Shocking Deaths and Surprising Returns: The Latest Comings & Goings for All Four Soaps
Monday, March 1st, 2021
Jill Johnson/JPI
From who’s return was announced to an unexpected, last-minute casting change, we’ve got all the deets.
As March begins, we’re already feeling the impact of several casting moves made at The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, General Hospital and Days of Our Lives. Don’t worry, you won’t need a score card to keep up with who’s playing what where… that’s why you have us!
The Bold and the Beautiful
Fun fact: Did you know that Eva is both the name of the Forrester Creator publicist and the name of The Bold and the Beautiful’s actual publicist? It’s true! So it’s sort of like a family affair in more ways than one when Kelly Kruger Brooks swings by to bring the fictional character to life, especially since she’s the real-life wife of Wyatt’s portrayer, Darin Brooks. Check out The Bold and the Beautiful Comings and Goings page to see what backstage secrets Eva’s alter ego spilled while sharing news of her latest return.
Days of Our Lives
We knew she was coming, but nobody could have predicted that when Sami finally arrived in Salem, she’d be found in close proximity to the dead body of her daughter’s rapist! Then again, when headwriter Ron Carlivati teased Alison Sweeney’s return, he did indicate that Sami would come in “with a bang!” (Who knew he meant literally?) Speaking of gunfire, we were blown away (pun intended) when Rhodes bit the dust in the middle of a conversation with Ciara. In one fell swoop, Jason Downs’ Rhodes was out and Brock Kelly was back in as Orpheus’ son, Evan.
But perhaps the biggest shock of all came when the show made the controversial decision to kill Laura Horton. The fact that she died following an argument with Gwen certainly didn’t win that character — already disliked by many in the audience — any points.
Finally, word came down of several changes in the works, including the departure of temporary Jennifer Cady McClain, Kyle Lowder’s return as Rex and, of course, the arrival of Jackée Harry’s Paulina. Get the scoop on all the latest by heading over to the Days of Our Lives Comings and Goings page.
General Hospital
Get ready, Port Charles, because things are about to get lively when Brook Lynn returns to General Hospital. When last we saw the character, she was being played by Briana Lane, who’d stepped into B.L.Q.’s stylish shoes while Amanda Setton was on maternity leave. Now that Setton is on the way back, we may finally find out of Brook Lynn was actually pregnant, as hinted at when she departed… and if so, who fathered said child!
In other General Hospital news, Chad Brannon will soon be returning as Zander Smith… which should be interesting, given that the character was gunned down and died in true love Emily’s arms! Asante Jones, who temporarily was playing Marcus Taggert, wrapped taping and Real Andrews returned to the role of Taggert. Check out our General Hospital Comings and Goings to watch a video of Andrews’ castmates wishing him a happy birthday.
The Young and the Restless
Ever since Theo dropped the bombshell that Kyle might have fathered a baby during his dalliance with another man’s wife, tongues have been wagging. And things were just as interesting behind the scenes where the casting of his ex-lover, Tara Locke, was concerned. To find out who got the role — and who had it but walked away — check out our The Young and the Restless Comings and Goings.
Get your free daily soap-opera fix for all four daytime dramas delivered straight to your email inbox by signing up for Soaps.com’s newsletter then browse the gallery below of General Hospital through the years.
