Remembering ‘General Hospital’ Star Tristan Rogers: His Best Robert Scorpio Storylines
Tristan Rogers, who played Robert Scorpio on General Hospital on and off since late 1980, passed away on Friday, August 15 after a battle with lung cancer. He was 79. One of daytime TV’s most popular leading men, Rogers won a Daytime Emmy for his role as “Doc” on Studio City, and appeared on The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Bay. But he’ll always be best known for his turn as the dashing secret agent Scorpio.
Here’s a look back at nine of Rogers’ most memorable GH storylines.
1 When Robert met Robin
Scorpio was all set to go to Australia with Holly in 1985 when he was thrown for a loop. He came home one day to find a little girl (Kimberly McCullough) in his living room. “Hi,” she said. “Hi, yourself,” Scorpio replied. “Who are you?” She responded: “My name’s Robin.”
The secret agent sent his wife onto Australia while he remained in Port Charles to figure out the identity of his young houseguest, later discovering that Robin was his long-lost lovechild with his former wife, Anna Devane (Finola Hughes).
2 Scorpio mourns the loss of his pal O’Reilly
Actress Billie Hayes (best known as Witchiepoo on H.R. Pufnstuf) played Scorpio’s fellow World Security Bureau agent O’Reilly. She and Scorpio had great chemistry together. She affectionately called Scorpio “Sonny,” and helped him out at the beginning of the Ice Princess saga.
O’Reilly called Scorpio from a phone booth (remember those?) to give her fellow agent the 411 on the Cassadine yacht, The Titan, getting ready to leave Port Charles. They were on the phone when O’Reilly was shot. Scorpio, Luke (Anthony Geary), and Laura (Genie Francis) got to O’Reilly’s side and rushed her to the waterfront clinic. Sadly, O’Reilly passed away.
A devastated Scorpio promised his friend that the Cassadines weren’t going to get away with what they’d done!
3 Bloopers with Elizabeth Taylor’s Helena Cassadine
GH scored a casting coup when Elizabeth Taylor appeared for a handful of episodes as Helena Cassadine in 1981. It only made sense that the enigmatic Helena would have crossed paths with Scorpio, so the show wrote scenes for the two actors. A blooper reel shows Rogers’s easy-going charm as he bantered with Taylor in between takes.
4 Best Friends
In 1983, Luke was presumed dead in an avalanche. A pregnant Holly (Emma Samms) was being deported back to England, where she had enemies waiting for her and no family to lean on. Scorpio, Luke’s best friend, gallantly marched onto the plane and informed the government agent (played by Sam Chew Jr.) that he needed to take Holly in for questioning. It was really just one question – a proposal of marriage! Holly stated she didn’t want to take away Robert’s freedom. “What makes you think you could?” a confident Scorpio chuckled. Swoon!
Holly agreed to marry Scorpio. She lost the baby. Along the way, they fell in love for real. Luke returned from the dead. In one story proposal, Luke and Holly reunited, but that’s not what played out on air, where the chemistry between Robert and Holly could not be ignored. In fact, the two actors dated for a while off-screen. On-screen, they remained the loves of each other’s lives.
5 The Piano Player
Robert signed a two-year lease on the residence of famous pianist Katherine Delafield (Edie Lehmann). A mix-up occurred when Katherine returned, not knowing her home had been leased. While Lehmann was originally hired to merely be the pianist in this storyline, producers saw the chemistry between Rogers and Lehmann. The two began their relationship with Moonlighting type banter.
Despite Robert uttering Anna’s (Finola Hughes) name in his sleep, he and Katherine tried to make a go of their relationship. Alas, the union ended and Katherine went on a worldwide concert tour, never to be seen again.
6 Movie Magic: Ready for His Closeup with Tiffany
Scorpio, Luke, and Laura might never have defeated the Cassadines in 1981 had it not been for the assistance of Tiffany Hill, a movie starlet and Tony Cassadine’s (Thaao Penghlis) girlfriend, who was played by Sharon Wyatt.
Tiff not only knew Tony was no good, but she sensed that Robert and his friends were the good guys. The chemistry between the B-movie star and the WSB agent was combustible. While their union didn’t last long once they returned to Port Charles, Robert and Tiffany remained good friends.
7 Robert and Anna Play Footsie – and Doctor
Robert and Anna attended a recital in which their daughter Robin performed. Anna played footsie with Robert during the performance, but that was only an appetizer for what came later. Anna tied up a shirtless Robert under the guise of stretching out his back, in a scene that pushed the sexual boundaries of what daytime viewers had come to expect.
8 Meeting Mac
Mac Scorpio (John J. York) made his way to Port Charles on Valentine’s Day 1991 as a passenger on board the S.S. Tracy. Mac had trouble getting ashore and was helped out of the water by Robert, who didn’t know the man he was aiding was his sibling.
When Robert realized the water-soaked individual was his brother, he promptly pushed him back into the sea! Anna asked who that was. Robert replied it was his brother. The two men were estranged over misunderstandings in the past.
The two brothers moved forward, and Mac stepped in as Robin’s surrogate father after Robert and Anna were presumed dead in 1992.
9 Off Into the Sunset
Robert Scorpio and Holly Sutton are arguably the most romantic popular duo in GH history, if not all of soap operas, period. They started out as friends, fell in love, and were torn apart by various antagonists. It wasn’t easy for Holly to move on from Luke — but she did, because she was in love with Robert. The Scorpios embarked on many adventures as they solved crimes and protected their friends from evil-doers. His Australian wit and her British beauty made for a charismatic pairing. Fans couldn’t get enough of them.
Presumed deaths (too any to mention) kept them apart for too many years. Last September, GH rectified this by writing the couple out together after revealing that Holly had given birth to Sasha (Sofia Mattsson), Robert’s daughter. Rogers’s last appearance on GH was in July of this year. He appeared in scenes with Steve Burton‘s Jason, Sofia, and his granddaughter, Daisy.
Remind