Robert Kelker-Kelly, the soap opera actor who played Bo Brady on Days of Our Lives and Stavros Cassadine on General Hospital, died Saturday at his home in St. Peters, Missouri. He was 62.
Police arrived at the residence around 8:16 p.m. after a report of an unconscious man who was not breathing, according to the St. Peters Police Department. Responders found CPR underway, and further lifesaving efforts failed. Police confirmed the death Monday. The cause has not been released, though Variety reported it was consistent with a medical event. TMZ, which first broke the news, said officers found nothing suspicious at the scene.
Born April 18, 1964, in Wichita, Kansas, Kelker-Kelly began his daytime career in 1987 as Sam Fowler on Another World, a part he held until 1990. He returned to soaps in 1992 and took on one of the genre’s hardest assignments: replacing Peter Reckell as Bo Brady, a character inseparable from Reckell and the hugely popular pairing with Hope, played by Kristian Alfonso. Kelker-Kelly appeared in nearly 600 episodes, played opposite Alfonso and Lisa Rinna, who portrayed Billie Reed, and won the Soap Opera Digest Award for outstanding lead actor in 1994.
His run ended in 1995 when the show brought Reckell back. “It was a good run and I had a good time while it lasted,” he told Soap Opera Digest at the time.
Kelker-Kelly moved to General Hospital in 2001 as Stavros Cassadine, the menacing patriarch of one of Port Charles’ most notorious families, a role John Martinuzzi originated in 1983. He played the character through 2003 and came back in 2013 and 2014, including a ghostly turn haunting archnemesis Luke Spencer, played by Anthony Geary. Across the two stints he appeared in over 40 episodes.
Away from the cameras, Kelker-Kelly built a second career as a professional pilot, flying for years beginning in 2003.
