In lieu of a brand-new episode of the Daily Drama Podcast, hosts Steve Burton (Jason Morgan, General Hospital) and Bradford Anderson (Damian Spinelli, GH) present the late Johnny Wactor’s (ex-Brando Corbin) first appearance, which originally aired three years ago.

Remembering Johnny Wactor

Before airing the encore episode, Steve and Brad sat for a few minutes and shared their feelings about Johnny Wactor’s horrific death. These were emotional moments as they talked about Wactor’s kindness, his outstanding character, and how much of a gentle soul he was to everyone around him.

“I haven’t posted anything about him. I always have to wait a couple of days to process it,” relays Steve. “What struck me the most about Johnny was that this guy was a true gentleman in his life. It’s hard to come by nowadays. He was a throwback to what a gentleman was. He treated everybody kindly and respectfully. This guy was a hardworking guy. He put everybody before himself. Which, in the reports, he also did that. I had a lot of respect for him because of the way he handled himself.”

“There was a strength about him. It’s hard to put into words because yes, it was confidence but you weren’t struck immediately by his sense of confidence. He’s the kind of guy that you would make everybody feel safe.” Bradford shares. “You felt his capableness. You felt his compassion. You felt his empathy. You felt his incredible presence. When he looked at you, he wasn’t anywhere else. He was right there with you listening to you and being there.”

“This is the first episode we did with him, so you’ll learn about him growing up and where he came from so if any episode we wanted to share it seemed like this would be the one.” Bradford adds. “This is when we were getting to know him the first time, too.”

WARNING: The video above contains references to dangerous/risky and illegal behaviors as well as well as death/dying.

Gone But Not Forgotten

At the top of the hour, Anderson enthusiastically welcomes “hunk of beef” Johnny Wactor, and soon he and Burton are enthralled with the actor’s tales of free-climbing boulders, the “many times” he took a tumble, and the “safety net” that awaits him down blow.

Talk then turns to Wactor’s early life in South Carolina — first in Summerville, then rural Jedburg — his enrollment at Rollings Middle School of Arts, and how he got bit by the acting bug.

Much time is paid to the actor’s early career — his first big break came courtesy of Army Wives, filmed on location in SC — his move to L.A., and the lessons he learned along the way, big and small.

Of course, the real meat of the episode, and no doubt what most fans will want to hear, was the discussion about Wactor’s time on GH. At the time he was a neophyte, completely ignorant of the sudser’s storied history or indeed his recently introduced character’s backstory.

While he did know for certain that he’d burst onto the scene to ensure that rumors of Brando’s passing in Afghanistan had been greatly exaggerated and that there was no earthly way that he was Dev’s biological father, what about the rest of his life? He wasn’t sure exactly how he was related to Sonny (Maurice Benard) and was hilariously confused Gladys (Bonnie Burroughs) and Mike’s (Max Gail) relationship. (For the record, they were cousins, NOT lovers!). Anderson and Burton proved to be no help at all…no change there then (HA!).

Donations can be made in his honor to his family’s GoFundMe by clicking here.

Be sure to check out the walk down memory lane above, then head to our comments section and leave your thoughts.

Show Notes:
Opening Credits – 0:00
Introductions – 0:14
Crash Pads – 3:05
Don’t Look Down 6:20
Early Days – 9:13
The Creeping Arts – 10:56
High school Experience – 17:45
Parental Guidance – 22:03
Recruitment Into Army Wives – 23:53
L.A. Dreaming – 26:04
GH Audition – 41:52
Who The Hell Is Brando Corbin – 49:30
Daytime Challenges – 54:42

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