Ron Hale, who played the role of Roger Coleridge for the entire 14-year period Ryan's hope and had an even longer run as Mike Corbin on another ABC soap opera, General Hospitalis dead. He was 78 years old.
Hale, who lived in St. George, South Carolina, died Aug. 27, his family announced.
Hale continued to work Ryan's hope from 1975 to 1989 and received the Supporting Actor Daytime Emmy in 1979 and '80. As Coleridge, a wealthy family doctor who often clashed with the Ryan clan, he was married to Delia Reid (Ilene Kristen/Randall Edwards), Maggie Shelby (Cali Timmins) and then Delia again.
Hale next played Corbin, the father of mob boss Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), in General Hospital from 1995 to 2010, and presented at the GH spin off Porto Carlo also from 1997 to 2000. (Max Gail played the character from 2018 to 21.)
Ronald Hale Thigpen was born on January 2, 1946 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He attended Furman University, came to New York when he was 19, and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1967.
He made his screen debut in an episode of ABC New York Police in 1968 and a year later appeared in his first soap opera, CBS' Look for tomorrow. That same year he came to Broadway in William Saroyan The time of your life.
In All the president's men (1976), he played Watergate burglar Frank Sturgis.
Also included is Hale's resume Jury trial (1994), episodes of Matlock AND MacGyver and plays performed at the Trustus Theater in Columbia, South Carolina, founded by his late brother, Jim Thigpen Jr., and late sister-in-law, Kay Thigpen.
Survivors include his nieces, Lori and Erin, and nephews Max and Marc.