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<p>Just have a seat and fill out these forms, the doctors will be right with you. Also the mobsters, strumpets, cult leaders, martyrs and madmen.</p>
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<p>General Hospital’s first patient was Angie Costello (Jana Taylor), a young woman who wound up worse for wear after a joyless ride with boyfriend Eddie Weeks (Craig Curtis).</p>
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<p>Angie was treated by Dr. Steve Hardy (John Beradino) — that is, when he wasn’t being distracted by the likes of Nurse Jessie Brewster (Emily McLaughin), fiancée Peggy Mercer (K.T. Stevens), Priscilla Longsworth (Allison Hayes of <em>Attack of the 50 Foot Woman</em> fame) and… <em>Angie</em>?!? What the heck are <em>you</em> doing in there?</p>
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<p>We can only assume that this is a photo of Steve and buddy Lee Baldwin (Peter Hansen) looking at that last picture and going, “Dude! You had it goin’ <em>on</em>!”</p>
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<p>Of course, Steve was destined to fall in love with flight attendant-turned-nurse Audrey March (Rachel Ames), who first had to brush off infatuated patient Randy Washburn (Mark Miller).</p>
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<p>Giving Audrey advice every step of the way — on everything from gentlemen callers to how to open an envelope — was her no-nonsense sister, fellow nurse Lucille (Lucille Wall, who joined the cast in episode No. 14).</p>
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<p>Throughout the 1960s and beyond, Steve’s right-hand woman was Jessie, who had her hands full with philandering husband Phil Brewer (Roy Thinnes). In hindsight, his wandering eye would’ve been easier to spot if they hadn’t all been looking in the same dang direction.</p>
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<p>Jessie knew better than to buy into Phil’s BS. But then he’d look at her like this, and the words “Take a hike, bub!” would get stuck in her throat.</p>
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<p>After what doesn’t look at <em>all</em> like it was the world’s awkwardest job interview — hello, HR! — Steve added to the hospital’s staff Dr. Lesley Williams (Denise Alexander), who’d end up providing as much drama as she did medical care.</p>
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<p>Did we mention that Steve and Audrey got married? Because they did — three times, as a matter of fact. Apparently, the on-again/off-again Hardys were advised that the third time really <em>was</em> the charm.</p>
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<p>Once the Hardys got it right, buildings were tested against their solidity. If Steve and Audrey couldn’t withstand it, then neither, inspectors wagered, could skyscrapers.</p>
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<p>The Hardys epitomized #relationshipgoals right up until his death in 1996. Though Audrey still had a lotta life left in her, she never remarried.</p>
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<p>In the early 1970s, future Luke Skywalker Mark Hamill was a <em>General Hospital</em> regular as Kent Murray, who moved in with aunt Jessie along with sister Carol (Anne Wyndham).</p>
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<p>Occupying the front burner in 1978 were Craig Huebing as shrink Peter Taylor, Alexander as Lesley, Michael Gregory as her love interest Dr. Rick Webber, newcomer Genie Francis as her long-lost daughter Laura and, naturally, Beradino as Steve.</p>
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<p><em>General Hospital</em> was in danger of cancellation when it struck pay dirt in 1978 with the pairing of Francis’ Laura and Kin Shriner’s Scotty Baldwin. After that, the show was only at risk of being… well, too <em>popular</em>!</p>
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<p>Is a supercouple really super if it doesn’t have a spoiler? Probably not, right? So Laura and Scotty’s title was secured — and then ripped away — by a jealous Bobbie Spencer (Jacklyn Zeman), who sought to break them up with the help of big brother Luke (Anthony Geary, pre-perm).</p>
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<p>That umbrella might’ve shielded newlyweds Laura and Scotty from the sun, but nothing could protect them from the runaway train that was the bride’s forbidden attraction to Mob flunky Luke.</p>
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<p>Luke’s rape of Laura should have put the kibosh on any chance that they might have had as a couple. Somehow, it did not. All it did was ruin Herb Alpert’s “Rise” for the rest of us.</p>
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<p>Laura thought long and hard about her feelings for Luke. And then she cast aside all of those sensible thoughts to go with her gut.</p>
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<p>No matter the obstacles that life put between her and Luke, Laura surmounted them. Yep, even an understandably vengeful Scotty.</p>
