Tristan Rogers, the Australian actor best known for playing Robert Scorpio on General Hospital, has died at the age of 79. He first joined the soap opera in 1980.
His longtime manager, Meryl Soodak, confirmed his death to ABC 7 Eyewitness News on Friday, August 15. Just last month, it was revealed that Rogers had been diagnosed with cancer.
Soodak said that General Hospital “meant everything to him.”
“He loved being Scorpio and he created that role from nothing,” she explained. “He was supposed to work only one day, but he turned it into something much bigger. He was a kind and loyal person, and he loved his family.”
General Hospital’s Executive Producer, Frank Valentini, also shared a statement with PEOPLE.
“The entire General Hospital family is heartbroken to hear of Tristan Rogers’ passing. Tristan entertained our fans for 45 years, and Port Charles will never be the same without him,” Valentini said. “He was a one-of-a-kind talent and will be greatly missed. My deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends. May he rest in peace.”
Early Life and Career
Rogers was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1946. After leaving school in 1964, he started a rock band with friends. By age 21, he turned to modeling and commercials to make money, then decided to try acting — even though he had no experience. “As far as I was concerned, it was a way to make a bit of money. That’s all,” he told Soap.com in 2022.
He went on to appear in Australian TV shows like Bellbird, Number 96 in 1974, and The Box in 1975. He also acted in British films, including Four Dimensions of Greta (1972).
In 1980, Rogers moved to the U.S. and soon landed the role of Robert Scorpio on General Hospital. Robert was a spy for the fictional World Security Bureau and later became Port Charles’ police commissioner and district attorney. The character became a close friend of Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) and was Luke’s best man when he married Laura (Genie Francis) in 1981. That wedding episode drew 30 million viewers — the highest-rated soap opera episode in U.S. TV history.
In a 2020 interview with Soap Opera Digest, Rogers admitted he didn’t realize how important the role would be at first. “It was just another job for me,” he said. “But everywhere I went, people recognized me from General Hospital. I got caught up in the tidal wave.”
A Beloved Character
Robert Scorpio became one of the show’s most popular characters. Rogers left in 1992 after Robert was killed off, but the character later returned in 2006, as often happens in soap operas. “I think this character will follow me to my grave,” Rogers told The New York Times.
Over the years, Rogers returned to General Hospital many times, and since 2019 had appeared regularly. In 2008, he also reprised the role on the spinoff General Hospital: Night Shift, where Robert battled colon cancer.
“This was about showing an iconic character in a new way,” Rogers told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “Characters like mine don’t usually get cancer. They get shot or beaten up. This was different, and I thought it might even encourage someone watching to get tested.”
In a 2011 interview for the book The Survival of Soap Opera, Rogers reflected on the genre’s future: “This is not a genre that will be around in another 50 years… but almost every type of medium owes something to the way soaps were created.”
Work Beyond General Hospital
Rogers also appeared on The Young and the Restless (2010–2011), as well as TV shows Fast Track and Babylon 5. He voiced a character in Disney’s The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and won a Daytime Emmy for his role in the Prime Video series Studio City (2019–2020).
Personal Life
Rogers married Barbra Meale in 1974, but they divorced in 1984. He later dated his General Hospital costar Emma Samms before they split in 1985. In 1995, he married Teresa Parkerson, with whom he had two children, Sara and Cale.
Tristan Rogers is survived by his wife Teresa, and their children, Sara and Cale.
