John Callahan, 'All My Children' and 'Days of Our Lives' Star, Dead at 66

Actor John Callahan, who starred on All My Children and Days of Our Lives, died unexpectedly Saturday morning, a day after being put on life support. Callahan was best known for playing Edmund Grey on All My Children from 1992 to 2006, appearing in more than 350 episodes. He also appeared on Days of Our Lives as Dr. Baker from 2008 to 2010.

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

Callahan's death was not related to COVID-19, his rep said. However, current hospital guidelines meant Kaya and LaRue could only spend a short amount of time with Callahan before they had to leave. Hospital staffers told them of Callahan's death just after midnight, his rep said.

"We are extremely saddened and distraught over the loss of John," LaRue said in a statement. "He was my great friend, co-parent and an amazing father to Kaya. 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 and divorced in 2004. They welcomed Kaya in December 2001.

After leaving All My Children, he was cast as Dr. Baker on Days. He also starred on Watch Over Me, The Bay and Ladies of the Lake. He made his final movie, A Doggone Adventure, in 2018.

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

"Get past the horrible eyebrows on me and you will notice the incredibly handsome man, standing beside, me at my high school graduation," actress Sarah Michelle Gellar wrote on Instagram. "That's [John Callahan] or better know to me as GP (but why I called him that remains between us and those closest to him) He stepped into a lot of moments in my life because I didn't have a father to be there. Johns greatest joy in his life, was when he had a daughter of his own [Kaya]. John left us this morning. I promise you GP just as you were there for me, I will always be there for smoosh (Kaya) and [LaRue] as well. I will tape a pic of you to my hand held mirror (that's for you [Kelly Ripa]) This is all too much, especially right now, but I want the world to know how much you meant to so many people."

Photo credit: Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images