Stuart Damon

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Stuart Damon, in a still from General Hospital.

Stuart Damon (born Stuart Michael Zonis on February 5, 1937) is an American actor. He is best known for 30 years of playing character Dr. Alan Quartermaine on the American soap opera General Hospital, for which he won an Emmy Award in 1999.

1 Biography
2 Awards & nominations
3 Works
4 Notes

[edit] Biography

Damon was born in New York. His parents were Russian immigrants, making their home in America after fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution. After a series of appearances on Broadway, Damon's appearance as the Prince in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella helped pave the way to a long career in television and soap opera.

Moving to England in the 1960s, Damon appeared as secret agent Craig Stirling, alongside Alexandra Bastedo and William Gaunt in the cult series, The Champions. He was also partnered with Roger Moore in an episode of The Saint which has been credited as an inspiration for the later series, The Persuaders!, with Damon's role being played by Tony Curtis.

In 2005 Damon was reunited with Alexandra Bastedo and William Gaunt for the first time in almost forty years, to provide audio commentary on a DVD release of The Champions.

In the 1970s, he was cast alongside Gene Barry and Catherine Schell in the The Adventurer series, but only briefly appeared in two episodes. Damon has since spoken candidly about the fact that Barry did not want him in the series because of his height. At over six feet he towered over the relatively small Barry. After acting roles in several other British tv series, he returned to the United States.

In 1977, he began his most famous role, that of Dr. Alan Quartermaine, Sr. on General Hospital. He also repeated the role on the short lived GH spin off Port Charles (1997-2003).

In 1999, Damon won the Best Supporting Actor Emmy, for his honest portrayal of a physician addicted to the pain killer Hydrocodone.

In December 2006, it was reported that Damon had been fired from General Hospital^[1] and his last air date was scheduled for February 26, 2007, when his character was killed off. The reason behind his release was not made public.^[2] The taping of the final scene occurred on February 5, coincidentally Damon's 70th birthday.^[3]

Despite the death of the character, Damon has remained on the show, playing the ghost of Alan Quartermaine, haunting his sister Tracy about forging Alan's will.

Damon has been married since 1961 to Deirdre Ann Ottewill. They have two children, Jennifer and Christopher, and adopted their grandson, Alexander, in 2000.^[4]

[edit] Awards & nominations

Daytime Emmys Winner, Outstanding Supporting Actor (1999)
Daytime Emmys Nomination, Outstanding Supporting Actor (1982, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1996, 1997)
Soap Opera Award Winner, Outstanding Supporting Actor (1997)