General Hospital's Stuart Damon dead at 84

Longtime General Hospital favorite Stuart Damon (Dr. Alan Quartermaine) has passed away. The New York native was 84.

Stuart Damon, who won the hearts of daytime fans in his long-running role as General Hospital doctor Alan Quartermaine, had reportedly died after a long battle with renal failure. He was 84.

Born in New York City on February 5, 1937, Damon graduated from Brandeis University, where he was very active in college theatre. His first roles were on the stage, including a series of Broadway appearances in shows such as Do I Hear a Waltz?, which he followed up with the role of Prince in the 1965 TV version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, starring Lesley Ann Warren.

Damon moved to Britain in the 1960s and starred in a variety of projects such as the cult series The Champions, the BBC TV adaption of 1,000,000 Bank Note, an episode of The Saint with Roger Moore, and the children's favorite The Adventure of Black Beauty.

Damon's life forever changed in 1977 when he landed the role of Dr. Alan Quartermaine on General Hospital, where he stayed for 30 years. He immediately won the hearts of fans in the role, and he took home top honors in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category at the 1999 Daytime Emmy Awards.

Damon's time at GH was sadly cut short in 2007, when Alan died under the direction of then-executive producer Jill Farren Phelps. However, the actor continued to air until the end of 2008 as Alan's ghost, who began haunting the character's sister, Tracy (Jane Elliot), about forging his will. Damon remained with the show until December 23, 2008, when Alan appeared during Christmas to tell Monica (Leslie Charleson) that he loved her. He made subsequent returns in 2011 for a fantasy of Monica's, in 2012 when A.J. (Sean Kanan) was revealed to be alive, and in a hallucination scene for the show's 50th anniversary in 2013.

Following his original exit from GH, Damon briefly took on the role of As the World Turns' Ralph Manzo from 2009 to 2010, and he appeared as Days of our Lives' Governor Jim Ford in 2010.

Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio, GH; ex-Colin Atkinson, The Young and the Restless) honored his late costar on Twitter, sharing, "It is with much sadness I heard of Stuart Damon's passing. He brought a real steadiness to the Quartermaine family. I enjoyed my scenes with him. Rest easy my friend."

Damon is survived by his wife, Deirdre Ann Ottewill; daughter, Jennifer; and son, Christopher, as well as his grandson, Alexander, whom he and Ottewill legally adopted in 2000.

To read some of the tributes being made by Damon's General Hospital friends and colleagues, please continue by reading General Hospital stars remember Stuart Damon

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