Daytime Emmys 2019: Kristoff St. John Receives Ovation During Touching In Memoriam Segment

The 2019 Daytime Emmy Awards included an emotional and heartbreaking moment when The Young and the Restless star Kristoff St. John was remembered during the “in memoriam” segment. The long-time soap opera actor died in February at age 52.

The segment included parts of a video the Y&R team released in St. John’s memory on Feb. 8, and inspired a standing ovation from the star-studded audience in the theater.

“It feels like a real accomplishment. I’ve been a part of something that will somehow be in a time capsule up there… and I’m part of it,” St. John said in the video. “I’m one of the brothers on The Young and the Restless. I’m one of the sons. I’m one of the family members. I was there.”

At the end of the clip, St. John told fans, “Thank you for sharing this adventure, this mighty ship that has sailed for so long. I love you.”

The tribute had fans at home in tears, and appreciated seeing the actor be remembered for his work.

“Thank you for making us love you for over a decade. WE LOVE YOU,” one fan wrote.

“There can NEVER be enough tributes for the one and only Kristoff St. John. He will and forever be our Neil Winters,” another added.

“Lawd, I’m not gonna be ready to see #KristoffStJohn in the In Memorium tribute,” one fan tweeted.

St. John played Neil Winters on The Young and the Restless for almost 30 years, joining the series in 1991. The role earned him a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2008 and Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 1992. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy nine other times, and also picked up 10 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series.

St. John died on Feb. 3, 2019 from hypertrophic heart failure. In April, a special Y&R episode aired as part of a multi-episode story about Neil being put to rest. At the end of the episode, Victoria Rowell, Bryton James, Christel Khalil, Michael Morgan, and Daniel Goddard sat to discuss his life and work.

“Kristoff was like my brother,” Rowell, who played Neil’s wife Drucilla until 2007, told Entertainment Weekly before the special aired. “We had a fantastic brother-sister relationship. He was like a big kid. He made me laugh and he made me really think about things.”

Rowell called St. John a “thinker” who was an “honest” actor.

“When he smiled, he had a smile from his childhood,” Rowell continued. “That he was able to do it and be in so much pain, will remain an anomaly. He was a rare person. It was a real gift that [Y&R creator] Bill Bell gave me.”

SWAT actor Shemar Moore, who became a star playing Neil’s half-brother Malcolm, has posted countless tributes to St. John since February.

“Kristoff St. John will be REMEMBERED and LIVES on FOREVER in ALL of our hearts,” Moore wrote in his most recent tribute last week.

Photo credit: CBS