Soap opera relationships can get complicated, but sometimes the connections between daytime stars are even more surprising than the storylines playing out on screen.
Two longtime “General Hospital” co-stars may be best known to fans for playing members of the same Port Charles family. However, years before they shared the screen on “GH,” the actors had a very different relationship on another popular daytime soap.
And believe it or not, that isn’t the only surprising connection involving one of the stars.
Read on to learn more about these “General Hospital” co-stars and their unexpected history together.
Wally Kurth and Jane Elliot Have a Surprising Soap History
“GH” stars Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson took to social media to share a blast from the past with fans on their Stone Cold and the Jackal social media pages.
The duo wrote, “On This Day In Soap Opera History 1991: DAYS OF OUR LIVES alum Wally Kurth succeeded Kurt McKinney in the part of Ned Ashton (later Quartermaine). Kurth’s first scene was opposite his on-screen mother, Jane Elliot (Tracy Quartermaine), who’d previously played his pregnant lover on DAYS.”
Kurth is among the few daytime stars who have been able to maintain playing multiple characters simultaneously. Kurth has portrayed both Ned Quartermaine in Port Charles and Justin Kiriakis in Salem, having simultaneously held recurring contract roles for both soaps since 2012.
However, Kurth and Elliot’s history together stretches back even further than their time as mother and son in Port Charles.
The ‘General Hospital’ Mother-Son Duo Once Had a Very Different Relationship
Jane Elliot portrayed Anjelica Curtis Deveraux in Salem from 1987 to 1989. Anjelica and Justin share a son on “DOOL,” Alex Kiriakis, who is currently portrayed by Robert Scott Wilson.
That means that before Elliot portrayed Kurth’s on-screen mother, Tracy Quartermaine, on “General Hospital,” she had already portrayed a love interest of his character on “Days of Our Lives.”
The surprising connection caught the attention of fans after Burton and Anderson shared the throwback.
One fan admitted they had no idea about Kurth and Elliot’s history on the other soap, writing, “I love Ned! I did not know about him and Tracy though on the other soap. GH is the only soap I have watched for decades.”
However, having previously been in an on-screen relationship with his “mother” on “DOOL” isn’t even the craziest relationship element Kurth has been a part of.
Wally Kurth Married His ‘General Hospital’ Love Interest in Real Life
In real life, Kurth actually married Rena Sofer, who portrayed his on-screen love interest, Lois Cerullo, on “General Hospital.”
As longtime “General Hospital” fans know, Ned and Lois share a daughter, Brook Lynn Quartermaine. However, what some fans may not realize is that Kurth and Sofer also shared a daughter in real life, Rosabel Rosalind Kurth.
However, just like in Port Charles, their real-life marriage was short-lived as well, with the couple divorcing in 1997 after two years of marriage.
From playing opposite Jane Elliot as her love interest on “Days of Our Lives” before becoming her on-screen son on “General Hospital” to marrying his Port Charles love interest in real life, Kurth’s decades in daytime television have certainly resulted in some interesting connections both on and off screen.
