Thom Christopher, One Life To Life Actor, Dead At 84

Emmy Award-winning actor Thom Christopher has died at the age of 84. Most fans likely know Christopher from his long stint on the ABC soap opera "One Life to Live" from 1990 to 2008. His friend, photographer Steven Bergman, took to Facebook on December 5 to announce that Christopher has been added to the too-long list of stars we've sadly lost in 2024. According to Bergman, Christopher died on Thursday evening at the hospital after being ill "for quite awhile now and [fighting] through it all like a champ."

Christopher got his start on soap operas, appearing in CBS' "The Edge of Night" in 1974 and "Love of Life" in 1977. He also appeared on Broadway and in numerous primetime dramas, including "Buck Rogers" and "Kojak." The star received the best supporting actor Daytime Emmy in 1992 for his work on "One Life to Live" and was nominated again in 1993. The following year, he received a nomination for a different soap opera: ABC's "Loving." Bergman described Christopher as "a smart man who gave great advice and told such fantastic stories" and called him "a loving and dedicated husband " to his wife of nearly 50 years and "a great friend to everyone who had the privilege of being his friend."

During his time on "One Life to Live," Thom Christopher ended up with one of the best soap opera return-from-the-dead plotlines. In 1992, his character, mobster Carlo Hesser, was murdered, but Christopher remained on the show playing Carlo's twin brother, Mortimer Bern. Later, it was revealed that Carlo faked his death and was still alive, allowing Christopher to return to playing his original character. It sounds exhausting, but it was natural for Christopher. In a 2005 interview with Soap Opera Digest, he explained that what he loved about playing Carlo was his complexity, saying that playing a character who is "all good or all bad, it's kind of dull," adding, "It's showing the vulnerability, the humanity ... I think that's what becomes attractive and exciting for an audience to sit and watch. This is what the writers did then for Carlo."

Christopher was married to Judith Leverone, a playwright and agent, from 1971 until her death in 2019. In his tribute to Christopher, Steven Bergman wrote that his friend "always said that [Leverone] was not really gone, she was just in 'another room' and that one day he would join her there. He also said that he was not afraid of death as he knew they would be reunited together then," noting that Christopher "joined Judith in that other room where [they] are both reunited and will be together forever." Our condolences to his friends and loved ones.