John Callahan’s Former ‘All My Children’ Co-Star Mark Consuelos Mourns Actor’s Death on Wife Kelly Ripa’s Post

In the hours following All My Children actor, John Callahan‘s death at the age of 66, his former co-star, Mark Consuelos took to wife, Kelly Ripa’s memoriam tribute on Instagram to share his own condolences over the immense loss. While Ripa was speechless for the most part over Callahan’s untimely passing from a stroke on Friday night, she posted Saturday afternoon shortly following their soap co-star, Sarah Michelle Gellar‘s tribute. While Consuelos did not post his own tribute to Instagram over the weekend, he commented on his wife’s post, with a heartfelt message about Callahan for fans and friends to see.

In the comments section of the post featuring an image of Callahan cradling the baby bump of his ex-wife, Eva LaRue while attending a red carpet event, Consuelos wrote short and simple: “RIP Johnny numbers,” the 48-year-old wrote, followed by a quote from his former co-star. “There’s cash… -and then there’s cash, cash.’ JC.”

Callahan, who starred on All My Children among a plethora of soap operas, including Falcon Crest, Santa Barbara and Days of Our Lives, died unexpectedly late Saturday morning — a day after being put on life support. Callahan was well known for playing Edmund Grey on All My Children from 1992 to 2006, appearing in more than 350 episodes and sharing screen time with Ripa, Consuelos and Gellar. He also appeared on Days of Our Lives as Dr. Baker from 2008 to 2010.

Callahan’s representative told the Soap Opera Network that he suffered a massive stroke on Friday at his home in Palm Desert, California and was put on life support shortly after, prompting a hospitalization at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage. His daughter, Kaya Callahan, and ex-wife, All My Children co-star Eva LaRue, drove to the hospital from Los Angeles.

With the death not related to COVID-19 per his rep, the family had to take special precautions when visiting him, which meant they only spent a short amount of time by his side before being asked to leave. LaRue issued a statement shortly after, revealing she, her daughter and their family were all “extremely saddened and distraught” over the loss.

“He was my great friend, co-parent and an amazing father to Kaya,” LaRue said in a statement. “The absence of his bigger than life, gregarious personality will leave a hole in our hearts forever. Words cannot express the shock and devastation we are feeling at this time. The Yankees just lost one of their greatest fans.”

LaRue and Callahan met on the set of All My Children and played a couple on the series. They married in real life in 1996, but divorced in 2004. They welcomed Kaya in December 2001.

The Brooklyn-born actor was nominated for four Soap Opera Digest Award nominations for All My Children, and won Outstanding Lead Actor in 1998.

Photo credit: Toby Canham/Getty Images