'General Hospital' and 'Ryan's Hope' Soap Opera Star Ron Hale Has Died at 78

Longtime soap opera actor Ron Hale has died. According to an obituary posted online, the actor passed away on Aug. 27, but the condolences for the General Hospital star only just now started pouring in online. So, what was Ron Hale's cause of death? He was known throughout the soap opera world as multiple fictional characters, and he even won two Daytime Emmy Awards throughout the course of his career.

Although Ron passed away on Aug. 27, news of his passing didn't break until Oct. 2. After that, other celebrities began to share their stories about the soap actor online. They also expressed their condolences for Ron's family as they continue to mourn the loss of the actor, who retired several years before his death.

At the time of Ron's August 2024 passing, no cause of death was announced. There were also no reports of Ron's health leading up to his death, despite his advanced age. However, he did announce his retirement from soap acting in 2010.

He went on to appear in the movies The Adventures of Loop & Rhett and The Ghost and the Whale. He was also in one episode of Easy on Netflix. But after 2017, the actor appeared to have finally taken a long-awaited break from acting to enjoy a retirement of sorts. And when his death was announced in August 2024, no other details were given.

Although Ron had appeared in a few television shows before his first soap opera role, his big break came in 1975 when he was cast as Dr. Roger Coleridge on Ryan's Hope. He remained on the show for hundreds of episodes, up until 1989. In 1995 he joined General Hospital as Mike Corbin.

He played the same character in dozens of episodes of Port Charles. However, long before television, Ron got his start in theater. And in a 2010 interview with We Love Soaps, he opened up about transitioning from theater acting to television.

"Going into daytime, today you could practically whisper in a scene today and they are going to pick it up. But back then you had to speak in a conversational tone," he said at the time. "That was difficult I think for most actors coming to daytime with theater training, that the first few times you can just talk like a person. It's kind of a relief after a while, to realize you don't have to have people half a block away hear you."

He added, "So when I got to the point when I was doing the auditions for Ryan's Hope, I had some confidence going into it from that standpoint."

Although General Hospital was Ron's most notable role for some fans, he is also remembered for leaving his mark on other soap operas and on the soap genre of television itself. He is survived by his nieces and nephews, per his obituary.