Soap fans are mourning the death of yet another veteran actor from General Hospital's golden era. David Groh, known for playing Bobbie's (Jacklyn Zeman) abusive first husband D.L. Brock, has passed away last Tuesday, February 12 at age 68 due to kidney cancer.

In addition to General Hospital, in which he was cast from 1983 to 1985, Groh was famously known as Rhoda's husband Joe from his 1974-1977 run on the 1970s Mary Tyler Moore spin-off series Rhoda, opposite Valerie Harper.  When his character and Rhoda Morgernstern split onscreen, the news came as a surprise to viewers given that divorce was not a subject generally addressed on television in the 1970s.  The couple's marriage was one of the series' highest-rated episodes.  When the pair divorced, some fans even sent condolence cards to the couple.

Furthermore, this General Hospital actor also ventured into off-Broadway plays like Be Happy For Me in 1986, Road Show in 1987 and The Twilight of the Golds in 1993.  On television, Groh appeared in guest roles on such series as Melrose Place, Law & Order, Baywatch, Murder, She Wrote, The X-Files, and L.A. Law.  His movies included Victory at Entebbe, Get Shorty, and a number of independent films.

Groh attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art on a Fulbright scholarship.  After a stint in the U.S. Army, he returned to New York to study at the Actors Studio.

Groh's death comes on the heels of the loss of Shell Kepler, who played gossipy nurse Amy Vining from 1979-2002 in General Hospital.  She passed away on February 1 after being admitted to the hospital at Oregon Health & Sciences University on the same day.  According to reports, the 49-year-old actress succumbed to renal failure, a situation in the body in which the kidney fails to function adequately.  To find out more about cast reactions about these deaths, check out the February 19 Soap Opera Digest issue.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Soap Opera Digest
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