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Tristan Rogers, who played super spy Robert Scorpio on 'General Hospital,' has died at 79

Tristan Rogers, who played super spy Robert Scorpio on 'General Hospital,' has died at 79

Yahoo18 hours ago
Tristan Rogers, who played legacy character Robert Scorpio on ABC's 'General Hospital,' died Friday, less than one month after he made a special appearance on the soap opera. He was 79.
'The entire 'General Hospital' family is heartbroken to hear of Tristan Rogers' passing,' said Frank Valentini, the show's executive producer, in a statement. 'Tristan has captivated our fans for 45 years and Port Charles will not be the same without him (or Robert Scorpio).'
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Rogers' first foray into performing was in his early twenties and playing drums in a rock band with a group of friends. They weren't successful so Rogers turned to commercial work and modeling to earn some money. When the band dissolved, Rogers decided to give acting a try. After various roles in Australia, he also worked as a DJ and eventually moved to Los Angeles to try to break into Hollywood. He said casting directors were initially turned off by his accent but he eventually landed a two-day role on 'General Hospital' in 1980.
'I had no idea at the point how big the show was,' Rogers told fellow 'General Hospital' actor Maurice Benard on the YouTube show, 'State of Mind with Maurice Benard' in 2022.
'I had no name. I was brought in expressly to beat up the hero, Luke, (played by Anthony Geary), and then disappear,' Rogers said. His first day was half-over when then-executive producer Gloria Monty asked if he would like to stay on. They had no character written for him so for three weeks Monty asked him to just appear in scenes 'looking furtive, looking suspicious' until they came up with a storyline. It was decided he would play a spy known as 'CK8' and eventually he was given the name Robert Scorpio. The character would remain a fixture in Port Charles for the rest of Rogers' life, even when he wasn't a current cast member.
Scorpio's on again/off again romance with Emma Samms' character, Holly Sutton, remained a favorite among fans. Scorpio also had a romance, and many storylines with another spy, Anna Devane, played by Finola Hughes. Scorpio and Devane shared a daughter, Robin, played by Kimberly McCullough. Samms returned to the show for a stint last fall where it was revealed that Scorpio was the father of her adult daughter, Sasha Gilmore (played by Sofia Mattson.)
Rogers and Samms left the show together in November 2024 in scenes taped with a nod to 'Casablanca.' He returned to the show in July for one episode when Sasha arrived to his home in France with her new baby. It was then revealed that Rogers had lung cancer
Rogers' other acting credits include 'The Bold and the Beautiful,' 'The Young & the Restless' and 'Studio City,' which won him outstanding supporting actor in a digital drama series at the Daytime Emmy Awards. He is survived by his wife, Teresa Parkerson, and a daughter and a son.
Alicia Rancilio, The Associated Press
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Tristan Rogers,' General Hospital' Star, Dies at 79
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Tristan Rogers,' General Hospital' Star, Dies at 79

