(RepublicanDaily.org) – Longtime soap opera star Doug Sheehan has died at the age of 75 on June 29, according to a release by the Kane Funeral Home near Sheehan’s home in Big Horn, Wyoming. The handsome, blue-eyed actor is best known for portraying the character Joe Kelly on General Hospital from 1979 to 1982.
The announcement said his wife, Cate Abert, was with him when he died peacefully.
Given that soaps in that era ran every weekday, Sheehan racked up an impressive 200 episodes in just three years. It was a good run, and it earned him a nomination for a Daytime Emmy Award.
General Hospital is the longest-running soap opera in American history, and the longest-running television show ever produced in America. In 2002, the ABC drama broad cast its 10,000th episode, and it’s still running today long after other staples such as One Life to Live and All My Children concluded production.
After leaving the fictional town of Port Charles, New York, where General Hospital is set, Sheehan snagged a role on the 1980s evening soap Knot’s Landing. He played the role of Ben Gibson, a reporter married to the character Valerie Ewing, which was played by Joan Van Ark.
He also starred in a sitcom called Day by Day on NBC that ran briefly, playing the lead character Brian Harper along with lead actress Linda Kelsey. Day by Day only aired for two seasons, and it was connected to the “universe” of wildly popular 80s sitcom Family Ties.
Sheehan continued working in television, racking up credits on the shows Clueless, Diagnosis: Murder, Columbo, MacGyver, and many others. He had a two-episode role as the father of character Sabrina Spellman (played by Melissa Joan Hart) on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Sheehan never made it big as a movie actor, though he did score some roles in major motion pictures. He worked twice with director Blake Edwards in his 1979 comedy 10, and his 1982 musical Victor/Victoria. Julie Andrews, Edwards’ wife, starred in both films.
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