Tristan Rogers, the Australian actor who found fame in the United States, has died at age 79.
It was reported last month that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.
Born in Melbourne, he started modelling and appearing in commercials from age 21. He then scored guest roles in series including Homicide, Division 4, Barrier Reef and Delta before a leading role in the short-lived Nine Network drama The Link Men.
The Link Men was an ambitious attempt by Nine to make an in-house drama rather than commission an outside production company, but became a source of frustration for Rogers and only lasted 12 episodes. “I was surprised it came so soon, but I certainly wasn’t surprised that it happened,” he told TV Times after the show’s axing. “There was a lot of talent in the production unit, but the unit as a whole was never allowed to settle down. They kept hiring and firing new people. Another problem was the strain of producing an episode every five days. This meant actors working on two, and sometimes three, different episodes in the same week. There was never enough time for rehearsals.”
He later appeared as villain Cain Carmichael in Number 96 followed by roles in The Box, Bellbird, Power Without Glory, Cop Shop and The Sullivans before heading to the United States.
He started in the daytime soap General Hospital in 1980, playing the part of Robert Scorpio. Although his character was killed off “with no body found” in 1992, he later returned as being very much alive. He again reprised the role in the prime-time spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift in 2008 before returning again to General Hospital on a recurring basis.
He also appeared in rival daytime soaps The Bold And The Beautiful in 1997 and The Young And The Restless between 2010 and 2012.
Other US credits included The Love Boat, Hotel, Cover Up, Walker Texas Ranger, VIP, Studio City and streaming series The Bay.
Tristan Rogers is survived by his second wife, Teresa Parkerson, and their children Sara and Cole.
Source: People, IMDB. TV Times, 25 March 1970. Listener In-TV, 4 October 1975.
