BELOVED SOAP VET JERRY VERDORN DIES AT 72
Jerry verdorn passed away peacefully at home on May 1 after a months-long cancer battle. The actor was a staple on daytime television, beloved for his runs as Ross Marler on GUIDING LIGHT from 1979-2005 (for which he won Daytime Emmys as Supporting Actor, in 1995 and 1996) and Clint Buchanan on ONE LIFE TO LIVE (200512; 2013).
Born on November 23, 1949 in Sioux Falls, SD, verdorn was raised in South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota. It was while studying to become an English teacher in college where he discovered his love of acting. After graduation, he was cast in a play that traveled to Washington, D.C., where he was urged by a talent manager to make the move to New York City. After tying the knot with his college sweetheart, Beth, who he met while they starred in a university production of Anne of a Thousand Days, the newlyweds headed to Manhattan.
The actor made his Broadway debut that same year in Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?, and became one of the only actors to ever appear in two Broadway shows simultaneously when he understudied the lead role in Man and Superman and wound up performing in matinee performances. It was his stage work that brought him to the attention of the late Betty Rea, legendary casting director of GL, who tapped him to play Ross. When he departed in 2005, he was GL’S longesttenured actor, and his exit came on the heels of him being taken off contract due to budgetary constraints. “Two days after I was off contract, I was in Frank [Valentini, then OLTL’S executive producer] office reading,” verdorn recounted to Digest in the 1/17/06 issue.
Being cast as Clint, a role previously played by the late Clint Ritchie, verdorn noted, “propelled me into something where I was nervous, I was unsure, I was artistically tested. I was all of those things, and I think it was very good for me .... When they hired me, I was literally learning lines for GL .... It was all very strange and I was very fortunate.” He remained with OLTL until its cancellation.
Verdorn is survived by Beth, to whom he was married for nearly 45 years; their two sons, Jake and Peter, and daughters-in-law Laura and Erin; and his three grandchildren, Benjamin, Nora and Penelope.
Amanda Setton (Brook Lynn, GH), who was paired with verdorn when she played Kim on OLTL, tells Digest, “I was so fortunate to have worked with Jerry early in my career. I learned so much from him. His preparation and commitment to his craft was inspiring. He was an incredible actor, the consummate professional; prepared, present, supportive and kind. He treated everyone with such respect and admiration. We have lost someone special. I am holding his family in my thoughts and prayers.”