Happy Birthday to General Hospital and Days of Our Lives' Wally Kurth

Today, Soap Central celebrates Daytime Emmy Award-winning actor and producer, Wally Kurth!

Happy Birthday, Wally Kurth!

Ned hugs Brook Lynn after he found out she had his grandson when she was a teenager on General Hospital | Image: ABC

Kurth, born on July 31, is a thirty-five-year veteran of daytime television. By portraying Ned Quartermaine on General Hospital and Justin Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives, he holds the unique distinction of being one of the few actors to play different characters on two different soaps at the same time.

Kurth began his acting career in the theatre, where he portrayed The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance on Broadway in 1981. He made his move to Daytime Television in 1987 when he originated the role of Justin Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives. Leaving DOOL in 1991, he stepped into the role of Edward Lawrence Ashton (Ned Quartermaine) on General Hospital for the first time.

Taking a break from GH in 2007, Kurth portrayed Sam Hutchins on As the World Turns for a brief period. Eventually, he returned to his legacy roles in both Days of Our Lives and General Hospital, for which he has received multiple Supporting Actor Daytime Emmy nominations and continues to appear in both soap operas. In addition to his career in soaps, he’s acted, hosted, and performed voice work in various movies, TV shows, and video games. He also produced and narrated the documentary Class C: The Only Game in Town. This past April, he returned to his birth state of Montana to join a celebration honoring the 20th anniversary of the documentary, which focuses on five girls’ basketball teams from small Montana towns.

As Justin Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives, he’s been a successful lawyer as well as involved in the family business. He is currently married to Bonnie Lockhart Kiriakis (Judi Evans) and has evolved into a loving husband and father who has a steady presence and is loyal to his family.

As Ned Quartermaine on General Hospital, he’s been a musician (as his alter ego, Eddie Maine) and even the Mayor of Port Charles, but has spent most of his time being a successful businessman who has fiercely fought for his position at ELQ over the years. He is currently married to Olivia Falconeri Quartermaine (Lisa LoCicero) and is a loving husband and father who is often stubborn and easily lured into the chaos of the Quartermaine family and business. Recently, he was shocked to discover he has a twenty-two-year-old grandson named Gio from his only daughter, Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton), who did not reveal she had a baby as a teenager until a few months ago.

Father, Husband, Musician

In real life, Wally Kurth is a devoted son, father, and husband who has two daughters and a son and has been married to Debra Yuhasz since 2003. Kurth is a talented musician for whom creating music and performing have continued to be an important part of his life for decades.

In 1992, he formed Kurth and Taylor with Christian Taylor. They gained recognition for their performances on General Hospital and, along with Debra Cochran, won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song ("Barefoot Ballet") in 2002. In 2015, Taylor wrote "Perfect to Me," a beautiful and emotional song about Kurth's son, Brogan, which he recently performed on his Instagram. When not on screen, he can be found touring with The Dayplayers Band, whose other members include Days of our Lives actors Brandon Barash, Carson Boatman, and Eric Martsolf.

Soap Central would like to wish the happiest of birthdays to this talented multi-hypenate star and sends its best wishes for the year to come!