Disney/Eric McCandless
You Can Go Home Again: Burton alongside longtime co-stars Laura Wright (Carly, l.) and Kelly Monaco (Sam, r.) on the GH set.
GH confirms to Digest that Steve Burton is headed back to the show in the role of Jason Morgan. His return is imminent, and he will first air early this year.
The show hinted at the big news of Burton’s return during its prime-time special, GENERAL HOSPITAL: 60 YEARS OF STARS & STORYTELLING, which aired on ABC on January 4. At the end of the special, Burton made a surprise appearance, saying, “Happy anniversary, GENERAL HOSPITAL. Stay tuned — big things are coming to Port Charles.” (Click here to watch the clip.)
Burton first joined the Port Charles ranks all the way back in December 1991, several years before the character then known as Jason Quartermaine sustained brain damage in a car crash and reinvented himself as Jason Morgan. The actor mused to Digest last year that his early days on the show “were awesome. It was so fun to come on as a Quartermaine. Everybody was so welcoming, it really was like a big, dysfunctional family, but it wasn’t as dysfunctional as the Quartermaines.”
ABC
In The Beginning: Burton at the start of his GH career, which kicked off in 1991.
The 1995 car crash storyline forever altered the actor’s trajectory on the show, kicking off the close decades-long relationship between Jason and Sonny, played by Burton’s real-life friend and mentor, Maurice Benard, when Jason went to work for P.C.’s head mafioso. This new and enduring iteration of Jason also found himself in several hit romantic pairings, chief among them Jason and Robin, Jason and Elizabeth, and Jason and Sam. “Definitely, the transformation was my lifeline for all those years, and obviously, all the fan support was vital,” Burton mused to Digest in 2013.
After an 11-year run (and one Daytime Emmy victory, for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 1998), the actor left the show in 2012 and joined the cast of Y&R, where he played Dylan McAvoy from 2013-17, winning another Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2017 for that role. In September 2017, he returned to GH, only to exit again in November 2021 due to a well-publicized dispute with the show over its Covid vaccine mandate. In confirming his departure, the actor said on social media that he was hopeful that “maybe one day I can return and finish my career as Jason Morgan. That would be an honor. And if not, I am going to take this amazing experience, move forward and be forever grateful.”
In 2022, Burton made headlines in the soap world yet again when he reprised his first daytime role — the short-lived character of Harris Michaels on DAYS — on the streaming DAYS spinoff BEYOND SALEM: CHAPTER 2. At the time, he said to Digest regarding his GH departure, “I mean, look, it’s always going to be my home. That’s where I’ve been my whole life, so obviously I have great feelings toward the show. I’ve always been very grateful for the opportunity there, leaving and coming back, the people there, the cast and crew. You never want to leave your home, especially when it becomes kind of unexpected. They had to do what they had to do, I had to do what I had to do. There’s no hard feelings … I will always have awesome memories of the show and the people there and all of that. I have never, ever had a bad thing to say about GENERAL HOSPITAL.”
In March of last year, Burton officially rejoined the cast of DAYS as Harris. He confirmed his exit on January 3, having shot his last episode late in 2023. Because the show tapes so far in advance, except to see Harris through the spring. A spokesperson for DAYS shared with Digest, “Everyone enjoyed having Steve back in the DAYS OF OUR LIVES family. Although he finished taping at the end of the year, Harris will remain on the show for many months to come.”
