In Memoriam: Daytime Veteran Warren Burton Has Died

Some sad news to report. Warren Burton, an actor who’d been on several soap operas, including Guiding Light on which he played Warren Andrews from 1983-87, has died. He was 72.

Burton’s passing on October 2, 2017 was first reported in the Los Angeles Times. A cause of death did not appear in the notice.

The actor, a Chicago native,  is survived by a sister, Gayle Affinito (nee Burton), a niece Victoria Affinito of Chicago, and many friends and fans.

Odds are if you watched a soap in the 1970s and ’80s, you were familiar with Burton. He played Eddie Dorrance on All My Children, which earned him the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1980. Burton also won a Grammy in 1971 as a writer for Best Comedy Recording for his work on Lily Tomlin’s This Is A Recording.

But, it was in soaps where Burton found the most regular work, most often playing morally-challenged characters.

After his run as evil Eddie AMC, he went on to unscrupulous manager Jason Dunlap on Another World, and then shady hospital administrator Warren Andrews on GL who charmed trusting nurse Lesley Ann Monroe and later became a cohort of Alexandra Spaulding’s.

“(Warren) was the funniest costar I ever worked with,” Carolyn Ann Clark, who played Lesley Ann, tells Soap Hub. “He was such a practical joker always making cast and crew laugh! God Bless him!”

After his GL role came to an end in 1987, Burton moved west where he landed a role as Phillip Hamilton on Santa Barbara. He did one more daytime soap in 1995, a brief stint as a doctor on The Bold and the Beautiful.

Films, prime time and voice over work in video games kept Burton busy following his daytime career. His credits include Green Lantern, Monk and Battlezone II: Combat Commander.

A celebration of Burton’s life will be held at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on November 15, 2017 at 11 a.m.