Roscoe Born is Dead to Me!

Didn't Born hold the record (previously or still) for having appeared on the most daytime soap operas?

Still remember him as the pervy warden on "Passions" when Hot Miguel and Luis were to prison. .. Porntastic .. lol!

The first scene starts at the 3 minute mark. It picks up at the 11:25 mark.

RIP.

I always thought he was such a fox. Remember when he was recast in the middle of a scene on AMC? One second he’s there, the next it’s someone else. Never knew the story behind that though...

Remember when he was on Santa Barbara and one of his first scenes was in a blue speedo? It made an impression on me!

[quote] I’m born. To begin my life, with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born.”

The above quote is one of my lines, among many memorable lines I had in Gone with the Wind, a picture in which I was a star (not a mere supporting player). This quote is from Dickens’ “David Copperfield”. It is an appropriate quote for this Roscoe Born, born not to long ago, but who died...so young.

R2 I've always wondered about that too. When he joined the cast of AMC it was such a big deal, then he left with zero explanation.

R5 the character was later revealed to be child molester, and that was something he couldn't play

R6 Really? I remember the plotline (poor Laura!), but he really left because of that?

When Jim Thomasen, I knew immediately that he was a creep.

Yes, he didn't want to play a child molester and quit abruptly. As a result, Angela Shapiro, then head of ABC (I think it was her), had him blackballed. He wasn't able to work on an ABC soap for a long while--not until Brian Frons came on board.

That should be when Thomasen arrived! Ugh.

I'm reading the history of AMC now. I totally forgot that he was tied to the plotline where Maria "died" in the plane crash. I think there are still VHS tapes of those episodes in my mom's attic.

I LOVED him as Mitch Lawrence from OLTL in the mid-1980s. He was so sexy and charismatically evil. Heck, I would have joined his character's cult...

No mention of cause of death? He wasn't old.

Terrible Tom.

R10, Those were the days!!! I fucking loved that character...he was so sexy!

The only thing I saw him on was Y&R. I thought he was a DILF.

Wow.

He was quite an actor, although supposedly somewhat troubled in real life.

Rest in peace.

Interesting that he was married to Flame from Santa Barbara.

I don't like this atall.

My introduction to him was on The City, where he was a washed up musician who was clearly modeled (in appearance, not so much in circumstances) on Springsteen.

God, that show was underrated.

He looked so fine here.

He actually got work on Guiding Light, As The World Turns, Days of our Lives and I think Y&R after he left AMC

In fact when he was GL he was in scenes that won Crystal Chappel her Emmy

Her reel with Roscoe Born below

Anyone have a shot of him in the blue speedo? I can’t find it anywhere.

Oh nooooooooo! Not Roscoe. Such a good guy.

He had a hot ass but he couldn’t live forever.

Was he a homo?

former Ryan's Hope co-star Marg Helgenberger has just released this statement

I’m deeply saddened to hear of Roscoe Born’s passing. My first acting job was on the soap #RyansHope, and Roscoe was a dream to work with. A generous, soulful & talented person. My thoughts are with his family & friends. May he rest in peace.

Greg Rikaart who played his TV son on Y&R also posted.

One less life to live.

Fake news!

R28 Natalie’s non-reaction always gets me.

What the hell!? I loved him on Santa Barbara.

[quote] not until Brian Frons came on board

The one and only thing I will give Frons thanks for. Born's Mitch on OLTL was one of the greatest villains on tv, not just soaps but all of tv. I actually respect that he was man who could play some very dark and devious characters but drew the line at playing a child molester.

Wow, so based on R1's clip, Galen Gering's acting on Passions is the exact same as on Days. Such range!

He was smolderingly hot. Especially in the 1980s on Ryans Hope, One Life to Live and finally Santa Barbara.

I also liked him in The City. That show should have been around a lot longer.

Born made the part of Joe Novak on RH his own, but that's not much considering it was originated by boring hunk Richard Munez. The problem was that his character was in love with another character but he was obviously infatuated with Randall Edwards who would become his wife. The chemistry was really amazing and the producers missed the boat by not putting them together.

Kind of surprising, he wasn't that old. Had he been ill?

I remember when he showed up on Santa Barbara over one summer break and my mom said, "Oooh, he was on Ryan's Hope!" We weren't a OLTL household so I didn't know he'd been a regular on there until probably his second or third stint.

