High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Ivy Winthrop (formerly Crane) is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Ivy has been portrayed by original cast member Kim Johnston Ulrich since the soap`s premiere episode in July 1999. At that time, Ivy was trapped in a loveless marriage to Julian Crane, son of ruthless billionaire Alistair Crane; her one joy was her son, Ethan Crane, the product of her adulterous affair with teenage love and new chief of police Sam Bennett on her wedding night. When Ethan`s paternity was revealed early in 2001, Julian, Ethan, and Sam were all furious with Ivy, and Julian quickly divorced her later that year.