Played Alan Quartermaine on ‘General Hospital’
Brooklyn, New Yorkbred actor Stuart Damon, who for decades played Dr. Alan Quartermaine on the popular daytime soap “General Hospital,” has died at age 84.
The veteran TV star died June 26 around 1 a.m. after struggling with renal failure and other “compounding issues” in recent years, his son Christopher Damon told the Daily News.
“It was very peaceful. I was with him at the time,” Christopher said, adding that other family members also got a chance to say goodbye the night before at the Motion Picture Television Fund’s 20-acre assisted living campus in Woodland Hills, California.
Christopher said his dad relished his three decades on the longest-running American soap opera still in production. He joined the show in 1977 and was on until 2008. He returned for two guest appearances in 2011 and two more in 2013.
“He was grateful — very grateful — to be on ‘General Hospital’ and have that job for so many years,” his son said. “He went to work with no ego. He just wanted to show up, do the best work he could and have fun.”
Christopher said his dad was very proud of the 1999 Daytime Emmy he won for his work on a story line that followed Alan Quartermaine’s addiction to hydrocodone.
“That was one of his favorite storylines. It gave him some range to play with. It really was heavy and had some heart to it,” Christopher said.
Before he debuted as a dashing doctor in the fictional New York town of Port Charles, Stuart Damon grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, attended Brandeis University and got his start on Broadway.
He married his wife of more than five decades, Deirdre Damon, in 1961 after meeting her on the New York theater scene, Christopher said.
Damon likely is best known to British audiences for his role as secret agent Craig Stirling on the late 1960 s U.K. sci-fi detective series “The Champions.”
He also was cast in the 1965 remake of the Rodgers and Hammerstein TV musical “Cinderella,” playing the prince opposite Lesley Ann Warren.
On “General Hospital,” he portrayed the playboy son of wealthy businessman Edward Quartermaine and husband of Monica Quartermaine.
“With soap operas, some of the story lines can be pretty outrageous. He’d joke about how many times he tried to kill his wife Monica and how he wasn’t that successful of a doctor because he only had two patients and both of them died,” Christopher said.
Damon is survived by his older sister Sondra Greene, his children Christopher, Jennifer and Alexander Damon, his daughter-inlaw Alicia and his grandchildren Willow and Meadow.
His wife died in December 2019 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Christopher called his dad his “best friend.”
“He’s always been my hero, someone who was very selfless to all of us in the family,” the son said. “He was just such a fun, silly, sweet guy. Everybody who came into contact with him loved him. That seemed to be a consistent theme.”