General Hospital Stars Who Were Unfairly Fired

Published on February 6, 2019. Updated February 9, 2022

For an avid soap opera fan, there is nothing worse than having your favorite actor or actress fired from a show. Sometimes soap actors/actresses are fired because of inappropriate behavior, poor work ethic or simply to spice up a storyline. Other times, it can be for no real reason, other than to clear some old faces from the show out to make room for new and fresh characters. Below is a list of General Hospital (GH) actors and actresses who were unfairly fired.

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12. Ingo Rademacher

In 2011, after playing Jasper Jax for over 15 years, Ingo Rademacher was fired from the soap without really much of a good reason. Not only was his character one of the staples of GH at the time, but he was also a huge fan-favorite. Although most die-hard GH fans really missed Jax during the twenty-teens, Rademacher’s return to the ABC soap and his 2021 firing are a whole other story!

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11. Robert Palmer Watkins

Stepping into an established role is never an easy thing; however, in 2015 when Watkins was recast as Dillon Quartermaine, the actor did it with ease. Unfortunately, come the summer of 2017 Robert was let go to the shock of both Watkins and GH fans. What’s worse is Dillon was dropped off the canvas of Port Charles, without a real exit storyline.

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10. Rebecca Budig

Hayden Barnes exploded on the Port Charles scene in 2015, with an interesting storyline that tied her to some top characters within GH, including “Jason” Morgan (really, Drew Cain now), Nikolas Cassadine, and Elizabeth Webber. As time wore on, Barnes made real roots in the little town finding out she was Liz’s sister and establishing quite the relationship with Dr. Hamilton Finn. This made her firing in 2017 that much more puzzling to GH fans. Who wants a Hayden Barnes comeback? Most viewers out there do!

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9. Teresa Castillo

No character is safe when a serial killer is out on the loose, and sadly the Sabrina Santiago character was axed during GH’s 2016 storyline that saw a murderer on the loose in the hospital. Many viewers were not only surprised by Sabrina’s passing, but outraged as well. She was a beloved character on the show and a fan-favorite.

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8. Stuart Damon

After playing the role of Allan Quartermaine for about 30 years, GH fans were saddened when the beloved character passed away after suffering a stroke during the Metro Court Hostage storyline in 2007. While viewers let their outrage be known, the only silver lining was that producers created a ghost role for Stuart, where Allan still visited loved ones (here and there) after his passing.

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7. Kelly Sullivan

The Kate/Connie character was a complex one, and actress Kelly Sullivan war recast into the role in 2011. Unfortunately, Connie would be axed in a huge storyline where Ava Jerome was the murderer, but AJ Quartermaine was pinned for the crime. Sullivan was given her pink slip by GH in 2014, and many fans were upset by the character leaving the show.

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6. John Ingle

Sometimes actors/actresses are fired only to return to their shows after the air has been cleared. Such is the case for John Ingle, who played the grumpy (but loved) Edward Quartermaine on GH from 1993 to 2004. The actor was fired in 2003, with plans to end the character and Ingle opted to move to Days of Our Lives to play Mickey Horton, where he was given a guaranteed contract. As it would turn out, Edward was not given the ax, and Ingle would reprise the role in 2006.

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5. Genie Francis

Speaking of, with social media being a powerful communication tool in this day and age, when GH fans heard that Genie Francis was fired from the soap in early 2018, they let their voices be heard. Thankfully, the show’s producers listened to them loud and clear, and Laura returned to the land of Port Chuckles later in the year.

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4. Rebecca Herbst

Rebecca Herbst has been playing the sweet (yet, manipulative at times) Elizabeth Webber on GH for almost two decades. Back in 2011, the actress was fired from her role on the soap which left her fans and co-stars in a frenzy. Those fans let their disdain around this firing be quite known to ABC. In fact, GH cast-mates Jonathan Jackson (Lucky), Kelly Monaco (Sam), and Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) all took to Twitter and tweeted about the terrible decision made by producers, in support of Herbst. Well, fans and soap stars screamed in outrage and their voices were heard: Rebecca was rehired by GH, only four weeks after they fired her.

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3. Kari Wuhrer

You may not recognize the name (or perhaps the face either, for that matter). That’s because Kari had a brief stint with GH back in 2005, playing the beautiful, smart, strong and sexy Reece Marshall. Having an affair with both brothers, Ric Lansing and the infamous Sonny Corinthos, she also had a little feud with Carly (doesn’t every woman that dates Sonny have a little feud with Carly?). The character flew into Port Charles in February 2005 and had huge potential when it came to storylines and drama. Unfortunately, in September of that same year, GH reps announced Wuhrer’s release without anything really to back up the reason why.

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2. Lynn Herring

Perhaps this isn’t so much of a case of out-right firing, but Lynn was awkwardly not asked to return. In 1997, Herring and a slew of other GH cast-mates jumped from GH onto its spin-off show, Port Charles. Unfortunately, the soap didn’t have the lasting power of its original and when Port Charles went off the air in 2003, some cast-mates simply jumped back to GH. But some didn’t, including Lynn. This not only stunned Herring, but avid fans of GH who adored the vixen they all loved to hate, Lucy Coe. The good news is, Lucy has come back for special appearances on GH and has somewhat of a recurring role on the show.

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1. Jacklyn Zeman

Jacklyn Zeman is one of the longest-standing daytime actresses currently working on a daytime soap with a recurring role on GH. However, to some fans her appearances on the soap are too far and few between. In 2012 her status changed from GH ‘regular’ to ‘recurring’ and it devastated not only fans, but Zeman herself. She was quoted in an interview as saying, “One day I was there and then it was like, ‘Merry Christmas, you’re fired,’ and an intern came down and handed me all my stuff.” She also added that the release of her contract felt like “[i]t was like the death of Bobbie in my heart and soul.”