The All My Children star had a massive stroke at the age of 66 in his California home and was rushed to the hospital.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on April 9, 2020. It has since been updated.
Daytime TV's John Callahan, who was best known for his role as Edmund Grey on the soap opera All My Children, passed away on March 27 at the age of 66. He had a massive stroke when he was at home in Palm Desert, California, a press release shared by his rep announced.
"On the morning of Friday, March 27 paramedics responded to a call and rushed the actor to Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California where he was put on life support. Daughter Kaya Callahan and former wife and All My Children co-star Eva La Rue were notified immediately and drove from Los Angeles to Rancho Mirage," the statement reads, as per Fox News.
Rue and Callahan met on the sets of the show where she played the role of Dr. Maria Santos. John played the role of Grey on the series until 2005. He was also seen in General Hospital and Days of our Lives. The former couple were married from 1996-2005 and shared an 18-year-old daughter named Kaya McKenna, as per HollywoodLife. After his demise, Rue, 53, paid a tribute to his "gregarious" soul in a heartbreaking message.
"May Flights of Angels Wing You to Your Rest my Dear Friend," LaRue wrote on Instagram. "Your bigger than life, gregarious personality will leave a hole in our hearts forever. We are devastated-My great friend, co parent partner, and loving father to Kaya."
The soap star added, "That big belly laugh, bear hugs, bad puns, ability to harmonize to any song, great kitchen table singing-fests, and two steppin bad ass! ‘Johnny Numbers’, my All My Children soap stud, the great time keeper, Beatles fanatic ( I wish to God we could go back to ‘Yesterday’)."
"Kaya and I are beyond broken hearted, so stunned, sorry that my thoughts are a mess,” LaRue said. “You gave the best most beautifully written tributes, and I am at a complete loss for words right now for you," she added.
LaRue ended the emotional post, saying, "I hope Heaven has baseball and that your team always wins! The Yankees has just lost their biggest Fan."
She was truly attached to her ex and didn't shy away from showing it. The soap star posted more photos of their life together and captioned it, "Love knows not its depth till the hour of separation. Our hearts are broken. Thank you so much for all the love and support, you’ll never know how much it means to us #toosoon"
She went on to share a clip from the daytime soap where they met and fell in love. The scene is an emotional one where a tearful Rue tells Callahan, "I just want to look at your face." She captioned the post with, "when art imitates life." She also added #wishicouldseeyourfaceagain as a hashtag.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1953, Callahan first started working in television in 1982 as a reporter in an episode of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, according to Deadline. Later, he got a recurring role on Falcon Crest and worked on it for two years.
The actor was remembered by many others who had starred on All My Children. "Because there are no words, all i can muster is Rest In Peace #johncallahan My heart breaks for you @evalarue and @kaya_callahan," said Kelly Ripa, who was on the show from 1990-2000. Even Sarah Michelle Gellar had a sweet message for the actor, with whom she crossed paths between 1993 to 1995.
"He stepped into a lot of moments in my life because I didn’t have a father to be there. Johns greatest joy in his life, was when he had a daughter of his own @kaya_callahan. John left us this morning. I promise you GP just as you were there for me, I will always be there for smoosh (Kaya) and @evalarue as well," she said.
References:
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/john-callahan-star-all-my-children-dies
https://hollywoodlife.com/feature/who-is-john-callahan-3983964/
https://deadline.com/2020/03/john-callahan-dies-at-66-1202895072/
