Wally Kurth

Wallace "Wally" Kurth was born on July 31, 1958, in Billings, Montana, the youngest of five children. His father practiced law, while his mother operated a cattle company that had been inherited from her father. Kurth's interest in performing began at age ten, when he saw the film Oliver!, and within a year he had been cast as The Artful Dodger in a local production. He went on to study at Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado, and later at UCLA, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1985.

Kurth made his Broadway debut on January 8, 1981, playing The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance at the Uris Theatre. He had previously performed the same role in a touring production of the show before bringing it to Broadway.

His television career gained significant momentum when he joined Days of Our Lives in 1987, portraying Justin Kiriakis, a role he held until 1991. Following his departure from that series, he transitioned to General Hospital, where he began playing Ned Quartermaine — credited at the time as Ned Ashton — also in 1991. He remained with General Hospital through 2007, though his contract was not renewed in February 2005 and he continued on a recurring basis until July of that year. In late 2007 and into 2008, he appeared on As the World Turns as Sam Hutchins. Kurth returned to Days of Our Lives as Justin Kiriakis in June 2009 and rejoined General Hospital as Ned Quartermaine in 2013. Since 2020, he has appeared on both series simultaneously.

His daytime television work has earned him four Daytime Emmy Award nominations for acting — one for General Hospital, for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2018, and three for Days of Our Lives, including Outstanding Supporting Actor nominations in 2020 and 2024, and an Outstanding Lead Actor nomination in 2021. Beyond the two flagship soap operas, Kurth has made guest appearances on Oh, Grow Up, Law & Order: LA in 2011, and Hot in Cleveland in 2015. From 2004 to 2007, he hosted the SOAPnet series 1 Day With..., in which he spent time with fellow soap opera performers. He also appeared on the web series Ladies of the Lake, based on a novel by Days of Our Lives producer Ken Corday.

His film credits include Final Embrace, I Love You, Don't Touch Me!, Amy's Orgasm, the TV movie The Stepsister, the 2014 short film Blue Skies, the 2020 independent film More Beautiful for Having Been Broken, the 2021 film A Bride's Nightmare, and the 2022 short film Common as Red Hair, in which he co-starred with Kassie DePaiva. In 2008, Kurth produced and narrated the documentary Class C: The Only Game in Town, which examines life in small Montana towns through the stories of five girls' basketball teams. The film received two regional Emmy Awards.

In addition to his acting career, Kurth is a guitarist and vocalist. He is the lead vocalist and guitarist for Kurth and Taylor, a musical group that has performed on and produced songs for General Hospital. The group released two albums, Kurth & Taylor and Half & Half, and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2002 for Outstanding Original Song for "Barefoot Ballet," which was featured on General Hospital. Kurth is also a vocalist and guitarist in The Day Players Band, formed alongside his Days of Our Lives castmates Brandon Barash, Carson Boatman, and Eric Martsolf.

Kurth is the father of actress Meghann Kurth, born in 1985. He married Cynthia Ettinger, whom he had known since college, in May 1990; they divorced in 1993. In 1995, he married his General Hospital co-star Rena Sofer, and their daughter, artist Rosabel Rosalind Kurth-Sofer, was born in September 1996; that marriage ended in divorce in 1997. On July 4, 2003, he married Debra Yuhasz, and the couple have a son, born in November 2004, who is on the autism spectrum.