General Hospital Alum Randall England Dead at 75: Who Was Jack Slater?
Randall England, who appeared on General Hospital in 1984 and 1985 as the villainous Jack Slater, died on September 25 at the age of 75 from esophageal cancer, Deadline reported.
Who was Jack Slater, and how did he fit into the world of Port Charles? Here’s the full rundown on the storyline England played out during his time on General Hospital.
Who Was Jack Slater on General Hospital?
England was introduced on General Hospital as Jack Slater on November 15, 1984. He was first seen not in Port Charles, but in Texas — specifically at the home of Mariah Ramirez (June Lockhart), Felicia Cummings’ (Kristina Wagner) grandmother.
Claiming that he was a movie producer, Slater — who also went by the name Matt Hines — met Laura Spencer (Genie Francis) and probed her with questions about her husband, Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) — and specifically, Luke’s Mexican-style boots. Laura was immediately suspicious — and with good reason, it would turn out.
Slater was actually working for Sean Donely (John Reilly), who at the time was running a scheme to smuggle Aztec treasure out of Mexico. Slater had been tasked with tracking down Felicia. Laura caught him going through Mariah’s mail, swiping a letter from Felicia, but she caught him on the phone telling someone that he’d discovered Felicia’s whereabouts. Laura yanked the phone cord out of the wall to thwart him, and when Slater manhandled her in response, Mariah knocked him out cold with a vase!
When he came to, he tied up Mariah and was preparing to do the same to Laura when she got the upper hand and knocked him down. He fled, while Mariah and Laura quickly got word to Frisco Jones (Jack Wagner) that his beloved Felicia was in danger.
At the end of 1984, Slater made his way to Port Charles and made contact with Felicia, hitting on her at Kelly’s Diner. When he did it again in early 1985, Frisco decked him!
Meanwhile, Slater continued to collude with Sean and they plotted to move the stolen treasure by helicopter. To stop Frisco and Felicia from getting in their way, they took the duo hostage.
Once the treasure was safely in Port Charles, Slater discovered Peter Harrell (Judson Scott), Felicia’s ex, trying to break into the warehouse where the loot was stored. Slater plunged a knife into his back! Felicia came to Peter’s aid and summoned Frisco’s brother, Dr. Tony Jones (Brad Maule), for help, but Slater was lurking and shot Tony then fled.
Tony was rushed to General Hospital, where doctors saved his life. Determined to finish him off, Slater concocted an elaborate scheme to pose as a sick patient to get himself admitted to the hospital. Once inside the facility, he sneaked into Tony’s hospital room and threw a knife at him!
Just one problem, for Slater at least: Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) had recognized his red boots and fooled Slater by putting a dummy in Tony’s place! Slater managed to get away, and when he reconvened with Sean, Sean ordered him to steer clear of Tony and to dispose of his boots.
After stealing both cash and jewels from Sean’s safe, Slater fled to New York. It was there, on April 10, 1985, that he met with a fence, sold her stolen jewels for $100,000 and told her that the Aztec treasure was in Sean’s possession. The fence in question? Anna Devane, in the very first GH appearance by Finola Hughes!
Scorpio and Sean both went to Manhattan in search of him, and Sean got to him first. But slippery Slater shot him!
After that, Slater planted a jade statue on Holly Sutton Scorpio (Emma Samms) to frame her for theft. As he planned, Holly was arrested, but Robert promised his beloved that he would find Slater and exonerate her.
However, Anna Devane helped Slater flee to Brazil. When Slater contacted him, Sean warned him that if he returned to Port Charles, he’d be a dead man.
Slater did slip back into Port Charles, and after making another attempt on Tony’s life, he wound up in a shoot-out with Sean. Slater took a bullet and died on the spot.
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