I used to see the guy in r25 on Ryan's Hope from time to time when I was in college. I lived right in "Riverside" at the time, and if I didn't have a class at 11:30 or 12:30, whenever it was on, I'd turn on ABC to see this hot, hot, hot guy. It would get me so horned up, sometimes I'd meet a guy in the west 70s afterwards and get to school late.

I had such a crush on him. He looked great even as an older guy. This sucks. Did he have cancer?

Blue speedo???

Photos, ladies. Photos, please!!!

He was one of the few actors to pose any serious threat to the incredible chemistry that Cruz and Eden had on Santa Barbara. For that accomplishment alone, I admire him.

I would watch All My Children, then zone out until 3 when I turned to Guiding Light came on. Then in the summer of 1986, I caught a bit of OLTL with "Mitch" and I was hooked and watched faithfully until that show went off the air. Honestly, he was an absolute dream to watch, and as another poster remarked, I would have joined his cult in a minute.

The rumor was that he was very hard to work with. He was in Hollywood for a while and got a lot of auditions but people were hesitant to work with him because of his reputation. He was very talented and charismatic and should have had a bigger career.

Very sad. I was a fan.

Cute. But still dead.

Supposedly he and Morgan Fairchild didn't get along on The City. He was really good on that show, though and I agree that the show should've lasted longer.

On AMC, not only was he a child molester and murderer, he was a child pronagrapher. Can't say I blame him for not wanting to play something like that. He shouldn't have quit on the spot after finding that out, though. He should've given the show more time to recast and get things together. I believe they wrapped the storyline up quicker than they intended to because they didn't like the audience response to it. The show really faltered badly in 97-98.

R41 Yes, I've heard that many times, that he was a challenge to work with.

He's had a lot of struggles. Apparently a bad on and off drug problem back in the day. He was fired from DAYS in 2008ish because of some clashes with suits and/or not knowing his lines.

I remember reading in an interview that before he had taken on some role somewhere, he had been working in a hospital in their filing department.

Immense talent, but I suspect someone who cared a lot about the work he did, and had a hard time compartmentalizing it all.

In the oral history of One Life To Live he said the biggest change in Soaps is that the suits are now filming "rehearsal" and considering that good enough to put on the screen.

Born was rather outspoken, but he didn't often give interviews.

Here's an interesting piece he wrote in response to an article in the LA Times where people in soap business gave their thoughts about the movie. Anyone have any guesses who the people who got raw deals on the soaps he worked on that he mentioned in this piece?

R48, the "difficult" actress who cut her hair and then was fired was obviously Sarah Felder from Ryan's Hope. That story has been recounted many times.

Well, Felder got fired because she wasn't pretty enough.

R50, it was a typical network decision. Felder was way prettier than the actresses who followed her although when Marg came aboard, the character was essentially Mary. Felder was well defended by the creators but the suits wanted another leading actress and they fucked up with the Mary replacement actresses, all of whom were dreadful.

Felder could have existed only on RH. She wasn't a beauty but yet she was the most lovable and relatable.

[quote] it was a typical network decision.

No it wasn't, Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer still owned Ryan's Hope at that point (like Bill Bell owns Y&R B&B and Corday owns Days)

All casting decisions were Labine & Avila Mayer

The two didn't sell Ryan's Hope to ABC until 1981 - Felder was gone in 1980.

I remember him having a lot of scenes with Deidre Hall on Days of Our Lives and them having great chemistry as enemies around 2007-2008

Did Sarah's Siobhan and Jack ever get together? They had way more chemistry than he had with any of the replacement Mary's.

This may have been a fever dream, but did he play a character on Santa Barbara in the late 80s/early 90s where every time he came into the room that 10cc song, "I'm Not in Love" would play?

I thought he had chemistry with the next Siobhan, Ann Gillespie.

R56, I disagree. He had the chemistry with Randall Edwards and it was so obvious.

Sarah and Jack never got together because the writers couldn't reconcile the fact that she was Mary's sister. This scene shows how great RH could be as they set the doomed relationship to La Traviata.

Oh, I remember Sarah as Siobhan. I really liked her a lot when I was a kid watching "Ryan's Hope." The only other Siobhan I liked was Marg. So sad about Roscoe. I wonder what he died of. Hope it wasn't suicide or a drug overdose.

