Mark Dobies, Actor on Major ABC and CBS Soap Operas, Dead at 65

Daytime soap veteran Mark Dobies, known for his roles on CBS’ Guiding Light and ABC’s One Life to Live, has died.

Dobies passed away in Dunellen, New Jersey at the age of 65 on Tuesday, March 11, according to a local obituary. His cause of death was not disclosed.

“A loving father, accomplished athlete, and talented actor, Mark lived a life full of passion, perseverance, and love,” the online tribute read. “Mark’s warmth, generosity, and adventurous spirit will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him. His legacy lives on in the lives he touched and the love he gave so freely. May he fly high like his Birds off to heaven.”

The Philadelphia-born Dobies was a high school football star, even earning an athletic scholarship to Delaware Valley University, before he made the move to acting. He made his onscreen debut on the drama series Fame L.A. in 1997, and followed it with roles in In My Sister’s Shadow, Just Shoot Me!, Home Improvement, and Melrose Place, before landing the role of Noah Chase in on CBS’ Guiding Light in 2000, per his IMDb profile. His character, a doctor, became a love interest for Kim Zimmer’s Reva Shayne.

Dobies starred in the CBS soap for a total of 14 episodes before making the move to ABC to join One Life to Live in 2003. The actor starred as district attorney Daniel Colson until 2005. His character, who was married to Hilary B. Smith’s Nora Buchanan, was revealed to be gay, with the show sparking protest from GLADD when Daniel killed Brock Cuchna’s Paul Cramer for threatening to expose his affair with a man.

“This is a story about the harsher side of intolerance and about one man not being true to himself,” the show’s executive producer responded to the outrage, per TVLine.

Throughout his career, Dobies also appeared in episodes of All My Children, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Fringe, Gossip Girl, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. His last credit was in 2016’s Greater.

Offscreen, Dobies also appeared in the 2004 off-Broadway revival of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart.

Dobies is survived by his children Francesca, 27, Olivia, 24, and Robert, 21; his mother, Suzanne; his brother, Paul; and his sister, Sandy. A memorial was held for the late actor on March 17.