The Tragic Life Of Days Of Our Lives And General Hospital Star Tyler Christopher
Emmy-winning actor Tyler Christopher had enjoyed great success playing Nikolas Cassadine on "General Hospital" from 1996 to 2016, and was also a fan favorite when he originated the character Stefan DiMera on "Days of Our Lives" from 2001 to 2019. Sadly, behind the scenes he dealt with addiction issues and tragically died on October 31, 2023. He was engaged to Vanessa Marcil, who played Brenda Barrett on "GH," for a short time and credited that relationship with being eye-opening for him. "It was the first time in my life that somebody really wanted to know more about me than where I liked to buy my clothes," he explained.
It is unclear exactly when and where he would eventually meet "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria, but the couple went to Las Vegas, eloping on January 20, 2002, in a private ceremony witnessed by actors Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze, Jr. Sadly, they got divorced on January 19, 2004, due to the fact that their personal lives and habits didn't mesh well. In an interview posted on August 9, 2008, Longoria confessed to Digital Spy about her part in their failed marriage, stating "He was a lovely man, but I was very young. I didn't know who I was, and I was still struggling as an actor. I was a terrible wife."
Christopher's later marriage to Brienne Pedigo in 2008 lasted until 2021, during which they had two children, Boheme Christopher and Greysun James Christopher.
His troubles landed him in guardianship
Tyler Christopher's failed marriages weren't the only problems he had to deal with. According to the Indy Star, on November 8, 2019, he was allegedly intoxicated in a Walgreens parking lot and attempted to get into a car that was not his. The owners reported the incident to the police, and he was taken to an emergency room to get treatment for a wound on the bridge of his nose. His blood alcohol content was triple the legal limit at .267 percent, although he wasn't arrested at the time.
A few days later, on November 11 — his 47th birthday — Christopher was arrested after falling unconscious in the back of an Uber, had urinated in his pants, and was in possession of bourbon. The driver notified the police, and he was arrested. As if his November troubles weren't enough, Bloomberg Law reported in July 2023 that Christopher had also undergone brain surgery in November 2019 after hitting his head on his bathtub from an accidental fall. Subsequently, his sister, Susan Asmo Baker, petitioned a court in 2020 to make her his legal guardian. Christopher was outraged after his recovery, alleging that Baker had used $40,000 of his money to take care of her personal business, which included moving her family and paying credit card debt. She retorted against the allegations, telling Bloomberg, "If I hadn't been his Guardian he'd be DEAD!"
Never were more ominous words spoken.
Christopher had troubles almost to the end
In March 2022, Tyler Christopher appeared on "State of Mind," hosted by former "General Hospital" co-star, Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos). He opened up about his lifelong struggle with addiction and shockingly revealed that he began drinking at nine years old. "Some idiot said, 'There's alcohol in there. If you drink it, you'll get funny, silly,'" he bluntly stated, continuing, "So what's the first thing I do when I go home? I go in the cabinet and my mom had vanilla extract from left to right. And I took every one. And exactly what my friends told me would happen, happened." Christopher then remarked that he hadn't stopped pursuing alcohol since then.
However, feeling he'd turned his life around, he joyously shared on a November 13, 2022, Instagram post, "This weekend I spent my 50th birthday in an obscure Mexican restaurant in Indiana with my two beautiful children. There is no place I would have rather been than with those joyous souls." But Christopher's troubles continued when, in May 2023, he was arrested for being allegedly intoxicated and asleep at a terminal in the Hollywood Burbank Airport.
After this incident, Radar Online reported that ex-wife Eva Longoria was concerned for him, and even offered to help him financially, including getting him to rehab. Tragically, Christopher's attempts at sobriety wouldn't change the physical toll that alcohol had taken on his body, and he succumbed to heart failure on October 31.