A Look Back At Roger Howarth’s Daytime Career

In 1992, Howarth (pictured with Michael Weatherly, ex-Cooper, LOVING) landed his first contract role on a soap, playing LOVING’s snooty Kent Winslow, but was soon given the ax. In 2020, he told Digest, “Actually watching what I did as an actor on LOVING, there is no part of me that is surprised that they fired me.” That same year, he also appeared on GUIDING LIGHT in the recurring role of Rory, sidekick to Jesse L. Martin’s Keith.

It was in December 1992 that the actor joined ONE LIFE TO LIVE in the recurring role of frat boy Todd Manning, the ringleader of the 1993 gang rape of Marty Saybrooke (Susan Haskell), a landmark storyline for the show. Howarth became a breakout star and won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Younger Actor in 1994. “I can’t believe they hired me, I can’t believe it turned into what it was,” he marveled to Digest in 2020. Also pictured: Sean Moynihan as Powell (seated) and Josh Weinstein as Zach.

In 1995, while Todd was in the throes of a popular pairing with Kassie DePaiva’s Blair, Howarth’s request for an early release from his contract was granted. He returned to OLTL in 1996 and stayed for two years, then did another stint from 2000-03 (moonlighting for part of that time on the 6th season of DAWSON’S CREEK, where he portrayed Professor Greg Hetson).

A few months after his 2003 exit from OLTL, AS THE WORLD TURNS hired Howarth (pictured in 2007 with on-screen bride Cady McClain, ex-Rosanna) to assume the role of Paul Ryan. In 2020, he told Digest that “working with lovely people” was the highlight of his years in Oakdale, which concluded with the series’ cancellation in 2010.

In 2011, the actor (pictured with on-screen daughter Kristen Alderson as Starr) returned to OLTL as Todd in its final months (the show went off the air in January 2012). “When I came back, it was nice to meet the people [I had worked with before] with a different vulnerability and with a difficult level of maturity, frankly,” he told Digest in 2020.

Howarth’s GH career commenced in 2012 when Todd (pictured with Maurice Benard’s Sonny) relocated to Port Charles. “I was thrilled to be asked,” he told Digest earlier this year. “I love the character of Todd and I thought it was a really cool idea.”

In 2013, the actor was forced to exit the GH canvas as Todd due to a legal dispute over rights to the character, and briefly reprised the role on the short-lived Internet reboot of OLTL (pictured). “That was a weird situation,” he admitted to Digest in 2020.

After he could no longer play Todd, GH reintroduced Howarth in a new role: Franco. “There's a lot of latitude, there's an unpredictability and an intelligence,” he observed to Digest about his new character in 2013. “There are a lot of things that make him a great part.” Franco found love with Rebecca Herbst’s Elizabeth, but was murdered in March 2021.

A few months after Franco’s demise, Howarth debuted in yet another new GH role: Dr. Austin Gatlin-Holt. The character was killed off on November 17.