The first real friends Sam made on moving into Ramsay Street where teenagers Brett and Danni Stark, who lived with Lou and their mother, Cheryl, next door. A friendship developed between the three and when Marlene moved in, she explained to Sam that she was thrilled he got on so well with Brett and Danni because they were his cousins and Cheryl was actually Marlene's estranged daughter! After an initial period of adjustment, Sam was delighted to have a new found family so close and began to settle in smoothly to Ramsay Street.

Before moving to Erinsborough, Sam had worked as a builder's labourer, a plumber, a car mechanic, farm hand, on fishing trawlers and in a circus so his experience provided him with ample skills to set up his own handyman business, appropriately named Handy Sam's. The sight of hunky Sam around Erinsborough sent most of the females in the neighbourhood into a sweat but despite this, there was only one girl he was interested in - Annalise Hartman, who lived across the street at No. 30. Unfortunately for Sam, Annalise was engaged to Mark Gottlieb who Sam had become friends with, and this made it impossible for anything to happen between Sam and Annalise. Annalise did, however, find herself attracted to Sam and there were definite sparks between the two.

Problems arose for Sam when Danni convinced him to act as chaperone for the high school dance. Danni's classmate Squirrel took an instant attraction to Sam and threw herself at him. Sam tried to let her down gently but she refused to take the hint and before long, started telling her friends that they were an item. Events came to a dramatic head when Squirrel told Sam she was pregnant and he was the father. Although Sam knew it couldn't be his child because he had never slept with Squirrel, he realised that nobody would believe him and tried to keep it all to himself. But when he confessed all to Annalise she believed his story and assured him that she would be there for him throughout the ordeal. By this point, Annalise had been jilted at the altar by Mark so Sam began to think there was a chance for him and Annalise to get together. And once Danni succeeded in getting Squirrel to confess Sam was not the father of her baby, Sam was able to devote his full attentions to winning Annalise over.

When Annalise had to have an operation to remove a cancerous growth from her body, Sam thought he would loose his true love before anything had even happened between them. But when Annalise was given the all clear, Sam pledged to look after her forever. However, Annalise's brush with death made her decide she wanted to travel overseas and left for Europe for a few months, devastating Sam. Luckily for Sam, upon her return to Erinsborough Annalise told him she had realised while she was away how much she was in love with him and the two consummated their relationship by booking into a luxury suite at Lassiter's for the night. The next day, Sam arranged for Annalise to move in with him and Marlene at No. 24 - although it took Marlene a while to adapt to them sharing a bed.

When Sam's estranged father came to visit, Sam was less than welcoming to Patrick. Sam was resentful towards Patrick for leaving him with Marlene so often throughout his younger years. The news that Patrick and Sarah had separated also caused Sam distress, and he took all his frustrations out on his father. It was only after spending a few days at a bush retreat for the Ramsay Street men that Sam and Patrick got past their problems and started to reach a new understanding. And Sam was further pleased when Patrick left Erinsborough to reunite with Sarah.

Sam's own relationship with Annalise, meanwhile, was in danger when she started to become distant and aloof, and even stopped having sex with him. Sam was puzzled as to what the problem was but finally found out when he caught her in bed with their neighbour, Stonefish Rebecchi. It transpired that Annalise had been wrestling with her growing feelings for Stonie as she tutored him in English for his HSC over the previous few months, and it had culminated in them sleeping together on the night Sam caught them. Sam was broken hearted, and although Annalise pleaded with him to forgive her and assured him he was the real one for her, Sam couldn't bring himself to trust her again. Annalise made plans to leave Erinsborough and move to London as a result, but when Sam learnt of her plans, he chased after her on his motorbike to the airport. He managed to catch up with Annalise at a gas station, where he proclaimed his love for her and begged her to stay. But although Annalise insisted she still loved Sam too, she knew it would be best for them to spend some time apart after everything that had happened, and pressed ahead with her decision to leave.

