An actor known for roles on some of the longest-running soap operas has died.
Robert Kelker-Kelly was 62 years old.
St. Peters Police Department in St. Peters, Missouri, said they received a report of an unconscious man who was not breathing on Oct. 3, Deadline reported. Police said that Kelker-Kelly had been complaining about chest pain before becoming unresponsive.
A cause of death has not been released, People magazine reported.
Kelker-Kelly was born in 1964 in Wichita, Kansas and made his acting debut in 1987 on “Another World,” in the role of Sam Fowler. He left in 1990 but came back six years later as another character, Dr. Shane Roberts, also known as Bobby Reno. Over his two stints, he was on more than 400 episodes of the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
He then went to “Days of Our Lives” as Bo Brady, taking over for Peter Reckell, from 1992 to 1995.
Kelker-Kelly’s co-star, Lisa Rinna, wrote about his time on the show in her memoir “You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It,” said it was difficult to work with him, and that they did not get along, despite filming “every day, often half naked.”
“Behind the scenes, we hated each other,” Rinna claimed, according to Deadline. “Remember when Kathy Hilton said I was the biggest bully in Hollywood? Not true. Not even close! I have legit stories about the real bullies in this town. Robert Kelker-Kelly is one of those bullies.
“He made my life a living hell on the set of Days. He was horrible to me,” she wrote. “I’d go so far as to say verbally abusive. He was passive-aggressive, manipulative and played weird mind games.”
He did not respond to her claims, according to Deadline.
Despite that, they won the Hottest Soap Couple at the Soap Opera Digest Awards in 1995, the same year they left the show, Variety reported.
Eventually, Kelker-Kelly landed on “Port Charles” and “General Hospital” from 1997 to 2003. He left for about a decade, but returned to the same role, Stavros Cassadine, from 2013 to 2014. IMDB said it was his final acting role.
Kelker-Kelly married Miriam Parrish in 1997 and left acting and Los Angeles. The Hollywood Reporter said they divorced in 2013. He was previously married to Linda Rattner until 1992.
He earned a certification in airframe and powerplant mechanics. He was also an acting teacher and a professional pilot, according to Variety.
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