Workaholic Adam Thorpe, who headed one of Stanley Norris's companies in New York, was a man of integrity and honesty. A decent man, he was continually frustrated at his son, Roger's, treatment of women and hoped that he'd settle down. Though Adam disapproved of Roger's behavior, he always tried to support him and encouraged him to make the right decisions. In 1972, Adam moved to Springfield and concentrated on his own independent contracting firm after Stanley's murder. At this time, Roger was dating Holly Norris, a situation Adam disapproved of at first because Roger had only started dating Holly to please Stanley. On the other hand, Adam was happy because he thought Roger would mature and perhaps eventually marry Holly, whom Adam did like. However, after Holly caught Roger leaving the apartment of her brother's wife, Janet Mason, Adam found his son's actions contemptible and fired Roger from his company, whereupon Roger left town in disgrace. Meanwhile, Adam had fallen in love with Holly's mother, Barbara. In 1973, Adam and Barbara got engaged and although Holly and Ken weren't happy about it since he was Roger's father, they soon realized that Barbara really loved Adam. Adam and Barbara married and Roger returned and moved in with them. Since Roger appeared to be more mature and took responsibility for his life and Adam grew closer to him again. In 1974, Adam came to Cedars as an independent contractor to analyze the hospital's efficiency and recommended that Ed Bauer remain in Joe Werner's former position as Chief of Staff; something that would make Ed feel guilty about since he and Joe were friends. Adam eventually became president of Cedars' board of trustees and, along with Barbara, Ed's greatest confidant.

Meanwhile, Roger was in love with Peggy Scott, a match which Adam supported. Unfortunately, Roger had trouble with loan-sharks and they threatened Peggy and her son Billy. So Peggy left Roger and, to get her to return to him, Adam and Mike Bauer paid off Roger's debts. Peggy would later forgive Roger and after they married in February 1976, Adam thought that Roger had finally settled down. Unfortunately, only Adam and Bert Bauer attended the wedding. Barbara's sanctimonious attitude toward Roger was grating on Adam. It wasn't bad enough that she refused to attend Roger and Peggy's wedding, but Adam was appalled when she actually threw Roger out of her house! Finally Adam confronted Barbara about her attitude toward his son and was shocked to learn that Holly's newborn daughter, Chrissy, wasn't Ed's daughter but actually Roger's! Adam confronted Roger and refused to forgive him until Peggy convinced him otherwise. She stated that she had forgiven Roger as well and that he would need Adam's respect and love so Adam decided to give Roger another chance. As for Barbara, she refused to forgive Roger and blamed him for all the problems in Holly's life, especially because Ed had left her. Even Ed himself wasn't able to convince her to put the past behind. Finally, they realized that their concern for their children was more important to them than their marriage and the problems continued. Meanwhile, Rita Stapleton was on trial for murder of rich Cyrus Granger and, in 1977, Roger confessed to Adam that she was innocent because she had been in bed with him when Cyrus was murdered. With Adam's encouragement, Roger confessed the truth on the witness stand. Adam was proud of Roger, Barbara, however, didn't share Adam's opinion and was further dismayed when Adam decided to rehire Rita at Cedars. Frustrated with Barbara, Adam felt that he had no choice but to ask for a divorce. However, to Adam's dismay, Peggy also left Roger. Disappointed in the choices Roger had made, Adam advised him to change.

Now alone, Adam became a workaholic again and started working as general manager of Spaulding Enterprises, despite warnings from Mike about how domineering his new boss, Alan Spaulding, would be. In 1978, as President of Trustees at Cedars, Adam demoted Dr. Justin Marler in the position of Head of Cardiology after a member of the board died in Marler's care. Not long after, Adam would tire of his boss's unethical behavior and stand up to him, which ended up in Adam getting dismissed. As for Roger, Adam had no idea how twisted his son had become or that he had raped Rita. Adam thought that Roger had finally matured when he married Holly in January 1979 and was hurt when Barbara refused to attend the wedding. Unfortunately, Roger's behavior would soon turn violent with him raping Holly. Though Adam couldn't believe that his son actually raped Holly, his friend Sara McIntyre made him realize that it was a rape. Deeply concerned, Adam confronted Roger and pleaded with him to get help but an angry Roger refused. Finally, Roger was convicted of rape but after he got out on bail, Holly shot him and when Adam followed him to the hospital in Puerto Rico, Roger was declared dead by Dr. Gonzalo Moreno. However, Roger wasn't dead after all but had faked his death with Alan's help. In 1980, Adam learned the truth and would confess to Barbara (whom he remained friends with) that he wished he had a son like Ed, not knowing that Roger overheard this. In the meantime, Adam grew closer to Sara. Later, a fugitive Roger not only kidnapped Rita and caused her to lose her and Ed's baby but also kidnapped Holly in Santa Domingo. Ed and Mike rescued her and Roger apparently fell to his death during his fight with Ed. Mourning the son who'd caused so much pain, Adam started dating Sara and they became engaged. Although they wished to keep the engagement a secret for fear of what the reaction of Sara's alcoholic son, Tim Werner, would be, the secret came out when a drunken Rita spilled the beans. Luckily no real harm was done and Adam and Sara married in March 1981. While Sara now concentrated on her job, Adam led a very secluded life. In 1983, when Sara was offered a job in Oregon, the pair left Springfield behind.

In 1989, Chelsea Reardon visited Adam in New York to discuss the possibility of Roger being alive. To Chelsea's disappointment, Adam didn't really want to talk about Roger, but he did state that he believed his son was dead. In June 1994, Chrissy (now called Blake) was about to marry Ross Marler, and Holly convinced Adam to come to Springfield to attend the wedding as a surprise for Blake. Although Adam had known that Roger was alive for years, he had never answered Roger's phone calls. Arriving at the wedding, Adam ignored Roger and claimed that he only returned for his granddaughter. Longtime Springfield citizens were happy to see Adam again, mainly Ross and Ed, and Adam saw Bridget Reardon and met his great-grandson Peter for the first time. After the ceremony, Adam confessed to Lillian Raines that he would regret being a stranger to Roger but was still hardly able to stand beside him for a family photo of all four generations. Holly, who had reunited with Roger, assured Adam that Roger had changed and when Roger was able to speak with his father before his departure, Adam told him not to disappoint Holly since she believed in him, Although Roger claimed his job as an federal agent had changed him, Adam still believed that Roger was as selfish as he was in the past. Adam would later be proven right. Meanwhile, in 2004, Roger's illegitimate son, Sebastian Hulce, arrived to announce Roger's death.