ABC Star Dead at 50 After Suffering “Cardiac Event”

For sixty years, fans have been tuning in every weekday to watch the dramatic lives of the residents of Port Charles, New York, in the hit ABC soap opera, General Hospital. While so many soap operas are seeing dwindling audiences and cancellations, General Hospital has remained strong. It is ABC’s only remaining soap opera after both All My Children and One Life to Live were canceled in 2011.

Sadly, we have learned that a long-time General Hospital star has passed away. Tyler Christopher played both Connor Bishop and Nikolas Cassadine in the series for 20 years. As with many soap operas, Cassadine’s character has been played by several actors, but Christopher was by far the longest.

News of the actor’s death was shared on Maurice Benard’s Instagram page. Benard starred alongside Christopher on General Hospital, having played Sonny Corinthos for three decades.

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Tyler Christopher. Tyler passed away this morning following a cardiac event in his San Diego apartment. Tyler was a truly talented individual that lit up the screen in every scene he performed and relished bringing joy to his loyal fans through his acting. Tyler was a sweet soul and wonderful friend to all of those who knew him. Tyler was an advocate for better mental health and substance use treatment who openly spoke about his struggles with bipolar depression and alcohol. We are beyond devastated by the loss of our dear friend and pray for his children and his father.

 

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Tyler Christopher was born in Joliet, Illinois, on November 11, 1972. He moved to Los Angeles when he was in his early 20s, and it didn’t take him long to break into the business. In fact, his first job was on General Hospital. 

He was on the show for several years before he decided to expand his acting. He was in a number of notable shows, including Charmed, Felicity, and Angel. In 2016, he left General Hospital for good, and just two years later, he began as a series regular on another iconic soap opera — Days of Our Lives — where he played Stefan Dimera.

Related: General Hospital Star Dead at 43 After Mental Health Struggles

Unfortunately, Christopher’s life was not without its struggles. Christopher battled alcohol addiction, which nearly cost him his life.

In 2019, Christopher was going through alcohol withdrawal, fell, and hit his head. He needed life-saving surgery to stop the internal bleeding. While he was in the hospital, his sister filed for guardianship, which she was awarded.

The guardianship did not go well, and Christopher told the court that his sister had stolen $40,000 from him. He claimed that the money should have been used to pay his debts. Instead, he claimed that his sister used it to spend money on herself.

Christopher was arrested more than once for public intoxication. He was first arrested in 2019 and, while the police requested that Christopher be put into an alcohol treatment program, a judge denied the request. Instead, Christopher pled guilty to two misdemeanor counts and was ordered to pay a small fine.

He was then arrested for public intoxication at the Hollywood Burbank Airport in 2021.

At this time, we do not know what the “cardiac event” was that caused Christopher’s death. It has not been shared if an autopsy will be performed or if a toxicology report will be submitted.