Tristan Rogers
Template:Short description Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person
Tristan Rogers (3 June 1946 – 15 August 2025) was an Australian actor. He was best known for playing Robert Scorpio on the ABC soap opera General Hospital and for voicing Jake in Walt Disney Pictures' The Rescuers Down Under.
Early career
Template:More citations needed section Rogers was born in Melbourne.<ref name="The New York Times 1" /> His early acting roles were on Australian television and he completed short stints in soap operas Bellbird, Number 96 (in 1974), and The Box (in 1975). He was a regular in the police drama series The Link Men (1970) which lasted for 13 episodes, and had guest roles in programs including Barrier Reef, Division 4, and the 1976 miniseries Power Without Glory. He also appeared in a few British films in the early 1970s, notably Four Dimensions of Greta (1972), The Flesh and Blood Show (1972) and Sex Farm (1973).
United States roles
General Hospital
Rogers originally appeared on General Hospital from December 1980 until February 1992. The popularity and longevity of the character Robert Scorpio came as a result of his involvement with the monumentally popular "supercouple" Luke and Laura, whose 1981 wedding brought in 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history.<ref>Wolf, Buck. "Luke and Laura: Still the Ultimate TV Wedding." ABC.com 16 November 2006.</ref><ref name="www.ew.com">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
While Rogers' Scorpio had been "killed with no body found" when he left the series in 1992, Rogers returned briefly in 1995 as Scorpio's spirit to comfort the character's daughter Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), who is dealing with the death of her boyfriend to an AIDS-related illness and is herself HIV-positive.<ref>Matheson, Whitney. "Recalling some of TV's dearly departed." USAToday.com 31 August 2005.</ref> He returned again in January 2006 for six weeks, this time with Scorpio being very much alive. Rogers reappeared in April 2006 and left again that November.
From 5 August 2008 through 21 October 2008, Rogers reprised the role of Robert Scorpio on the second season of SOAPnet's General Hospital: Night Shift, a primetime spin-off of General Hospital which stars Scorpio's daughter Robin.<ref>Logan, Michael. "Soaps News: Tristan Rogers Checks Back into GH." TVGuide.com Template:Webarchive 18 June 2008.</ref><ref name="THR 2008-05-27">Nordyke, Kimberly. "SoapNet renews Night Shift." The Hollywood Reporter. 27 May 2008.</ref> He was featured in 12 of the season's 14 episodes, and Soap Opera Digest named the appearance their "Best Return" of 2008.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Rogers later reappeared on General Hospital for four episodes starting 22 December 2008 as Scorpio attends Robin's wedding.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Rogers returned to General Hospital as Robert Scorpio on 29 February 2012 after Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) called him back to Port Charles to tell him that their daughter Robin Scorpio-Drake had been killed in a lab accident. After seven episodes, he left again on 8 March 2012. Rogers expressed disappointment. He later returned to the series on 15 November 2012 but later departed on 18 December 2012 as his character was drugged into a coma. Rogers reprised the role on 4 October 2013 as part of his on-screen daughter's return. However, on 14 November 2013 it was announced that he would be departing the series to return to The Young and the Restless as Colin Atkinson. He made his last appearance on 30 January 2014.
Rogers returned to the series as Robert Scorpio on 17 December 2015 but he was also portraying Colin on Y&R at the same time. He later left the series on 2 February 2016, although he briefly returned from 26 August to 9 September in the same year.
Rogers returned to General Hospital in April 2018 for a story arc in which he aids Anna Devane who is trying to locate her long lost son Henrik Faison. Henrik is the unknown child that she bore in secret with Cesar Faison.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After leaving the show on 1 June 2018, he later returned yet again from 27 July to 12 September in the same year for another story arc where Anna and Finn go missing. He exited the role when Robert left Port Charles on November 12, 2024.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He made an unannounced two-day guest return, from 17 to 18 July 2025.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Young and the Restless
Rogers returned to daytime television on 8 December 2010 when he joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as Colin Atkinson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was placed on contract with the show in February 2011. However, Rogers' character was written out of the series in October 2011. He returned to the role briefly in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2025, following Rogers' death, the serial announced his final television appearance (as Colin) aired on 26 August of that year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Other roles
Rogers starred in the CINE award-winning short Opportunity Knocks for which there are plans to develop into a feature-length film. Template:Clarify
He voiced Jake the kangaroo mouse in The Rescuers Down Under, and also gave his voice to the 2015 video game, Mad Max.<ref name="MM">Template:Cite video game</ref>
From 1997 to 1998, Rogers played bar owner Harry in Fast Track, a series about stock car racing which was filmed in Canada. Since 2010, Rogers starred on the soap opera web series The Bay as Lex Martin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019 he played Doc in the Amazon series, Studio City, a role that garnered him an Emmy for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Digital Drama Series at the 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Rogers also did voice-over work representing restaurant chain Outback Steakhouse,<ref>Johns, Howard. "Trouble in Little Tuscany", PalmSpringsLife.com, March 2004.</ref> Foster's Lager, Reebok, Epson and others.
