Stuart Damon

Stuart Damon, born Stuart Michael Zonis on February 5, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York, was an American actor whose career spanned Broadway, British television, and American daytime drama. His parents, Marvin Leonard Zonis, a manufacturer, and Eva Zonis, were Russian Jewish immigrants who had fled the Bolshevik Revolution. Damon died on June 29, 2021, at the age of 84, from kidney failure, at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement community in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, where he had resided for seven years.

Damon's professional stage career began on Broadway in 1959 with First Impressions, followed by From A to Z in 1960. That same year he appeared in Irma La Douce, a production on whose cast album he is prominently featured. He received a Theatre World Award in 1963. His Off-Broadway credits include Entertain a Ghost in 1962 and a revival of The Boys from Syracuse in 1963, a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, on which he is also featured on the cast recording. His final Broadway appearance came in 1965 with Do I Hear a Waltz?, written by Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim, in which he held a prominent featured role.

Also in 1965, Damon played the Prince opposite Lesley Ann Warren in the television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, a role that helped establish his television career. That same year he moved to Great Britain, where he starred alongside Anna Neagle in the West End musical Charlie Girl. He subsequently played Harry Houdini in the London musical Man of Magic in 1968 and was cast as American secret agent Craig Stirling in the ITC television series The Champions, appearing alongside Alexandra Bastedo and William Gaunt from 1968 to 1969. He also appeared 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 subsequently played by Tony Curtis. In 1968 he starred in the BBC television adaptation of The £1,000,000 Bank Note, playing the lead role of Henry Adams. In 1970 he released an LP titled Stuart Champion Damon on Reflection Records, which did not chart.

During the early 1970s, Damon appeared in two episodes of The Adventurer alongside Gene Barry and Catherine Schell. He later acknowledged that Barry had objected to his presence in the series because Damon, standing over six feet tall, towered over him. Damon went on to appear in several additional British television productions, including Thriller, The New Avengers, The Main Chance, and the children's series The Adventures of Black Beauty, in which he played a hypnotist. In September 1974 he performed as a solo singer on the UK variety program The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, with The Champions theme used as his entrance music.

Returning to the United States, Damon began his most recognized American role in 1977, joining the cast of the daytime drama General Hospital as Dr. Alan Quartermaine. He held the role for approximately thirty years, also reprising it on the short-lived spin-off series Port Charles from 1997 to 2001. In 1999 he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Alan as a physician struggling with addiction to the painkiller hydrocodone. In December 2006 it was reported that Damon had been fired from General Hospital, with his character's death airing on February 26, 2007. The final scene was taped on February 5, coinciding with Damon's 70th birthday. Following the character's death, Damon continued to appear on the series in a recurring capacity, portraying Alan's ghost in various storylines through December 2008, and returned for additional guest appearances through 2013, including the show's 50th anniversary episode on April 2, 2013. He also appeared on As the World Turns from 2009 to 2010 as Ralph Manzo and played Governor Jim Ford on Days of Our Lives in March 2010.

In 2005, Damon reunited with his Champions co-stars Alexandra Bastedo and William Gaunt for the first time in nearly four decades to record audio commentary for a DVD release of the series. Damon married Deirdre Ann Ottewill, a former actress, singer, and dancer, on March 12, 1961. They had two children, Christopher and Jennifer Zonis. Deirdre Ottewill Damon died on December 25, 2019, from Alzheimer's disease.