Roger Howarth — A Biography
Roger Howarth was born in Westchester County, New York. His father was a playwright and involved in the theater so it seemed only logical that he would follow in his footsteps. Although Howarth performed in The Grand Duke at age seven and was active in his high school drama department, he initially resisted acting as a profession.
After just one semester at George Washington University majoring in political science, he dropped out and enrolled in the intense acting program at the prestigious Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in Connecticut. The actor began performing in regional theaters in Williamstown, MA, Stagetown in Springfield, MA, and the Cleveland Playhouse. Howarth appeared in the production of Macbeth at the New York Shakespeare Festival and in WPA’s The White Rose as Probst.
His first film role as a boy in Liebestraum, later adding Destruction Los Angeles and The Final Rose.
In 1992, he was discovered in a nationwide talent search for the role of Kent Winslow on Loving. He went on to play Jory on Guiding Light before landing the iconic role of Todd Manning on One Life to Live in 1993. The role was written to be a supporting day player in a college gang rape storyline but Roger Howarth’s conflicted portrayal sparked a major love/hate relationship with the fans, who rallied producers to bring him on full time and he took home a Daytime Emmy the following year.
Howarth would take garner two more Daytime Emmy nominations as Todd Manning before taking a break from the show and tackling the role of Paul Ryan on As the World Turns, earning him two more Emmy nods. The hardworking thespian also thought nothing of doing double duty and took on recurring roles on primetime such as Randall on Prey, Professor Greg Hetson on Dawson’s Creek, Chris on Californication, and Mason on The Flash, and added an episode of Diagnosis Murder.
In 2011, the actor returned to the OLTL role that put him on everyone’s radar until 2013. Howarth stepped into the role Franco Baldwin on General Hospital, vacated by James Franco, on May 29, 2013, once again bringing a villain to redemption, until he was killed off by the new villain in town, Peter August (Wes Ramsey), on March 9, 2021. Fans were up in arms but GH scribes wrote a new character for Howarth to explore. Austin Gatlin-Holt arrived in Port Charles later that year and fans were once again signed on for the ride.
Roger Howarth resides in New York with his wife, Cari Stahler, and two children, Julian and Colette. Fans can follow the fan fave on Twitter and Instagram.
General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on General Hospital spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.
Fast Facts
- Roger Howarth was born on September 13, 1968.
- Guiding Light co-star Jessie L. Martin is the godfather to his son, Julian.
- He went to the same elementary and middle school class as Ricki Lake and they knew each other.
- Roger and Laura Wright worked together on the ABC soap Loving.
- He discovered during a nationwide talent search for the role of Kent Winslow on Loving.
- His wife Cari asked him out on a first date to Coney Island.
