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Charlie Mason
Monday, September 25th, 2023
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
After three years on General Hospital, Kin Shriner was the biggest of big daytime stars. As such, he was in demand — so much so that he was poached to headline a spinoff of Another World starring the late, great Beverlee McKinskey as superbitch Iris Wheeler.
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It didn’t go well. Both McKinsey and Shriner, who played Jeb Hampton — yes, Jeb! — left in 1981 after only a year. But the adventure did leave the erstwhile Scotty Baldwin with some amazing memories — and at least one photo that could’ve been a Yellowstone cast portrait. See below.
When NBC network tapped me to kick off the new Soap Texas in NYC in 1980 ,and traded in Scotty’s pea coat for cowboy hat I knew giant blunder but nyc was the scene so I jumped !!@GeneralHospital #texas pic.twitter.com/r75VzOA5gc
— Kin Shriner (@kinshriner) September 21, 2023
Sharing a picture of himself doing his best Kayce Dutton, Shriner explained on X that the image was from “when NBC network tapped me to kick off the new soap Texas in NYC in 1980, and [I] traded in Scotty’s pea coat for a cowboy hat. I knew [it was a] giant blunder, but NYC was the scene, so I jumped” at the chance to be a part of it.”
When one of Shriner’s followers suggested that NBC must have backed up the Brinks truck to his house to get him to leave Port Charles, he admitted that, basically, it had. “It was lucrative,” he replied, “but still a mistake.”
At the time, General Hospital fans feared that that was the end of Scotty. But of course Shriner returned — and left (appearing on the syndicated soap Rituals) and returned and left (appearing on The Bold and the Beautiful) and returned and left (appearing on As the World Turns) and returned and left (appearing on Young & Restless).
Hopefully, at this point, we get to keep the actor and his iconic character for good. Speaking of Scotty, check out the below photo gallery to review his incredible (and incredibly tragic!) life story.
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Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1/18
<p>When Scotty Bentley arrived in Port Charles in 1965, he brought with him a lot of baggage — mostly mom Meg’s. First she lost her fiancé to her stepdaughter, then she married attorney Lee Baldwin, who gave Scotty his surname as an adoption present. Only after the youngster returned from law school in ’77 — with dreamy soap icon-to-be Kin Shriner assuming the role —was he given storylines of his own. Oh, and what storylines they were, too, starting with a romance with impetuous Laura Webber.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
2/18
<p>Despite the best efforts of smitten hooker-turned-nurse Bobbie Spencer, Scotty put a ring not on her finger but Laura’s. Which honestly didn’t work out so well for anyone concerned. After the bride went to work for Bobbie’s brother Luke at the Campus Disco, she was raped by the boss — then nevertheless fell for her attacker, moved heaven and earth to protect him and… Oh, right — Scotty. She dumped his ass like he’d been a blind date that just hadn’t panned out.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
3/18
<p>The next time Scotty came home to Port Charles, the chip on his shoulder was as prominent as his new beard. Now a schemer to the marrow, he delighted in contesting his divorce from Laura in order to muck up her new life with Luke, then married Susan Moore for her money while carrying on behind her back with her equally conniving cousin, Heather Webber.</p>
Image: Craig Sjodin/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
4/18
<p>We’d have sworn that Scotty had found his soulmate when he hooked up with fellow plot-hatcher Lucy Coe in the late ’80s — until, that is, he moved on to Dominique Stanton, who touched his heart in a way that no one had since Laura. After Scotty and Dominique married, the bride discovered that she’d be going straight from the wedding to her own funeral, so Lucy stepped in to act as a surrogate mother for the child that the doomed Mrs. Baldwin so wanted to give her beloved.</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
5/18
<p>Despite appearances, Scotty and Dominique’s daughter took more after her angelic mom than her devilish dad. And though the moppet was front and center when Shriner was spun off to <em>Port Charles</em> from 1997-2003, she’s only passed through <em>General Hospital</em> for quick visits. Perhaps wisely. You’ll understand why in a moment. Please stay tuned.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, John Paschal/JPI (2), Howard Wise/JPI
6/18
