With the passing of Tristan Rogers, General Hospital has lost not just an actor but one of its core characters.

Tristan Rogers, the Australian actor behind the magnetic Robert Scorpio on "General Hospital," died Friday after a battle with lung cancer, according to his manager. He was 79.

Tristan Rogers, a longtime star of ABC’s daytime soap General Hospital, has died. He was 79. Rogers died early Friday after a battle with lung cancer, though he had never been a smoker. He played Robert Scorpio on General Hospital over several stints for some 45 years and also had a run on CBS’ The Young and the Restless.