Daytime TV has said goodbye to one of their own.
TristanRogers—who was best known for playing the role of Robert Scorpio on the daytime soap opera General Hospital—has died, his manager confirmed to ABC 7. He was 79.
MerylSoodak shared that Rogers’s cause of death was a battle with lung cancer, despite having not been a smoker.
“He loved being Scorpio and he created that role from nothing,” Soodak shared with the outlet. “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.”
The news comes less than a month after the Australian star shared his lung cancer diagnosis, which coincided with his final appearance on General Hospital.
“While he remains hopeful and is working closely with his medical team on a treatment plan, this is a challenging time for Tristan and his family,” a July statement from his rep read. “As they face both the emotional and physical burdens that come with this diagnosis, the family kindly asks for privacy and understanding.”
They added that Rogers—who starred on General Hospital from 1980 to 1992, but made recurring appearances through 2025—was grateful to his fans, saying he “wants them to know how much he appreciates their loyalty and encouragement over the years.”
And despite being a recognizable face across numerous soap operas, like The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, Rogers always knew that playing the role of Robert Scorpio on General Hospital was something special.
“The role allowed for the creation of a character that was fresh and different for daytime television,” he shared on the That’s Awesomepodcast in 2020, “as a sort of intriguing—mysterious type.”
And the fans were totally captivated. At the height of the character’s popularity, Rogers couldn’t go out in public without being recognized, explaining it made “it almost impossible for me to do something as simple as going to a store without security.”
Still, he “would not trade a minute of it.”
“I did not realize that this two-day shoot would turn into a role that would explode,” he continued. “One that I would play for decades.”
Rogers is survived by his wife of 20 years Teresa, as well as children SaraJane, 32, and Cale, 29.