Sam soon found himself in the midst of a new career when he became a model for Teen Girl magazine. The editor had seen Sam's photo when Marlene had entered him in the 'Grandchild of the Year' competition in the Erinsborough News and was so impressed with his hunky looks that she thought he'd be ideal as their new pin-up. Marlene was thrilled with the idea of her grandson becoming a 'Supermodel', but Sam was more reluctant about the idea of entering the world of modelling. Sam's reservations proved to be accurate when he met with the Teen Girl team and decided he didn't like the ideas they had for him. But when Peter Lenton, from Stefano Gold, bumped into Sam at the Teen Girl offices, he immediately offered Sam a lucrative modelling contract worth $40,000 to be the new face of Stefano Gold aftershave. Bowled over by the offer, Sam quickly accepted and signed a contract immediately. However, Sam soon began to realise he may have signed his life away after Peter visited him at home and expressed immediate unease about the fact that the company's new model was living with his grandmother. But the biggest surprise was yet to come for Sam - when he showed up for his first photo shoot, he was stunned when Peter told him he had to strip off and pose in the nude. Sam tried to protest, but with his lucrative contract at stake, had no alternative but to pose naked. Luckily, his modesty was tastefully obscured in the published prints, and Sam was actually quite happy with the end product.

However, further problems arose with the deal. Sam was furious when Peter told him he was going to be known as 'Sami K' because Kratz wasn't considered to be an acceptable name for the image Stefano Gold where trying to project. And Sam was further annoyed when Peter announced that there would be a competition launched by the company to win a date with Sam. Sam vowed to call an end to the competition after girls started pestering him in public, and one even resorted to phoning Marlene and passing herself off as Sam's new girlfriend. But in the end, the actual winner of the competition turned out to be quite pleasing to Sam - she was the beautiful Catherine O'Brien. Sam enjoyed himself so much, he asked Catherine out again the following day, but she was forced to admit to him that she had just entered the competition as a dare, and was actually seeing someone else anyway - Sam's former love rival, Stonefish. The competition, meanwhile, made Sam re-think his career with Stefano Gold, and he decided he's be much happier returning to his day job as a handy man. After getting out of his contract, Sam went on to sign on with a modelling agency, and was thrilled when he landed his first assignment with the Allegro Mining Company. But he found himself clashing with Catherine on this job, because staunch environmentalist Catherine was opposed to Allegro Mining due to their policies of drilling on wildlife locations. Sam tried to make Catherine realise that he was only doing an ad job for the company, and had no interest in what they did, but she pressured him into putting the environment before his own wealth and urged him to reject the job offer. Sam agonised over what to do that evening, and eventually decided to go ahead with the gig, knowing that if he rejected his first job the modelling company wouldn't be too quick about finding him another one. But as he was leaving for the shoot, Catherine arrived at No. 24 and tried to persuade him one more time to reconsider his position. Sam insisted that he hadn't changed his mind, and hurried Cath back out the door. But Catherine pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and tied herself to Sam, insisting that if he was going to Allegro Mining, she was going with him in protest. Sam was disgusted and was forced to call Stonie over to control his girlfriend. Catherine was later forced to apologise to Sam when he made some inquiries and discovered that Allegro regularly made contributions to nature preserves and The Wilderness Society.

Meanwhile, Sam was beginning to spend more and more time with Cody Willis, who used to lodge with him and Marlene at No. 24 and was now living at No. 30. The two began to develop feelings for each other and decided to try dating. But they both quickly realised that they were much better off as friends than lovers and decided to give up on the idea of a romance. Events took a tragic twist, however, when Cody died after a shootout on Ramsay Street. A devastated Sam turned to drink to numb the pain but following an appearance by Cody's ghost urging him to get on with his life, Sam got over the tragedy.

Sam was thrilled when Annalise got in touch with him soon afterwards and invited him to come see her in London and tour Europe together. A delighted Sam jumped at the chance of a reunion with his one true love and after bidding farewell to his beloved nan, left Erinsborough. He eventually settled in London with Annalise and sold Handy Sam's on to Mal Kennedy. Sam and Annalise were married in 2000.

Trivia Notes
• Richard, who went grey at the age of 15, was forced to dye his hair black for the role of Sam
• In 2005, Sam made a cameo appearance in Annalise's 20th Anniversary Documentary

Tenure
2171-2640, 4773

Magic Moments
Episode 2640: Sam's Departure

Biography by Moe

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