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Time Flies When You’re Having Fun: Then-and-Now Photos of Your Former General Hospital Favorites
Friday, March 3rd, 2023
No matter how long they’ve been gone, these folks are still very much recognizable!
Be honest now: Are you one of the people who enjoys stopping by your high school reunion to see who’s let themselves go over the years and who’s changed the most? Don’t worry, we aren’t judging! It’s a very human curiosity. After all, it helps to know that time comes for all of us — well, mostly all of us!
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If you’re one of the folks who answered yes to the question above, though, we’ve got some bad news, because you won’t be able to do much of that with the stars of General Hospital! Why is that? We can’t be sure, of course, but we have a feeling there’s a soap gene out there that makes daytime stars age differently than the rest of us!
After all, there’s a reason that so many former General Hospital stars are still in show-business, from long-lasting musical careers to four decades — and counting! — of playing primetime hunks. We’ll just say “Have mercy!” because these folks are just as sexy as they were when they lit up our screens on a daily basis.
Boy, have we got a treat in store for you!
Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
More: Tristan Rogers shares golden age General Hospital stories
Of course, one of the biggest surprises is not just how many General Hospital stars made the jump to film and primetime, but how many have hopped across soaps!
Brandon Barash moved from Johnny Zacchara to Days of Our Lives‘ ill-fated Stefan and his lookalike, Jake. Sean Kanan found A.J. Quartermaine so enticing that he returned to the role 15 years after vacating it before settling back in as Bold & Beautiful‘s Deacon. And Judith Chapman’s devious Ginny Blake was but a prelude to Young & Restless‘ glamorous, conniving Gloria.
Luckily, we’re here to gather up all the photos we could find of General Hospital alums as they looked in their daytime heyday and as they look now. Look at it as a sort of “high school reunion” of our own as you marvel at just how little they’ve changed!
To check out our collection of then-and-now photos of your former General Hospital favorites, just click on the gallery below.
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Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, John P. Iblis/JPI
1/26
<p>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.”</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images (2)
2/26
<p>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.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, CBS
3/26
<p>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: <em>The Bold and the Beautiful.</em></p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Howard Wise/JPI
4/26
<p>Eat your heart out, McDreamy! Decades after the future <em>MacGyver</em> star made hearts race as Dr. Jeff Webber, he still has to be steered clear of patients in danger of having handsomeness-induced palpitations.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI
5/26
<p>Cast as Emily <span style="text-decoration: line-through">Bowen</span> Quartermaine at age 11, the trail-blazer has gone on to become a primetime lead (<em>Joan of Arcadia</em>), a movie star (<em>The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants</em>) and an author (<em>Dark Sparker</em>).</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI (2)
6/26
<p>Since his off-and-on run as JV mobster Johnny Zacchara, the leading man has lost none — and we mean <em>none</em> — of his boyish charm as he’s moved on to <em>Days of Our Lives</em> as ill-fated Stefan and then Jake DiMera.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Dee Cercone/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
7/26
<p>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 <em>have</em> it, she <em>owned</em> it.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Derek Storm/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
8/26
<p>Talk about getting Lucky! The five-time Emmy winner not only laid claim to the key role of <em>General Hospital</em> supercouple Luke and Laura’s son, he went on to star in primetime’s <em>Nashville</em>.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Howard Wise/JPI
9/26
<p>The English rose was lovely when she made her <em>General Hospital</em> debut in the 1980s, but c’mon, the future<em> Models Inc.</em> vixen really blossomed as Holly Sutton later. And the best may be yet to come…</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI
10/26
<p>The MVP who originated the role of Nikolas Cassadine had the world at his feet — including a pivotal part on <em>Days of Our Lives</em> — until his demons got the better of him. (<a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/general-hospital/news/626830/general-hospital-tyler-christopher-dead-three-times-alcohol-abuse/" target="_blank">Read his story here.</a>)</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI, ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, ABC
11/26
<p>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.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, NBC
12/26
<p><em>Days of Our Lives</em>’ “Sweetness” soured in 1990s, leaving behind Kayla Brady for a few years to stir the pot in Port Charles as scheme queen Katherine Bell.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Gilles Toucas/CBS
13/26
<p>No wonder A.J. Quartermaine came back from the dead — only the <em>good</em> die young! After the black sheep was killed off for a second time, his portrayer returned to <em>Bold & Beautiful</em> as naughty Deacon Sharpe.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI
14/26
<p>The three-time Emmy winner so dazzled as the first Carly Benson that the future <em>Bold & Beautiful</em> and <em>Days of Our Lives</em> leading lady was eventually returned to Port Charles as lady mobster Claudia Zacchara.</p>
Image: Paul Aussenard/WireImage/Getty Images, Jill Johnson/JPI
15/26
<p>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.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI
16/26
<p>There do exist pop-culture aficionados who think of the actor in association with <em>Full House</em>, <em>ER</em>, <em>Jake in Progress</em> or countless other primetime series. But to <em>General Hospital</em> devotees, he’ll always be Blackie Parrish.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Denis Guignebourg/JPI
17/26
<p>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.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Derek Storm/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
18/26
<p>After <em>Star Wars</em>, 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.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI
19/26
<p>Since her 1990s stint(s) as Brenda’s sophisticated sister, Julia Barrett, this actress has given up the profession to coach stars ranging from <em>SEAL Team</em>’s David Boreanaz to Paula Abdul.</p>
Image: James Atoya/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, ABC, Priscilla Grant/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
20/26
<p>After their runs as 1990s sweethearts Jagger Cates and Karen Wexler, he went on to run for Congress and work for Chippendales (because those <em>totally</em> go together), and she appeared on <em>This Is Us</em> and web soap <em>The Bay.</em></p>
Image: ABC, Howard Wise/JPI
21/26
<p>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 <em>Days of Our Lives</em> (in not one but two roles!) and <em>The Young and the Restless</em>, where she steals every scene she’s in as card-carrying scamp Gloria Fisher.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI
22/26
<p>The last of the half-dozen actors to “play doctor” as Steve Hardy’s son, Tom, this soap-hopper ultimately wound up back on <em>Days of Our Lives</em>, where since the late 1980s, he’s been that daytime drama’s most popular Jack Deveraux.</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI, Denis Guignebourg/JPI
23/26
<p>More boy next door than leading man during his 2003-07 run as Dillon Quartermaine, this future Emmy winner has called <em>The Bold and the Beautiful</em> home since 2010 (and the role of Liam Spencer his own).</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Howard Wise/JPI
24/26
<p>Frisco Jones was only the beginning for the “All I Need” singer. He went on to star on primetime’s <em>Melrose Place</em> and make himself at home among <em>The Bold and the Beautiful</em> as sea-worthy Nick Marone.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, ABC screenshot
25/26
<p>These days, it’s a treat any time the soap legend shows up as Lesley Webber. But from 1973-84, she simply <em>was General Hospital</em> as the drama magnet who brought Laura into the world.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Jill Johnson/JPI
26/26
