Tuesday, August 26, 2025

RIP Tristan Rogers

 


Tristan Rogers (3 June 1946 – 15 August 2025) was an Australian actor. He was best known for playing Robert Scorpio on the ABC soap opera General Hospital and for voicing Jake in Walt Disney Pictures' The Rescuers Down Under.

Early Life

Rogers was born in Melbourne, Australia. His early acting roles were on Australian television, and he completed short stints in soap operas Bellbird, Number 96 (in 1974), and The Box (in 1975). He was a regular in the police drama series The Link Men (1970), which lasted for 13 episodes, and had guest roles in programs including Barrier Reef, Division 4, and the 1976 miniseries Power Without Glory. He also appeared in a few British films in the early 1970s, notably Four Dimensions of Greta (1972), The Flesh and Blood Show (1972), and Sex Farm (1973).

United States roles

General Hospital

Rogers originally appeared on General Hospital from December 1980 until February 1992. The popularity and longevity of the character Robert Scorpio came as a result of his involvement with the monumentally popular "supercouple" Luke and Laura, whose 1981 wedding brought in 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history.

While Rogers' Scorpio had been "killed with no body found" when he left the series in 1992, Rogers returned briefly in 1995 as Scorpio's spirit to comfort the character's daughter Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), who is dealing with the death of her boyfriend to an AIDS-related illness and is herself HIV-positive. He returned in January 2006 for six weeks, this time with Scorpio being very much alive. Rogers reappeared in April 2006 and left again that November.

From 5 August 2008 through 21 October 2008, Rogers reprised the role of Robert Scorpio on the second season of SOAPnet's General Hospital: Night Shift, a primetime spin-off of General Hospital which stars Scorpio's daughter Robin. He was featured in 12 of the season's 14 episodes, and Soap Opera Digest named the appearance their "Best Return" of 2008. Rogers later reappeared on General Hospital for four episodes starting 22 December 2008 as Scorpio attends Robin's wedding.

Rogers returned to General Hospital as Robert Scorpio on 29 February 2012 after Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) called him back to Port Charles to tell him that their daughter Robin Scorpio-Drake had been killed in a lab accident. After seven episodes, he left again on 8 March 2012. Rogers expressed disappointment. He later returned to the series on 15 November 2012 but later departed on 18 December 2012 as his character was drugged into a coma. Rogers reprised the role on 4 October 2013 as part of his on-screen daughter's return. However, on 14 November 2013, it was announced that he would be departing the series to return to The Young and the Restless as Colin Atkinson. He made his last appearance on 30 January 2014.

Rogers returned to the series as Robert Scorpio on 17 December 2015, but he was also portraying Colin on Y&R at the same time. He later left the series on 2 February 2016, although he briefly returned from 26 August to 9 September in the same year.

Rogers returned to General Hospital in April 2018 for a story arc in which he aids Anna Devane, who is trying to locate her long-lost son, Henrik Faison. Henrik is the unknown child that she bore in secret with Cesar Faison. After leaving the show on 1 June 2018, he later returned yet again from 27 July to 12 September in the same year for another story arc where Anna and Finn go missing. He exited the role when Robert left Port Charles on November 12, 2024. He made an unannounced two-day guest return from 17 to 18 July 2025.

The Young and the Restless

Rogers returned to daytime television on 8 December 2010 when he joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as Colin Atkinson. He was placed on contract with the show in February 2011. However, Rogers' character was written out of the series in October 2011. He returned to the role briefly in 2012. In 2025, following Rogers' death, the serial announced his final television appearance (as Colin) aired on 26 August of that year.

Other roles

Rogers starred in the CINE award-winning short Opportunity Knocks, for which there are plans to develop into a feature-length film.

He voiced Jake the Kangaroo Mouse in The Rescuers Down Under, and also gave his voice to the 2015 video game, Mad Max.

From 1997 to 1998, Rogers played bar owner Harry in Fast Track, a series about stock car racing which was filmed in Canada. Since 2010, Rogers has starred on the soap opera web series The Bay as Lex Martin. In 2019, he played Doc in the Amazon series, Studio City, a role that garnered him an Emmy for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Digital Drama Series at the 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

Rogers also did voice-over work representing restaurant chain Outback Steakhouse, Foster's Lager, Reebok, Epson, and others.

Personal life

Rogers was married to Teresa Parkerson from 21 May 1995. They had two children: daughter Sara Jane (born 25 August 1992) and son Cale (born August 1996). He bought a home in Palm Springs, California, in 1997. He had been married to Barbara Meale from 7 June 1973 until 1983, when they divorced.

Illness and death

In July 2025, it was announced that Rogers had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He died in Palm Springs on 15 August 2025.

Filmography

Film

1972    Four Dimensions of Greta     Hans Wiemer Feature film

1972    The Flesh and Blood Show    Tony Weller     Feature film

1973    Sex Farm          Robert Waitman         

1990    The Rescuers Down Under   Jake      Voice

1992    Soulmates       Richard Wayborn       

1993    Night Eyes 3    Jim Stanton     Feature film

2000    A Piece of Eden            Victor Hardwick           Feature film

2008    Delgo  Nohrin Officer              Voice

2008    Jack Rio             Morton, the Gallery Owner,  Feature film

2009    Opportunity Knocks   Death  Short film

2010    Raven  Ancient Priest

2011    The Los Angeles Ripper          Singing Class Member           

Television

1970    The Link Men  Detective Constable Ray Gamble    TV series

1970–71            Barrier Reef                   TV series

1974    Number 96      Cain Carmichael         TV series

1975    The Box             Peter Kendall  TV series

1976    Power Without Glory                TV miniseries

1977    Bellbird                             TV series

1980–1992, 1995, 2006, 2008, 2012–2016, 2018–2025     General Hospital               Robert Scorpio             TV series

1984    Cover Up          Eric Ducane    Episode: "Death in Vogue"

1989    Mancuso, F.B.I.            Dennis Grant  Episode: "Betrayal"

1994    Babylon 5         Malcolm Biggs              Episode: "The War Prayer"

1996    The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest              Hawkins           Voice, episode: "Ndovu's Last Journey"

1997–98           Fast Track        Harry   TV series

1997    Aaahh!!! Real Monsters          Stig Snowden Voice, episode: "Showdown"

2000    Batman Beyond           Simon Harper Voice, episode: "Sentries of the Last Cosmos"

2008    General Hospital: Night Shift              Robert Scorpio             TV series

2010    The Bay             Lex Martin        Web series

2010–2012, 2014–2017, 2019, 2025             The Young and the Restless  Colin Atkinson           TV series

2019    Studio City       Doc     

Voiceover work

Outback Steakhouse

Foster's Lager

Reebok

Epson

Video games

Mad Max (2015) – Voice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Rogers

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