The Australian actor began playing Robert Scorpio on the daytime soap opera in 1980 Tristan Rogers has died at the age of 79. The Australian actor was best known for playing Robert Scorpio on General Hospital. He first joined the soap opera in 1980. His longtime manager, Meryl Soodak, confirmed his death to ABC 7 Eyewitness News on Friday, Aug. 15. It was revealed in July that Rogers has been diagnosed with cancer. Soodak told the outlet that Rogers' General Hospital role "meant everything to him." 'He loved being Scorpio and he created that role from nothing,' Soodak continued. 'He was supposed to work a day and he ended up making it into something huge. He was just a genuinely loyal, kind human being and he loved his family." PEOPLE has reached out to Rogers' manager and the General Hospital team for comment. Rogers was born in Melbourne in 1946. He left school in 1964 and eventually started a rock band with his friends. At 21, he turned to modeling and commercials to make money. Then he decided to become an actor — with no experience. 'As far as I was concerned, it was a way to make a bit of money. That's all,' he told in 2022. Many of his earliest roles came on Australian television. He appeared on the Aussie soaps Bellbird, Number 96 in 1974 and The Box in 1975. He also appeared in a few British films, including 1972's Four Dimensions of Greta. Rogers moved to the United States in 1980 and shortly after was cast as Robert Scorpio on General Hospital. Robert was a spy for the fictional World Security Bureau and later served as the police commissioner and district attorney of Port Charles. The character was good friends with Luke Spencer (played by Anthony Geary) and, in 1981, was part of Luke's wedding to Laura (Genie Francis) as Luke's best man. The wedding brought in 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated soap opera episode in U.S. TV history. 'I didn't know at the time the importance of General Hospital; it was just one more job for me,' he told Soap Opera Digest in 2020 about his casting. 'But it was really exciting, to be fresh off the boat and walk into this role. Of course, after that, everywhere I went, people would go, 'You're on General Hospital? That's the hottest thing in the country! You're working with Luke and Laura? Oh, my God!'. . . . I got caught up in the General Hospital tidal wave and just got swept away by it.' Robert eventually became a fan-favorite character and was one of the show's leading men. He was killed off in 1992 and Rogers departed the series. But — as often happens on soaps — Robert returned, alive, in 2006, when the show brought back many popular characters from the '80s. "I think this character will follow me to my grave," he told The New York Times at the time. Rogers continued to make sporadic appearances on General Hospital throughout the next decade, and since 2019 had appeared as a recurring character. 'I've seen this show at its best and at something less than that,' he told PEOPLE in 2023 for the show's 60th anniversary. In 2008, Rogers took the character to the General Hospital spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift, where Robert learned he had colon cancer and reconnected with his family. 'This [storyline] was about the deconstruction of an iconic character done in a way it hadn't been done before,' he told Entertainment Weekly at the time. 'Characters like mine don't get colon cancer. They get shot, they get beaten up, they get hit by trains. They don't get colon cancer. It's not very glamorous. I thought it was a hell of a challenge, more than the usual fare that you're given going into this: Go through the investigation, find the bad guys, have a gunfight, get a schmooze….This was a whole different animal.' He added, 'So I thought, maybe along the way, if somebody watches this and sees what we're doing, they might go out and get tested. And if we inspired that, then it's a bonus.' Reflecting on the dominance of soap operas — and their decline — he said in an interview for the 2011 book The Survival of Soap Opera, 'This is not a genre that will be around in another 50 years… in many respects, it isn't necessary. They have made their mark, and almost every type of medium owes something to the way the soaps have been put together, whether they want to admit it or not.' Rogers' other roles included an arc on The Young and the Restless from 2010 to 2011, as well as the TV series Fast Track and Babylon 5. He also did voice over work, most notably in the 1990 Disney film The Rescuers Down Under, and won a Daytime Emmy for his performance in the 2019–2020 Prime Video series Studio City. Rogers married Barbra Meale in 1974, and they divorced in 1984. He briefly dated his General Hospital costar (and on-screen love interest) Emma Samms, but they split in 1985 when she left the show. He married Teresa Parkerson in 1995. They share two children, Sara and Cale. Rogers is survived by his wife and children. Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword

Tristan Rogers, ‘General Hospital' Star, Dies at 79
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Tristan Rogers, ‘General Hospital' Star, Dies at 79

Tristan Rogers, a longtime star of ABC's daytime soap General Hospital, has died. He was 79. Rogers died early Friday after a battle with lung cancer, though he had never been a smoker. He played Robert Scorpio on General Hospital over several stints for some 45 years and also had a run on CBS' The Young and the Restless. More from The Hollywood Reporter Dan Ziskie, Actor on 'Treme' and 'House of Cards,' Dies at 80 Lorna Raver, Actress in 'Drag Me to Hell,' Dies at 81 Danielle Spencer, Sassy Young Star of 'What's Happening!!,' Dies at 60 'The entire General Hospital family is heartbroken to hear of Tristan Rogers' passing,' said executive producer Frank Valentini in a statement. 'Tristan has captivated our fans for 45 years, and Port Charles will not be the same without him (or Robert Scorpio). I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to his family and friends during this difficult time. Tristan was a one-of-a-kind talent and will be greatly missed. May he rest in peace.' A native of Melbourne, Australia, the blue-eyed Rogers appeared on several TV series in his home country early in his career. He joined General Hospital in 1980 as Scorpio, a colorful character who quickly became a fan favorite. In one of the character's most notable early storylines, Scorpio teamed with Luke and Laura (Anthony Geary and Genie Francis) to rescue the world from the Ice Princess weather machine in 1981. He was initially set to work for only two days on General Hospital, 'to beat up the hero — Luke — and then disappear,' he recalled in a 2022 interview. 'I then was called into [executive producer] Gloria Monty's office and told, 'We really like what you're doing, would you like to stay?'' Rogers remained on General Hospital through 1992, when Scorpio was killed — though his dead body was never seen onscreen — in an explosion in South America. He returned briefly three years later as Scorpio's spirit, who comforted his daughter Robin (Kimberly McCullough), though in subsequent returns the character was alive. Rogers reprised the role for several brief stints in the 2000s and 2010s, along with a role on the spinoff General Hospital: Night Shift, before rejoining the show in a recurring rule from 2019-24. His final appearances on General Hospital came in an unannounced guest appearance in July. Rogers also played the character of Colin Atkinson on The Young and the Restless from 2010-19, appearing in about 180 episodes of that CBS soap. His credits also included voice work on Batman Beyond and The Wild Thornberrys, along with roles on the web series The Bay and Studio City. He won a Daytime Emmy for his role on the latter and was nominated for his work on The Bay. Rogers is survived by his wife and two children. Mike Barnes contributed to this report. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise

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