Doug Sheehan, beloved as Joe Kelly on General Hospital, and Ben Gibson on Knots Landing has died. The actor was 75 years old.
In Memoriam: Doug Sheehan
Sheehan’s passing was revealed by the Kane Funeral Home in Sheridan, Wyoming. The actor passed away peacefully on June 29 with his wife by his side. No cause of death has been given.
The actor joined GH in 1979 as private eye Joe Kelly, who was helping Jeff Webber (Richard Dean Anderson) find his missing son, Steven Lars. Joe romanced Anne Logan (Susie Pratt), and eventually figured out that Steven Lars’s own mother, Heather (then, Mary O’Brien; later, Robin Mattson; now, Alley Mills), was hiding a lot of secrets!
Sheehan’s GH part was expanded when the show introduced his father Paddy (Frank Parker) and stepmother Rose (Louanne Bishop) and the family diner Kelly’s, which was renamed Bobbie’s earlier this year in honor of the late Jaclyn Zeman (ex-Bobbie). After failed romances with Anne and Heather, Joe left town for a career in politics. Later, Rose joined him.
The actor joined Knots Landing in 1983 as a love interest for Joan Van Ark’s Valene after she lost her husband Gary (Ted Shackelford) to Abby (Donna Mills). He put in some seasons as good guy Ben, a man who was ultimately destined to lose Val to Gary. Ben left town to take on a mysterious assignment but never returned.
“My heart — and ‘Valene’s’ heart — is broken to hear the news of Doug Sheehan’s sudden passing,” Van Ark tells Soap Hub, who shared a line from Hamlet, “Good night, sweet prince, and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Sheehan displayed his comedic chops in the Gary David Goldberg (Family Ties) series Day by Day. He and Linda Kesley (Lou Grant) played Brian and Kate Harper, a couple that gave up their high-powered careers to run a daycare center. The cast include a pre-Seinfeld Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Courtney Thorne Smith (Allison, Melrose Place), and Christopher Daniel Barnes (ex-Paul, As the World Turns).
The actor’s other credits include Charlie’s Angels, MacGyver, Dear John, and What I Like About You. Sheehan popped up again on soaps as the character of Davis on Passions in 2002. His last known credit was an appearance on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Sheehan was wed to Cate Abert since 1981. Soap Hub sends sincere condolences to Abert, Sheehan’s family and friends at this difficult time.
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