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<p>Mind you, Luke didn’t make it easy for Laura to choose him. He was as determined to have her as she was at first unsure that it was a good idea to be, well, had.</p>
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<p>Executive producer Gloria Monty took a hands-on approach with Francis as she studied her lines.</p>
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<p>While all of that was going on, Rick (by then Chris Robinson) showed an interest in auditioning for <em>Deliverance</em>. Cue the banjos!</p>
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<p>When not sucking face, Laura and Luke sought to thwart the villainous Cassadines’ attempt to turn the world into a popsicle with a formula for carbonic snow hidden in the base of a supremely ugly statuette called the Ice Princess.</p>
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<p>The daring endeavor called for the couple to hurl themselves into one scenario after another that <em>had</em> to have been lifted from a James Bond movie.</p>
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<p>In the end, Laura and Luke were so successful in their endeavor to stop climate change before anyone even knew that climate change was a thing that Port Charles insisted they have the biggest, best wedding ever.</p>
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<p>During this period, the sweethearts were so beloved that their portrayers took part in photo shoots that we’d never even <em>seen</em> before putting together this gallery — and we’d have sworn that we’d eyeballed every picture of them that had ever been taken!</p>
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<p>An unexpected — <em>and</em> unwanted — guest at Luke and Laura’s wedding was Helena Cassadine (Elizabeth Taylor), who blamed the bride and groom for the demise of her husband, Mikkos.</p>
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<p>At least Luke’s pal, Robert (Tristan Rogers), appeared to be able to hold Helena’s interest as much as the notion of retribution.</p>
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<p>Then again, the she-devil might have just been plotting to poison him. She’s always been like that, you know.</p>
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<p>How was Laura — or <em>any</em> bride — supposed to compete with a diva in an outfit like this? The curse that Helena placed on the Spencers was almost superfluous!</p>
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<p><em>Aaanyway</em>… Laura and Luke’s nuptials wound up being a simple affair… attended by some 30 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode of a soap opera in TV history.</p>
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<p>The newlyweds saw a bright future ahead of them. They just didn’t realize how short it would be, at least at first.</p>
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<p>To this day, the Spencers’ lavish wedding remains the standard against which all other soap ceremonies are measured.</p>
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<p>In other plots — and yes, there were some — once Monica Webber (Leslie Charleson) had for the most part stopped ping-ponging between Rick and his brother, Jeff, she focused her attentions on… well, as you can see, <em>General Hospital</em>’s newest doctor, filthy-rich Alan Quartermaine (Stuart Damon).</p>
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<p>Alan’s parents, Edward (David Lewis) and Lila (Anna Lee), knew better than to involve themselves in his squabbles with Monica. This, of course, did nothing to stop them from involving themselves in the Bickersons’ quarrels.</p>
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<p>Here, Edward sits idly by waiting to see if Monica is going to remind his son of the time he almost dropped a roof on her and loverboy Rick. (Hey, we only said that she was done ping-ponging between the Webber boys, not that she was done ping-ponging.)</p>
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<p>Mind you, Alan was not without his own peccadilloes. In addition to his fling with Susan Moore, he up and <em>married</em> gold digger Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring), a move that could’ve put his family in the same color as her plus-sized hat and gown.</p>
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<p>At least Alan’s affair with Susan brought into the fold golden boy Jason (Steve Burton), the saintly antithesis of his ne’er-do-well older half sibling, A.J. (Sean Kanan).</p>
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<p>Jason and A.J.’s early-1990s peers included scheming Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil), muscle-bound Jagger Cates (Antonio Sabato Jr.), secret stripper Karen Wexler (Cari Shayne) and Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), the daughter of superspies Robert and Anna. More on them in a bit…</p>
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<p>Neither Monica nor brother-in-law Paul Hornsby (Paul Satterfield) were really interested in hearing how justified Alan had been in contemplating dropping a roof on her and Rick. Let it go, buddy. Let. It. Go.</p>