<p>Thrice in his life, Scotty discovered that he had children of whom he hadn’t initially been aware. First, there was ill-fated Karen Wexler, whom Sonny Corinthos turned into a drugged-up stripper as a teenager. Then, there was GI Logan Hayes, who met his maker at the hand of, of all people, Luke and Laura’s daughter, Lulu. And most recently, Scotty found out that Serena had a big brother in Franco only a few years before the reformed killer became the final victim of Peter August’s reign of terror. That just leaves — yikes — Serena. Be careful, kiddo!</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
7/18
<p>On <em>Port Charles</em>, Scotty once again began playing with fire — in other words, Lucy. But, to his chagrin, they weren’t the only characters to cross over to the offshoot. Also along for the ride to the other side of town was Dr. Kevin Collins, whose annoying habit of being morally superior to Scotty made him a formidable romantic rival.</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
8/18
<p>In 1999, Scotty finally made an honest woman of Lucy. Or at least as honest a woman as she was ever going to be. But alas, that wedding band slipped off as easily as it did on. (We did mention that Kevin was always hanging around being all handsome and wise and stuff, didn’t we?)</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
9/18
<p>Even when Scotty was in an off-again phase of his and Lucy’s on-again/off-again relationship, his dance card remained full. His most noteworthy <em>Port Charles</em> romance was with Eve Lambert, who played doctor like she’d been to medical school. Which, um, she had.</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
10/18
<p><em>Port Charles</em>wasn’t just about love affairs for Scotty. There were also family affairs to tend to with dad Lee, stepmom Susan, Serena and Karen.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
11/18
<p>While representing Luke at his trial for murdering nemesis Stefan Cassadine back on <em>General Hospital</em>, Scotty managed to drive a big enough wedge between Laura and her husband to squeeze on in there and begin seeing her again. But when even his best efforts didn’t inspire the same kind of feelings in her that they did in him, he reunited with a reformed Bobbie, who soon discovered that she wasn’t as attracted to Bad Scotty as she had been to Good Scotty.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
12/18
<p>In 2013, Scotty finally succeeded in once again making Laura his wife. But it was as plain as the tears glistening in her eyes that Luke was still the man with whom she wanted to be. So rather than saddle the two of them with a marriage in which only one of them was truly invested, Scotty soon set Laura free —and, with her, in a way, himself.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
13/18
<p>Upon finagling his way back into the D.A.’s office in 2015, Scotty attempted to do Port Charles a solid by getting his bonkers ex Heather thrown back behind bars. Ha, she replied. More or less. Rather than quietly let herself be hauled off, she revealed that years and years ago, she’d spent a drunken night with her sometime lover that had resulted in the birth of Franco — who, as you can see, was as excited to learn the identity of his real mother as Scotty was to find out that he was forever tied to Heather.</p>
Image: ABC
14/18
<p>In time, Scotty and Franco grew close — so close, as a matter of fact, that when he had his memories replaced by those of pal Drew Cain (don’t ask), Dad stepped in to help daughter-in-law Liz and grandson Cameron regain the fella they so dearly loved. Needless to say, Scotty was also there for his extended family when Franco’s weird, weird life was cut tragically short by Peter’s homicidal tendencies.</p>
Image: ABC screenshot (2)
15/18
<p>In 2021, Scotty was caught as off guard as viewers when he found himself enjoying a one-night stand with kindred spirit Leisl Obrecht. The new lovers were even more surprised to realize that…Oh. They didn’t actually just want <em>one</em> night together. Maybe, we dared to hope, Scotty had finally found in the reformed baddie a lasting love.</p>
Image: ABC
16/18
<p>Over time, Scotty and Obrecht fell truly, madly, deeply in love. There was just one problem: After rising from the grave, an obsessed Victor Cassadine wanted to resurrect his relationship with Liesl, too. And you know how terrible Cassadines are at taking the hint and moving along!</p>
Image: ABC
17/18
<p>Scotty shouldn’t have extended his hand so much as he should’ve ducked his head upon meeting Cody Bell. Dominique’s heretofore-unknown son, under the mistaken impression that he’d treated her shoddily, introduced himself with a sucker punch that only later would he realize had been thrown in error.</p>
Image: ABC
18/18