Big Sad News! ‘General Hospital’ Star James Patrick Stuart Drops Heartbreaking News!
Actor James Patrick Stuart, who portrays Valentin Cassadine on the ABC Daytime soap opera, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to let his fans know that there’s been a death in his family.
“My mother-in-law, Barbara, has passed away after a painful fight with pancreatic cancer,” he wrote.
Fans made a beeline to the comments to share their condolences and some even shared their heartbreaking losses from the disease.
Even though there’s a great deal of hurt in painful losses such as this, Stuart said his mother-in-law wanted something positive to come out of her passing.
So, rather than holding a service for her, Stuart shared that she “instead wanted us to give the Arroyo Grande Hospital Foundation for further care of others. If you are so inclined.”
The fundraiser, which has been created in Barbara Stilwell’s honor, has raised $2,325 of its $5,000 goal at the time of this post.
“Every dollar raised stays in our community, benefiting cancer programs and supporting services for patients and families!” the Arroyo Grande Hospital page reads.
The foundation benefits the Mission Hope Cancer Center, which is dedicated to providing compassionate care for the community.
So while Stuart and his family have to say goodbye, perhaps the donations made in Stillwell’s name will help prevent other families from going through the same loss.
We can think of no better way to honor her memory than that. Our thoughts are with Stuart and his family during this painful time of saying goodbye.
The March 24 episode of General Hospital marked the end of the line for James Patrick Stuart’s Port Charles counterpart, Valentin Cassadine. In the hour’s final moments, he said goodbye to daughter Charlotte and was taken away to Steinmauer Prison to serve out a life sentence.
Which may not turn out to be all that long. The last words Anna’s lost love said weren’t “Well, that’s that, then,” they were “Till next time.”
Since Stuart was only recurring on General Hospital, Valentin’s prison sentence “was no skin off my teeth,” he tells Soap Opera Digest, adding that he’d happily return down the road. “But who knows? Who knows what’ll happen in the future?”
We kept hoping against hope that the show wasn’t writing off the soap vet, who first turned heads as All My Children baddie Will Cortlandt. But the hints that he was headed for the exit continued piling up. First, General Hospital introduced Jack, who is much like Valentin when he’s having a gray-hat day. Then, the show brought on Sidwell, who is more like Valentin when he’s being a full-on black-hatted villain.
More: Did Kristina accidentally just kill [Spoiler]?
It felt like Stuart was being replaced, just not in that exact role.
Adding fuel to the speculation was the fact that the MVP and his wife recently moved. “Jocelyn and I are Portlanders now,” he shared on social media in June. And while many an actor has commuted from out of town for their soap job, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case in this case.
In fact, when a fan playfully commented that Stuart’s move “better not mean you’re leaving General Hospital, because you’ll have to answer to me,” he didn’t respond.
While you’re here, check out all the latest cast changes, from a surprising recast to a soap switch we did not see coming.
