Long-time soap veteran Thaao Penghlis is getting an early birthday present: he's headed back to General Hospital to revive a character he last played more than three decades ago.
General Hospital has confirmed that Penghlis will reprise the role of Victor Cassadine, a role that hasn't been seen or rarely -- if ever -- mentioned since 1981. Victor is the brother of Anthony and the best-known Cassadine brother, Mikkos. Victor was carted off to jail and was later presumed dead.
Victor does have ties to the existing GH canvas: he is Alexis' uncle and Nikolas' great-uncle. There are also rumblings that even more Cassadines could be returning in the near future.
Penghlis, meanwhile, is well known to daytime fans for his 30 years of work as Tony and Andre DiMera on NBC's Days of our Lives. In 2008, Penghlis received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor -- the first of his career.
Outside of daytime, Penghlis has guest-starred in numerous primetime projects, and he's also appeared in feature films. Most recently he appeared as Haman in The Book of Esther. Penghlis also appeared in the 1987 cult classic Les Patterson Saves The World, starring Dame Edna Everage.
Soap Opera Digest reports that Penghlis is set to report to work at GH in the New Year and will make his first on-screen appearance on January 30, 2014
What will bring Victor back into the fold on General Hospital? Do you remember the character's original GH story? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
