quinn-redeker-tributes
Credit: Getty Images (3), NBC, Aaron Montgomery/JPI

“He had that spark.” And then some!

As word began to spread that Quinn Redeker had passed away just before Christmas at the age of 86, those who worked with the beloved soap vet on Days of Our Lives (where he played scheming Alex Marshall) and The Young and the Restless (where he played reformed con man Rex Sterling) came forward to pay tribute and share their memories.

“Dearest friend, I am so saddened to hear the news of wonderful Quinn Redeker’s passing,” tweeted Michael Damian, who had Redeker for an on-screen dad on Young & Restless. “What a wonderful soul and fabulous talent. He will be missed greatly…

“I am heartbroken,” he added in a separate tweet.

THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS, Jeanne Cooper, Quinn Redeker, katherine, rex, ec, yr

Young & Restless cleaned up Redeker’s Rex for Katherine.

Credit: Columbia Tristar/Courtesy of the Everett Collection

Young & Restless’ Jess Walton (Jill) Instagrammed that “I loved working with Quinn. I learned one of my most important acting lessons from him. And that is to lock eyes with your scene-mate before they call action no matter how long… really connect with them. It makes everything else go away.

“But the most amazing and wonderful thing about that man was that in all the years we worked together, I never heard him say a bad word about anyone — he was always always positive,” she continued. “He was always ‘the glass is half full’ — about everything in life! I loved him very much and I will miss him more than I can say.”

Days of Our Lives’ Stephen Nichols (Steve) sent “love to Quinn’s family. Quinn was a wonderful man, and he was a joy to share the stage with.”

Days of Our Lives castmate Wally Kurth (Justin) seconded that emotion. “Loved Quinn. So sad to hear this news,” he replied to Nichols’ Instagram post. “He was one of the most interesting actors I’ve ever met. And obviously a gifted writer.”

Redeker’s script for The Deer Hunter, you may know, added him to the short list of soap actors who have been nominated for Oscars. (Read the full list here.) “I ran into him at a coffee shop years ago where he was working away on his laptop… writing a screenplay,” Kurth continued. “So passionate and animated. I wished I could have worked with him more as an actor. He had that spark. RIP, Quinn.”

Share your memories of Redeker in a comment below after paying your respects to the other soap vets taken from us by 2022.