Rick Springfield
Even all these years later, the Grammy winner (for 1982’s “Jessie’s Girl”) may still consider himself “working-class,” but the singer-actor who scrubbed in as Noah Drake in the ’80s is no “dog.”
Timeless: Then-and-Now Photos of Your Former General Hospital Favorites
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Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, John P. Iblis/JPI -
Jane Elliot
Image Credit: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images (2) The over-the-top life that Tracy Quartermaine has lived would turn anyone’s hair white — as it has for the MVP who’s played her off and on since 1978.
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Rena Sofer
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, CBS Nailed it! Long after making a lasting impression as well-taloned Lois Cerullo in the ’90s, the soap-hopper started playing Quinn Forrester on a show that all but defined her brand: The Bold and the Beautiful.
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Richard Dean Anderson
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Howard Wise/JPI Eat your heart out, McDreamy! Decades after the future MacGyver star made hearts race as Dr. Jeff Webber, he still has to be steered clear of patients in danger of having handsomeness-induced palpitations.
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Amber Tamblyn
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI Cast as Emily Bowen Quartermaine at age 11, the trail-blazer has gone on to become a primetime lead (Joan of Arcadia), a movie star (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and an author (Dark Sparker).
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Brandon Barash
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI (2) Since his off-and-on run as JV mobster Johnny Zacchara, the leading man has lost none — and we mean none — of his boyish charm as he’s moved on to Days of Our Lives as ill-fated Stefan and then Jake DiMera.
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Vanessa Marcil
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Dee Cercone/Courtesy of the Everett Collection When the future Daytime Emmy winner debuted as Brenda Barrett, she had talent to spare. And by the time she last appeared on the daytime drama, let’s be real — she didn’t just have it, she owned it.
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Jonathan Jackson
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Derek Storm/Courtesy of the Everett Collection Talk about getting Lucky! The five-time Emmy winner not only laid claim to the key role of General Hospital supercouple Luke and Laura’s son, he went on to star in primetime’s Nashville.
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Emma Samms
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Howard Wise/JPI The English rose was lovely when she made her General Hospital debut in the 1980s, but c’mon, the future Models Inc. vixen really blossomed as Holly Sutton later. And the best may be yet to come…
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Tyler Christopher
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI The MVP who originated the role of Nikolas Cassadine had the world at his feet — including a pivotal part on Days of Our Lives — until his demons got the better of him. (Read his story here.)
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Michael Sutton and Kimberly McCullough
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI, ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, ABC They say that you never forget your first love, and heaven knows we’ve never forgotten Robin Scorpio’s — Stone Cates. Her portrayer’s now an in-demand director; his is a high-end real-estate agent.
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Mary Beth Evans
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, NBC Days of Our Lives’ “Sweetness” soured in 1990s, leaving behind Kayla Brady for a few years to stir the pot in Port Charles as scheme queen Katherine Bell.
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Sean Kanan
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Gilles Toucas/CBS No wonder A.J. Quartermaine came back from the dead — only the good die young! After the black sheep was killed off for a second time, his portrayer returned to Bold & Beautiful as naughty Deacon Sharpe.
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Sarah Joy Brown
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI The three-time Emmy winner so dazzled as the first Carly Benson that the future Bold & Beautiful and Days of Our Lives leading lady was eventually returned to Port Charles as lady mobster Claudia Zacchara.
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Tamara Braun
Image Credit: Paul Aussenard/WireImage/Getty Images, Jill Johnson/JPI Like Brown before her, this future Emmy winner made such an impression as Carly 2.0 that years later, she was invited to make the rounds again as Dr. Kim Nero.
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John Stamos
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI There do exist pop-culture aficionados who think of the actor in association with Full House, ER, Jake in Progress or countless other primetime series. But to General Hospital devotees, he’ll always be Blackie Parrish.
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Robin Mattson
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Denis Guignebourg/JPI Whether then or now, nobody ever sulked better than the veteran soap-hopper who brought to bat-[bleep]-crazy life Heather Webber, the maddest hatter ever to touch down in Port Charles.
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Mark Hamill
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Derek Storm/Courtesy of the Everett Collection After Star Wars, Luke Skywalker’s portrayer could write his own ticket. But before that, he had to pay his dues as Port Charles’ teenage dream Kent Murray… who, sadly, never did get his own Corvette summer.
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Crystal Carson
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI Since her 1990s stint(s) as Brenda’s sophisticated sister, Julia Barrett, this actress has given up the profession to coach stars ranging from SEAL Team’s David Boreanaz to Paula Abdul.
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Antonio Sabato Jr. and Cari Shayne
Image Credit: James Atoya/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, ABC, Priscilla Grant/Courtesy of the Everett Collection After their runs as 1990s sweethearts Jagger Cates and Karen Wexler, he went on to run for Congress and work for Chippendales (because those totally go together), and she appeared on This Is Us and web soap The Bay.
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Judith Chapman
Image Credit: ABC, Howard Wise/JPI Port Charles was but a pit stop to the soap-hopper who played conniving Ginny Blake in the ’80s. She’d go on to rock Days of Our Lives (in not one but two roles!) and The Young and the Restless, where she steals every scene she’s in as card-carrying scamp Gloria Fisher.
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Matthew Ashford
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI The last of the half-dozen actors to “play doctor” as Steve Hardy’s son, Tom, this soap-hopper ultimately wound up back on Days of Our Lives, where since the late 1980s, he’s been that daytime drama’s most popular Jack Deveraux.
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Scott Clifton
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI, Denis Guignebourg/JPI More boy next door than leading man during his 2003-07 run as Dillon Quartermaine, this future Emmy winner has called The Bold and the Beautiful home since 2010 (and the role of Liam Spencer his own).
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Jack Wagner
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Howard Wise/JPI Frisco Jones was only the beginning for the “All I Need” singer. He went on to star on primetime’s Melrose Place and make himself at home among The Bold and the Beautiful as sea-worthy Nick Marone.
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Denise Alexander
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, ABC screenshot These days, it’s a treat any time the soap legend shows up as Lesley Webber. But from 1973-84, she simply was General Hospital as the drama magnet who brought Laura into the world.
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Anthony Geary
Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI Yep, applause is due to due the record-holding eight-time Daytime Emmy winner who elevated what was initially a character that was only supposed to last three months into the Luke Spencer, an anti-hero who over his nearly 40-year stay in Port Charles all but redefined soap operas.
