Michael Easton to Exit ‘General Hospital’

As reported by Daytime Confidential, popular soap star Michael Easton will be exiting General Hospital, where he is currently playing the role of Dr. Silas Clay.

Easton originally crossed over to GH in 2012, playing his One Life to Live persona John McBain. In 2013, after a legal dispute between ABC and Prospect Park over the rights to the OLTL characters, Easton returned to GH in the newly created role of Dr. Silas Clay.

Easton began his soap opera career playing Tanner Scofield on Days of Our Lives from 1991-92. He went on to land primetime work in starring and guest roles including Two, Ally McBeal, The Practice, Total Recall 2070 and Mutant X. In 2001, he joined the GH spin-off Port Charles as rocker vampire Caleb Morley, who he played until the series’ cancellation in 2003. After PC ended, Easton joined OLTL as heroic Detective John McBain.

In addition to acting, Easton is also a published writer. His work includes a collection of poetry and graphic novels. He recently directed and produced the award-winning short film Untraviolent.

While Easton’s John McBain was a fan favorite, Silas Clay was mostly ill-received. There is no official report yet on how the character will be leaving Port Charles, but the Aug. 3 edition of Soap Opera Digest is reporting an upcoming murder mystery slated for August.

Silas was the brother of Easton’s Port Charles character, who had been retconned from vampire Caleb Morley into serial killer Stephen Clay. Upon hearing of his bother’s death, he came to Port Charles in order to gain custody of his nephew Rafe Kovich (Jimmy Deshler). Silas took a job at General Hospital and began a relationship with Sam Morgan (Kelly Monaco). It was revealed that he had an affair with lady mobster Ava Jerome (Maura West) and fathered her daughter Kiki Jerome (Hayley Erin). His relationship with Sam ended when his wife Nina Clay (Michelle Stafford) awoke from her 20 year coma and came to Port Charles. Silas and Nina divorced after if was revealed she was out to sabotage him for revenge for his affair with Ava. Silas recently kidnapped Ava’s baby daughter Avery in order to use her bone marrow to cure Ava of cancer, letting his ex-wife Nina take accusation for the crime.

Though no final airdate has been announced, Easton’s character presumably murdered in the July 31 episode.

Author’s Note: While Easton may have a large fanbase, Silas failed to integrate into the General Hospital canvas, despite being given front burner story, popular leading ladies and family connections. The character hasn’t had a real romantic story line since Silas and Sam split in July 2014 and has been either offscreen or in a supporting role for the majority of 2015. Though the pairing of Silas and Sam was heavily promoted, the third time was not a charm for Easton and Monaco as #Siam was not able to develop more than a cult following. On a show with a large cast and in need of some cut backs, it makes sense to let this character go.

Photo courtesy of ABC.