Personal life
In 1974, Roger married Barbara Meale. The couple divorced in 1984. Following the divorce, he briefly dated his General Hospital co-star Emma Samms.<ref name="People 1">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Rogers married Teresa Parkerson in May 1995. They had two children: a daughter Sara Jane (born 1992/3) and son (born 1996/7).<ref name="USA Today 1">Template:Cite news</ref>
Illness and death
In July 2025, it was announced Rogers had been diagnosed with lung cancer.<ref name="Soap Opera Network 1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Soap Opera Digest 1">Template:Cite magazine</ref> He died in Palm Springs, California, on 15 August 2025.<ref name="The New York Times 1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="KBAC-TV 1">Template:Cite news</ref>
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Four Dimensions of Greta | Hans Wiemer | Feature film |
| 1972 | The Flesh and Blood Show | Tony Weller | Feature film |
| 1973 | Sex Farm | Robert Waitman | |
| 1990 | The Rescuers Down Under | Jake | Voice<ref name="btva">Template:Cite web A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref> |
| 1992 | Soulmates | Richard Wayborn | |
| 1993 | Night Eyes 3 | Jim Stanton | Feature film |
| 2000 | A Piece of Eden | Victor Hardwick | Feature film |
| 2008 | Delgo | Nohrin Officer | Voice<ref name="btva" /> |
| 2008 | Jack Rio | Morton the Gallery Owner | Feature film |
| 2009 | Opportunity Knocks | Death | Short film |
| 2010 | Raven | Ancient Priest | |
| 2011 | The Los Angeles Ripper | Singing Class Member |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | The Link Men | Detective Constable Ray Gamble | TV series |
| 1970–71 | Barrier Reef | TV series | |
| 1974 | Number 96 | Cain Carmichael | TV series |
| 1975 | The Box | Peter Kendall | TV series |
| 1976 | Power Without Glory | TV miniseries | |
| 1977 | Bellbird | TV series | |
| 1980–1992, 1995, 2006, 2008, 2012–2016, 2018–2025 | General Hospital | Robert Scorpio | TV series |
| 1984 | Cover Up | Eric Ducane | Episode: "Death in Vogue" |
| 1989 | Mancuso, F.B.I. | Dennis Grant | Episode: "Betrayal" |
| 1994 | Babylon 5 | Malcolm Biggs | Episode: "The War Prayer" |
| 1996 | The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest | Hawkins | Voice, episode: "Ndovu's Last Journey"<ref name="btva" /> |
| 1997–98 | Fast Track | Harry | TV series |
| 1997 | Aaahh!!! Real Monsters | Stig Snowden | Voice, episode: "Showdown"<ref name="btva" /> |
| 2000 | Batman Beyond | Simon Harper | Voice, episode: "Sentries of the Last Cosmos"<ref name="btva" /> |
| 2008 | General Hospital: Night Shift | Robert Scorpio | TV series |
| 2010 | The Bay | Lex Martin | Web series |
| 2010–2012, 2014–2017, 2019, 2025 | The Young and the Restless | Colin Atkinson | TV series |
| 2019 | Studio City | Doc |
Voiceover work
Video games
- Mad Max (2015) - Voice
References
External links
- 1946 births
- 2025 deaths
- Australian emigrants to the United States
- Australian male television actors
- Australian male video game actors
- Australian male voice actors
- Daytime Emmy Award winners
- Male actors from Melbourne
- Male actors from Palm Springs, California
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- Deaths from lung cancer in California