After playing General Hospital's Scott Baldwin off-and-on for 41 years, Kin Shriner has decided to hang up his legal pad. The actor has announced that he's wrapped up his run on the ABC soap.
A late Friday tweet has General Hospital fans scratching their heads and using the CAPS LOCK buttons on their keyboards: Kin Shriner is out as the show's legal eagle Scott Baldwin. The news was especially shocking because the actor had just finished live tweeting the ABC soap's 55th anniversary episode.
"Scott Baldwin out .@GeneralHospital," Shriner tweeted just before 9pm Eastern.
Fans initially assumed the actor meant he was signing off for the day after his marathon tweet session. As the tweet made its way across Soap Twitter, fans quickly deduced that Shriner meant he would no longer be working at GH.
"I had a good run @GeneralHospital I wish them another 55," Shriner later added.
But was the actor let go or did he simply choose to retire from acting? Requests for comment from Shriner and General Hospital have not immediately been returned. However, a subsequent tweet from Shriner's longtime costar Jackie Zeman (Bobbie Spencer) seems to indicate this exit was Shriner's decision.
"I treasure your friendship + your presence in my life on set and in our private lives. Thank you for the amazing great scenes #ScottyBaldwin + the good times we have shared," Zeman wrote. "I will miss you on #GH so let's have lunch next week 2 celebrate this new chapter of your life."
In addition to his well-known work on General Hospital, Shriner has also appeared on As the World Turns, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and as Scott Baldwin on the GH spinoff Port Charles.
This article will be updated when official statements from General Hospital and/or Shriner become available.
What is your all-time favorite Scott Baldwin scene? Will you miss not seeing Kin Shriner as a part of the General Hospital family? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