The actress who got the haircut was his 2nd wife, Roberts Bizeau. She played Flame on Santa Barbara. She cut her hair (it had been long) and had a short pixie haircut. She was fired immediately and the character written out. They had been setting her character up for a romance with Frank Runyeon, as they had chemistry. Soon after she was fired, he was fired.

Bitches, what I want to know is who was the character who was fired and went on to star in a 6 year show??

Its clearly a OLTL actor, based on the timeline of our late Roscoe's article- Is it Blair Underwood????? I think it MUST be him.

I remember when they introduced him on OLTL through Tina. They used the song “Smooth Operator” by Sade. It was perfect and I think they used it some after.

R60 You must be right. The article was from the summer of 1991, right before LA Law's 6th season. So that definitely fits. But was Underwood playing a character on OLTL that got 25 to 50 pages of dialog. I wasn't watching the show when he was on, so I don't know how prominent he was on the show.

[quote] She cut her hair (it had been long) and had a short pixie haircut.

That WAS NOT Roberta Bizeau - she was replaced by Margurite Hickey who had short hair

They look alike, but below is Margurite Hickey as Flame on SB

He really was a great actor. He had such presence, magnetism. He could play a villain but was also so charming.

For me, his appearance on Y&R was the last era when the show was good. He was brilliant as Terrible Tom and should have won an Emmy for his performance. When he was killed off, it sucked because he was such a dynamic character. It also meant the end of Jerry Douglas too. And then the show really started to decline in my opinion.

He was so handsome and sexy and had such range.

[quote] I remember when they introduced him on OLTL through Tina. They used the song “Smooth Operator” by Sade. It was perfect and I think they used it some after.

Andrea Evans has tweeted

So sad to hear of the passing of my old friend Roscoe Born. I loved working with him. He was a sweet, dear soul. And whenever I hear Sade’s Smooth Operator I will smile & think of him. RIP.

BREAKING - the family of Roscoe Born confirms he committed suicide due to struggles with Bi-Polar disorder

In their statement

"It is with heavy hearts that we confirm the death of our father and brother Roscoe Born. The gleaming charisma and creativity that shone through his onscreen performances, fueled his robust songwriting repertoire, and charmed all those around him was matched by a darkness in his life. Roscoe has long struggled with bipolar disorder, a shadow that he succumbed to when he took his own life on Tuesday, March 3."

The statement continues, "We are grateful for the outpouring of kind words and memories. We only wish that Roscoe could have seen how much people still carry his daytime villains in their hearts. May his death remind us of the importance of opening up conversations around mental illness. May those who need help seek it. May those who seek help attain it. And may it serve them."

Very sad. Terrible Tom was truly one of the best Daytime villains ever.

Wow, that is so devastating. He was so talented. One of the best actors in daytime. He always elevated the material.

For someone who was reportedly so difficult to work with, the posts from Helgenberger, Evans and Rikkart prove he was highly respected.

It is sad. Often the most talented people are the most troubled ones.

With him being bipolar, he was probably fine a good amount of the time.

I commend the family for going public with this, to help others suffering from mental illness - I know it wasn't easy. But if it helps even one person, then it is worth it

I agree r71. I'm sure they would be bombarded with questions about why he died, and it's also a helpful way of breaking the stigma of mental illness.

Oh, that's terrible. As I posted above

[quote] someone who cared a lot about the work he did, and had a hard time compartmentalizing it all.

I love the piece he wrote that was shared upthread. You can tell he cared about the work and the people.

RIP Roscoe. Your roles of Mitch and Tom, you took them over the top. Wonderful memories.

It hurts to read that it was suicide, he must have been in so much emotional pain. I’m so sorry he lived with that.

RIP Roscoe, you were a special part of the Daytime TV family, whether on Santa Barbara, One Life To Live or Days of Our Lives. You’ll be missed.

Sad.

Heartbreaking. That poor man.

Maurice Benard is also bipolar but I guess in Roscoe's case, the meds weren't working.

Sad.

He would have been an interesting choice for a Ridge recast.

^ Even dead.

I love you, R81!

God knows even dead he’d be way better than Ronn Moss ever was.

I only knew him from Santa Barbara.

That storyline with Eden and him coming between her And Cruz was amazing!!!!!!

Robert Barr was a fantastic character. RIP

And Cruz had an amazing pinga in his pants.

There are plenty of YouTube channels that upload Eden and Cruz storyline scenes everyday. It’s great to rewatch.