Justin Deas, Multiple Daytime Emmy Winner, Joins The Locher Room
Daytime veteran actor Justin Deas joins The Locher Room on Friday, January 24 at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT to kick off the celebration of Guiding Light, which premiered on the radio 88 years prior on January 25, 1937. The six-time Daytime Emmy winner played Buzz Cooper from 1993 until the CBS soap went off the air on September 18, 2009.
Memory Lane
Deas’s legendary career spans decades in daytime television and theater. His career began with the role of Dr. Bucky Carter on Ryan’s Hope from 1975-78. But it was in 1981, when he was cast as Tom Hughes on As the World Turns, that he found a role that would literally change his life. It was there that he met his future wife, Margaret Colin, who played opposite him as Margo Montgomery; their characters tied the knot in 1982, while he and Colin went on to marry on January 23, 1988 and welcomed two sons. He left the show in 1984. For his work as Tom, he was nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category, in 1981 and 1984, the year he won. he won in 1984.
NBC’s Santa Barbara followed in 1986, where he played Keith Timmons until 1988. Three more consecutive Daytime Emmy nominations would follow in the same category, and Deas took home the trophies in 1988 and 1989. More Daytime Emmy recognition followed when he was cast as Frank “Buzz” Cooper on GL, with him winning the Daytime Emmys for Supporting Actor in 1994 and Outstanding Lead Actor in 1995 and 1997. He was also nominated again in 2005 in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category.
Outside of daytime, in 1989, he was cast as a regular on the prime-time show Studio 5-B. He played Clyde in the TV movie Montana with Gena Rowlands (ex-Adrienne Van Leyden, Peyton Place), Richard Crenna and Lea Thompson in 1990. Episodic appearances on prime-time would follow, like Jake and the Fatman and Nightmare Cafe. After GL went off the air, he appeared in other projects like Rock Story with Eric Roberts (ex-Ted Bancroft, Another World), Joyce DeWitt and fellow GL alum Mandy Bruno (ex-Marina Cooper) and 2019’s American Criminal, which reunited him with his former ATWT co-star Colleen Zenk (ex-Barbara Ryan; now Jordan, Young and Restless).
With his unmatched talent and captivating performances, Deas has made a lasting impact on viewers. Don’t miss this special episode as Guiding Light’s incredible legacy is honored and relive Deas’s extraordinary journey, and hear behind-the-scenes stories—including how daytime TV shaped his career and personal life.
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