Longtime soap opera star Tristan Rogers died on Friday at age 79.
Rogers informed fans in July that he was battling an unspecified form of cancer and would only provide an update if he felt one was warranted.
His manager confirmed to ABC that the former network star died Friday morning from lung cancer, despite being a non-smoker.
The Australia native played many parts over his prolific career, but was best known for his role as Robert Scorpio on “General Hospital.” He made his debut on the daytime drama in late 1980 and appeared in more than 1,450 episodes on and off throughout the decades.
Fans of the show hadn’t seen Rogers for seven months before he made his surprise return to Port Charles — the fictional town where the hospital drama is set — on July 17, the same day he announced his cancer diagnosis.
With an acting career spanning over 50 years, Rogers’ credits included multiple episodes of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “The Young and the Restless,” and “The Bay.” In 2020, he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Digital Drama Series, for his work in Prime Video’s “Studio City.”
But according to his manager, Rogers’ role on “General Hospital” was the one that “meant everything to him.”
“He loved being Scorpio and he created that role from nothing,” Meryl Soodak told L.A.’s ABC 7. “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.”
During his time on the series, he played a prominent role in the show’s long-running romance between super couple Luke Spencer and Laura Webber, whose 1981 wedding remains the highest-rated hour in American daytime history, according to People. Scorpio served as their best man.
Following the news of his death, Rogers was remember by colleagues, including longtime “General Hospital” actor Jennifer Anglin.
“Wow. THAT hurts. You sure were a blast to work with,” she wrote on Facebook.
Rogers is survived by his wife, two children and a grandchild.
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