Unfortunately for the smooth-talking Doug, Susan had absolutely no interest in him at all. She did, however, recognize that the man had a certain charm, so she struck a bargain with him. Susan offered to pay Doug a handsome sum if he could lure Julie away from her husband Scott Banning. After speaking with her psychiatrist, Dr. Laura Horton, Susan had a change of heart and told Doug that the deal was off. Doug informed Susan that it was too late. By December, he had already begun to romance Julie. Julie found herself enjoying the fun she had with Doug, and the secrecy of their budding relationship only added to the thrill for her. Doug was expert at the art of the con, though. He knew full well that to win Julie completely, he would have to let her make the first move.

Doug had found work as a singer at Sergio's, a local nightclub. While Scott was away on business, Julie went to Doug's apartment where, after a romantic evening, the two became lovers. Although he didn't push her toward divorce, Doug implied to Julie that marriage was something they could never consider with her being married to Scott. Doug and Julie never discussed the matter of Julie's son by Scott, David Banning. David was being raised primarily by his father and was growing increasingly distant from Julie.

With tensions at home escalating, Scott thought that perhaps a separation was in order. Believing that she would eventually gain full custody of David, Julie allowed Scott to take their son out of town with him. She enjoyed the new freedom of not having to go home to a husband every night. When it became evident that David was growing more and more distant from her, Julie orchestrated a reconciliation with Scott, solely in hopes of improving her relationship with her son. Meanwhile, she and Doug continued their clandestine affair dreaming of the day they would run off together to Portofino.

Julie's mother Addie Olson, a middle-aged widow, returned to Salem. She suspected that Julie was seeing another man, and often reminded her daughter just how lucky she was to have a man of Scott's caliber in her life. At the same time, Addie made her low opinion of Doug very clear.

By 1972, Julie had cleverly begun to draw up divorce papers without Scott's knowledge. She was increasingly anxious to be free to marry Doug.

Addie hired a private investigator to look into Doug's background. From this, she learned that Doug, a.k.a. Brent Douglas, had been raised in an orphanage until he ran away at the age of fourteen. He had lived by his charm and his wit, and honed his skills as the consumate con artist. Addie also learned that he and her brother Bill had shared a cell in prison. The investigator revealed to Addie that Doug was involved with a young married woman, Julie Banning. Addie made the decision to confront Doug. Their early encounters were volatile, but Addie found herself looking for opportunities to be near Doug. She began to take on a happier, more youthful air, and those around her noticed it. Doug felt empathy for Addie. He became her friend and confidante but was not romantically attracted to her.

In late June, Doug and Julie were ready to escape to Portofino. At the last minute, Julie issued an ultimatum: take David with them, or she wouldn't go. Privately, Julie had determined that she would do anything, even leave her son behind, rather than lose Doug. Doug, however, took her at her word. He was not willing to take David along, and after an argument, he walked out on Julie and found himself at Addie's. When he had poured out his heart to her, Addie proposed to Doug, and, impulsively, he accepted. The two eloped using the tickets Doug had intended for him and Julie to honeymoon in Portofino.

The next morning, when Julie heard about Doug and Addie, she was devastated. She set aside her divorce petition and decided to stay married to Scott. She and Addie grew more estranged than ever, but Addie had never been happier. She blossomed into a fulfilled and loving woman, and Doug's feelings of respect and friendship for her had turned into love. With the money from her late husband's estate, Addie provided a comfortable lifestyle for her and Doug. As a wedding gift, she purchased Sergio's and renamed it "Doug's Place". Doug and another singer, a Frenchman named Robert LeClair, provided the entertainment, while Addie served as hostess. Doug still had some feelings for Julie, but remained completely faithful to Addie.

In 1973, Addie noticed what she assumed were the first signs of menopause. In fact, she was pregnant. The joy she and Doug shared was soon overshadowed by the devastating news that Addie had developed leukemia. Rather than undergo chemotherapy, which would endanger the life of her unborn child, Addie placed her faith in God's ability to heal her. Addie's leukemia progressed and she was hospitalized. It was during that time that she and Julie shared a moving reconciliation, and Addie made Julie promise to take care of Doug and the baby after she was gone. When Addie slipped into a coma, Doug and Julie kept vigil at her bedside, praying for a miracle.

