Ryan Chamberlain Returned From the Dead on General Hospital and Other Big Moments From August 10

In 1981, John Colicos (c.) made his General Hospital debut as the fearsome patriarch of the Cassadine clan, Mikkos Cassadine. Mikkos (pictured with Thaao Penghlis, l., as Victor Cassadine and Andre Landzaat as Tony Cassadine) was Helena's husband and the father of Stefan and Stavros via Helena, and Alexis and the late Kristina via his mistress, Kristin Bergman. Mikkos ultimately died in a dramatic confrontation with Luke Spencer, who was attempting to thwart Mikkos's diabolical efforts to control the planet via a weather machine.

In 2004, Martha Madison made her Days of Our Lives debut as Belle Black, a role that had been vacated earlier in the year by Kirsten Storms (Maxie, General Hospital). The actress remained with the show through 2008, then returned in 2015, playing Belle off and on before returning to the show on a more permanent basis in 2024. Of how her life had changed since she first arrived in California to become an actress, Madison marveled to Soap Opera Digest in 2015, "When I first moved to Los Angeles, I was a single, 26-year-old bartender with big dreams and no money. Since then, I’ve become a working actress, wife, mother, business owner and producer." At the time of that interview, she had been invited back to DAYS for the first time since her original four-year stint. “I always hoped that I would get that call because I love the show,” she enthused. “But there are no guarantees in this business. So even though I definitely hoped that this day would come along, I never expected it to actually happen. When it did, it was kind of a shock.”

In 2009, Wally Kurth (pictured with John Aniston as his Salem uncle, Victor Kiriakis) returned to Days of Our Lives as Justin Kiriakis after a 19-year absence. The actor marveled to Digest in 2017 that his first day back on set "felt like I was going to kindergarten or something. It was like my first day of school, but it felt like it had been so long that I was really kind of nervous. I was kind of scared but just excited and butterflies, and I remember I was working with John that very first day. It was in 2009. I left in ’91. Almost 19 years. As soon as I started, we started talking to one another and it was just like, 'Wow. I’m back.' "

In 2018, Jon Lindstrom reprised the role of Ryan Chamberlain on General Hospital. Lindstrom had originally played Ryan from 1992-95, and began playing his more enduring GH role, Kevin Collins (Ryan's identical twin), in 1993. The reveal that Ryan, who had been presumed dead for over 22 years, was actually alive was one of the most shocking events of the soap year. The actor recalled to Soap Opera Digest in 2023 that he found out that Ryan was being resurrected via his boss, Executive Producer Frank Valentini. "One day, I was asked to come up to Frank’s office, and he said, ‘Shut the door.’ I thought, ‘This is gonna be really good or really bad!’ I shut the door, and he said, ‘Remember your twin brother who died 25 years ago? He’s not dead. Not even close.’ I said, ‘OK, great! Let’s do it.’ " Ryan was shot dead (for real, this time, it would seem) in 2023.

In 2018, William Lipton (pictured with Eden McCoy as Josslyn Jacks) made his General Hospital debut as Cameron Webber, Elizabeth's firstborn son. The popular young actor was last seen on air in 2024 when he came home from college at Stanford for Christmas. In a 2019 interview with Soap Opera Digest, Lipton recalled, "I auditioned with Mark [Teschner, casting director], who was a fantastic, nice guy. I felt like we really clicked. I remember talking to my mom after and saying, ‘Man, that felt so good!’ ” On his first day playing Cameron, he shared, “I was really nervous, but everyone was so welcoming in wardrobe and hair and makeup. The first person I met, actor-wise, when I went on set was Detective Chase, played by Josh Swickard. He was the coolest, nicest guy and I felt at home right away. Oh, and on my second day, when I was working with Eden, I met her in the parking lot and she gave me the biggest hug. That was also really awesome.”