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<p>A car wreck with a drunk A.J. transformed Jason from a promising future doctor into a Mob flunky who, if he was going to wear any shirt at all, was going to wear a tight black T. No exceptions.</p>
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<p>But we’re getting <em>way</em> ahead of ourselves. Let’s rewind to the 1980s once more, shall we?</p>
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<p>In its Golden Age, <em>General Hospital</em> attracted a Who’s Who of famous folks, among them Sammy Davis Jr., who passed through Port Charles as Eddie Phillips for a fraught family reunion with estranged son Bryan (Todd Davis) and daughter-in-law Claudia (Bianca Ferguson).</p>
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<p>Legendary funnyman Milton Berle briefly played Mickey Miller, the talent agent responsible for the career of B-movie starlet Tiffany Hill (Sharon Wyatt).</p>
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<p>Mickey was also the mover and shaker that turned Luke’s bride into a supermodel who vanished in the fog on Port Charles’ docks. That is, Mickey made Laura Miss Star Eyes; as far as we know, he had nothing to do with the weather that fateful night.</p>
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<p>After Laura’s disappearance, Luke teamed up with reporter Jackie Templeton (then Demi Moore) in hopes of finding not only his wife but her sister.</p>
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<p>Jackie’s younger sibling, Laura (Janine Turner), did turn up. But Luke’s Laura? No such luck.</p>
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<p>Viewers didn’t buy Laura 2.0 as a new love interest for Luke. And they soon discovered that they preferred Jackie with Luke’s BFF Robert than with Luke.</p>
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<p>In the 1980s, it was tough for Robert to go anywhere without running into someone with whom he’d been involved. Tiffany? Check. Jackie? Check. Yeah, his little black book really wasn’t little at all.</p>
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<p>“Widower” Luke’s romance with impish con artist Holly Sutton (Emma Samms) was just heating up when he was “fatally” snowed in by an avalanche. (On <em>General Hospital</em>, matters of life and death have pretty much always belonged in air quotes.)</p>
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<p>To save Holly from deportation in 1983, Robert (Tristan Rogers) stepped up and made his “late” buddy’s pregnant girlfriend his wife. As you can see, she wasn’t the <em>least</em> bit nervous.</p>
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<p>Really, it <em>was</em> convenient for the Scorpios to be hitched once they realized that they’d fallen for one another. Naturally, that was when Luke thawed out enough to return to Port Charles alive and well… ticked.</p>
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<p>Losing Holly to Robert turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Luke, who’d have had a lot of explaining to do once Laura emerged from the fog with a wild story about having been held prisoner for years by Stavros Cassadine.</p>
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<p>Monica’s ex, Jeff (future <em>MacGyver</em> star Richard Dean Anderson), tried in vain to get virginal Nurse Anne Logan (Susan Pratt) to play doctor with him.</p>
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<p>Noah Drake (Rick Springfield) also attempted to get Anne to sample his bedside manner. And Noah scored with, like, <em>everybody</em>! But Audrey’s niece managed to leave Port Charles with her virginity intact.</p>
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<p>We don’t have to tell you that while Springfield was making the rounds as Noah, his music career was taking off, do we? Yeah, he wouldn’t be a “working-class dog” for long.</p>
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<p>Edward’s illegitimate son, Jimmy Lee Holt (Steve Bond), and Celia Quartermaine (Sherilyn Wolter) became kissing cousins… once removed, at least.</p> <p> </p>
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<p>Among Jimmy Lee’s Port Charles pals were Lou Swenson (Danielle Von Zerneck) and her boyfriend, Blackie Parrish (<em>the</em> John Stamos), a baby-faced hooligan-turned-baby-faced pop star taken in by Rick and Lesley.</p>
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<p>Even stylish Tiffany had to admit that Blackie cleaned up pretty nicely. If he was a street kid, that street must’ve been Fifth Avenue.</p>
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<p>By 1983, Blackie and his band, the Riff Raff, were on the fast track to fame and fortune, thanks to manager Steffi Brand (Elissa Leeds). But the drummer cracked under the pressure to produce a hit.</p>
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<p>Blackie wound up stealing a song from bellhop Josh Clayton (Jimmy “Brother of Kristy” McNichol), a crime that indirectly led to Lou’s death and a new gig… headlining at the state penitentiary!</p>
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