The miracle happened. Not long after the baby, a healthy baby girl, was born, Addie came out of her coma. Her leukemia was in remission! Doug expressed his heartfelt thanks to Julie for her selflessness during Addie's illness.

Doug and Addie were overjoyed with their baby, who they appropriately named Hope. Doug's career and the nightclub were both enjoying enormous success, and Addie was happily absorbed by motherhood. One fateful day when Addie was crossing the street, a speeding car seemingly came out of nowhere, headed straight for Hope's baby carriage. Addie managed to push the carriage to safety, but was struck herself. Tragically, she died at the scene. Doug was grief-stricken. Julie, who by then had entered into a loveless marriage with Bob Anderson, was bitter with the realization that now that Doug was free, she was not.

In time, Doug began to emerge from his mourning. He had Doug's Place remodeled, and Hope, who had been living with Tom and Alice, went home with her father. He hired a nanny, Rebeccah North, to help care for Hope. When Doug decided that what Hope needed was a sibling, he consulted with Dr. Neil Curtis. For a significant amount of money and a sperm donation, Neil would arrange for an anonymous surrogate mother to bear his child. As fate would have it, Neil chose Rebeccah. When her pregnancy became obvious, everyone assumed the father was her boyfriend Johnny Collins. Because Johnny was away studying art in Paris, he was considered to be irresponsible, abandoning his girlfriend when she was pregnant.

Robert offered to marry Rebeccah to give the baby legitimacy. Rebeccah declined, insisting that she loved Johnny and that he would be coming home soon. She went so far as to lead Johnny to believe that the baby she was carrying was his. When he finally did come back to Salem, she told him the truth about the surrogacy. Unable to handle the news, Johnny walked out on Rebeccah on what was to have been their wedding day. A month later, in July of 1976, Robert and Rebeccah were married in a simple ceremony; Robert desparately hoped that she would grow to love him as he loved her.

Meanwhile, Doug had reconciled with Julie, who had filed for divorce from Bob the previous year. Hoping that he and Julie would have children of their own, Doug told Neil that the anonymous surrogate could keep the baby. Rebeccah was delighted at the news. She delivered a boy and named him Dougie.

Kim Douglas arrived in Salem, looking for her husband Brent (a.k.a. Doug). She claimed that she had never in fact signed the final divorce papers so she and Doug were legally still married. She tormented Doug for months, but finally admitted that she had been lying; she and Doug had been legally divorced for years.

On their wedding day, Julie honored her mother's memory by tucking a small clown pin that had been Addie's into her purse. Hope was the flower girl. After the ceremony, the newlyweds left for a month-long European honeymoon.

In 1977 Doug lost the liquor license for Doug's Place. Julie bought the business from him and managed to secure a temporary liquor license. Doug went out of town on business. While he was away, Julie and Robert argued frequently about the management of the club.

Larry took Julie out to dinner and told her that he loved her. Jeri saw the two of them together and seethed with jealousy. Over the next few days, she continued spying on Larry and Julie. When she saw Julie go to Larry's studio one day, she drove off in a fit of anger, leaving before Larry raped Julie. Humiliated, Julie told no one about the rape.

Doug had hired Mickey to represent him, and Mickey had managed to get Doug back to Salem. Still overcome with shame, Julie rejected Doug when he came home, but wouldn't give him any reason for her rejection. Jeri sent Doug a letter revealing what she thought to be the affair between Doug and Julie, and the pieces seemed to fall into place for Doug. Larry was threatening Julie, though, and finally she broke down and told Doug about the rape. Not long after that, Larry was found shot to death, and Julie was quickly arrested for his murder. Ultimately, though, Larry's true killer, a hired henchman named Arlo Roberts, confessed to the crime. When Jeri realized her part in the whole misunderstanding, she was horrified and attempted to kill herself with an overdose. Luckily, Don and Marlena found her in time to save her.

Doug and Julie visited Julie's brother Steven in Paris. He immediately hit Doug up for a loan and then returned to Salem with them. There, he supported himself by skimming money from the till at Doug's Place (making it appear that the waitress, Theresa, was the culprit) and by defrauding his sister Julie in her antique shop. He would charge her exorbitant fees for cheap, imitation pieces that he claimed were genuine.

The following year, Julie was badly burned in an accident at Maggie's farm. Her therapist during her stay in the hospital was Laura Horton. Sadly, Laura herself was growing increasingly unstable mentally, and she only made matters worse. Julie was afraid that Doug wouldn't be able to love her now that she was disfigured. When she expressed her concern to Laura, Laura encouraged Julie to leave town. Julie stole some pain pills and did just that, but Steven found her and brought her home.

The next step for Julie was a skin graft, but that failed. More certain than ever that Doug couldn't possibly love her anymore, Julie flew to Mexico where she obtained a divorce. Upon her return, she resumed therapy, this time with Dr. Jordan Barr, who was able to snap her out of her self-pity and to persuade her to undergo reconstructive surgery.

Steven went on an antiques buying trip to Paris with Robert. There they met wealthy Byron Carmichael, who turned out to be Doug's half-brother. Steve and Byron struck up a friendship and looked forward to getting together in Salem. Byron died before he could make the trip, and when his will was read, his gold-digging girlfriend Lee Dumond learned that he had left all of his estate to Doug.

Young Hope desparately wanted Julie and Doug to reunite, and Steven, upon learning of Doug's new wealth, also encouraged Julie to give their marriage another try. Lee however had arrived in Salem by then and was cozying up to Doug, who promised her a share of Byron's estate after probate. Doug, mistakenly believing that Julie was seriously involved in a relationship with Jordan, shocked everyone by marrying Lee on November 5, 1979, just after Julie had undergone the last of her reconstructive surgeries.

Robert was now raising Dougie alone, as Rebeccah had died. The fact that Doug was the biological father now came to light, and the two men battled over the boy. Ultimately, they settled their dispute when Robert named Doug the legal guardian of the child in the event that he, Robert, should die. The sole condition of this agreement was that Doug never reveal to Dougie that he was the boy's biological father. Eventually, Robert and Dougie left Salem and moved to Paris.

Lee recuperated and began learning to walk again, but kept her recovery a secret from Doug, figuring that he would leave her if he thought her to be well enough. Lee's younger sister Renee came to town, and Brent returned as well. He had had cosmetic surgery to alter his appearance, and went by Brad nowadays. He intended to kill Julie and collect the $150,000.00 Lee had promised him.

Brad ingratiated himself into Julie's life. She thought him somewhat odd, but never imagined that this was the same man who had so recently attempted to kill her. When he made another attempt on her life, Lee lunged from her chair to stop him. Doug arrived on the scene, and Brad tried to kill him as well, but Lee managed to kill Brad first. She was sent to Bayview Sanitarium and Doug and Julie moved in together.

Once he obtained a divorce from Lee, Doug and Julie planned to marry a second time. Ironically, Lee was discharged from Bayview just as they were about to be wed. She went straight to Doug's house and encountered Julie in the den. Luckily, Doug came along and locked Lee in the den. She watched from a window as the two wed for the second time. They went to Japan for their honeymoon. In their absence, Lee managed to turn Hope against Julie. Refusing to live with her father and Julie, Hope moved in with Tom and Alice, and later went away to boarding school.

Hope returned to Salem a rebellious teen and after a time became involved with Bo Brady. On the night of her eighteenth birthday, she and Bo were about to make love. Doug came looking for her. Finding the two of them together, he had a heart attack. He asked Hope to promise to stay away from Bo. For a time, she did, but in the end, Doug saw that Bo truly loved Hope and he gave them his blessing. When they married, he purchased a detective agency for them as a wedding gift.

Doug and Julie left town on an extended cruise, but separated during that time. They came back to Salem separately in the ensuing years, but in 1993 they reunited in Switzerland. Doug and Julie have shared one of the greatest and most enduring love stories Salem has ever known.