General Hospital
CONFIRMED: Tonja Walker Returning To General Hospital!
Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com
After much speculation, it has been confirmed by General Hospital’s executive producer Frank Valentini on Friday, that Tonja Walker is set to return to the ABC daytime drama series for a prominent role beginning to air in early 2017.
In the statement the EP related: “We are very happy to be bringing Tonja back to GH. While we can’t share what role she’ll be playing, we can guarantee that she’ll be shaking things up in Port Charles.”
On GH, Walker played Olivia Jerome from 1988-1990, until the character was killed-off by her brother Julian! Savvy GH fans think they may know who Walker will play! The initiasl O and J may be very important since fans began speculating that the person Julian (William deVry) is speaking with and getting some directives from is named Oscar Jessup. But Sam (Kelly Monaco) and Jason (Billy Miller) discovered Jessup died in the early 90’s!
If Walker is reprising Olivia, it would provide great drama with her revenge on her brother and her past with Anna Devane (Finola Hughes). And, how might Ava Jerome (Maura West) feel about having Olivia actually alive and well? Stay tuned to see how this all plays itself out.
So, excited to hear Tonja is coming back to GH? Comment below!
Breaking News
DAYS and GH Director Joe Behar Passes Away at 94
Joseph Behar was heavyweight director in daytime drama having worked on both Days of our Lives and General Hospital and now comes word of his passing. Behar passed away on June 26th at the age of 94.
According to his obit, he died at his home in Manhattan Beach, California.
Joe spent the the bulk of his career directing Days of Our Lives and General Hospital. He actually directed the pilot episode of General Hospital back in 1963, then came back the ABC daytime drama series 30 years later to direct it for more than 10 more years,.
Along the way, he won 5 Daytime Emmys for his work on GH, and had won six overall throughout his career. He continued directing until his retirement back in 2005.
Behar’s career started on the Ernie Kovacs Show and he also directed Let’s Make a Deal. and more.
Photo: JPI
He is survived by his wife, Carolyn and his sons, Jeffrey, Steven and Greg Behar and his grandchildren, Alex, Mallory, Niko and Lydia.
Watch an interview with Joe via the TV Academy on his career including working with Frances Reid (Ex-Alice, DAYS), the pace of directing in daytime and more below.
Share your remembrances and condolences for Joe and his family in the comment section.
General Hospital
GH’s James Patrick Stuart Releases His New Album ‘Clean Slate’
On Thursday, the highly-anticipated nine song set from General Hospital’s James Patrick Stuart (Valentin Cassadine) dropped on Apple Music
The album entitled “Clean Slate” features the tracks: “Look Out Below”, “My Funny Friend”, “Can U Feel Me?”, “World of Good”, “Don’t Tell Me”, “I Burn For You”, “Always Love You”, “Another Time”, and “My One and Only Love”.
Photo: japastuTwitter
Fans of General Hospital, always love when James performs at the Nurses Ball’ but now here, Stuart delivers several original songs with his unique vocal style that make it unmistakable JPS.
Check out a preview of the album below.
Now, let us know if you will be adding “Clean Slate” to your playlists and more via the comment section below.
General Hospital
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I know zero of Tonja, so really don’t care if she comes on or not.
I do care for Helena and I want her back !!!
Her scenes with Maura West are going to be must see daytime tv!
Just before her death, Olivia Jerome found redemption in a relationship with Lucy’s cousin Colton. If TW is an alive again Olivia, at least one scene with Lynn Herring would be fantastic
Swooning at Maura/Tonja….
whatever it takes… to upend… the dire wasteland that is : Corinthos
this is tour de force acting troupe; Jerome’ Julian, Olivia, Ava. wow
OH happy DAY! Olivia Jerome was a GREAT character brilliantly played by Tonja Walker! Bringing her back is exactly the spark this show and storyline need! Welcome home Tonja!
I believe Tonja was on OLTL for a while.
Yes. She played Alex Olanov.
What a hoot TW was as Alex Olanov. Loved TW then and love her now. Glad she is coming back to GH. Girl has style and delivery. Yeah.
Meh
She was fantastic from I remember of her from back then. A complex kind of crazy a Olivia Jerome was. Maybe Griffin is due to be crazy obsessed over like his Dad
Duke was not obsessed with Olivia, it was the other way around.
Olivia was a creepy-stalker woman who also preyed upon Anna.
But never the less, given her Duke obsession, she cannot be happy with her brother for killing the object of her obsession.
I know. I said crazy obsessed over
Meaning someone was crazy obsessing over him
Okay, thank you for the clarification.
If Tonya is playing Olivia – the scenes between her and Ava will be electrifying I’m sure .
I friggin’ loved Olivia Jerome! This could be great.
I’m excited to see her back on General Hospital and can’t wait to see how all of this will play out.
Tonja and Maura is brilliance!!
If she is playing Olivia Jerome – what do we do with Olivia Falconeri? It has never been the practice on a soap to have two characters with the same first name. A same-named boy may be called “Junior.” When Denise Alexander came back to GH, LesleyLu was then called LuLu. Alan Quartermaine Jr was not Alan but A.J. Will be interesting to see what Tanya’s character will be or maybe LoCicero is leaving GH…with the kid, I hope.
As Tracy would say, it’s time for Mama Leone to he’d back to Brooklyn
Two people in a town can have the same name! Young and Restless had John Silva and John Abbott for years. And GH had John McBain and John Zacchara.
One Life also had John McBain and John Sykes for a short while
I’ve always enjoyed Tonja Walker’s work—dating back to her early role on “Capitol”—so I’m happy to see her return to daytime. I just hope it isn’t as another Jerome family member, even though she was the original one back in the day…Quite frankly, I’ve had it up to here with that corrupt clan monopolizing the GH canvas….both Ava and Julian need to go. But if Olivia—or whoever she is—can accomplish that feat, then I’m all for her (re)appearance. (It would still be a better idea than attaching Walker to her old OLTL character…oh please, for the love of God, let’s… Read more »
I only began watching GH when Maura West joined as Ava. I have found the show very bland and poorly written of late. If Ava leaves, I’ll not watch anymore. I humbly respect your opinion.
I can appreciate your thoughts, too, toscanti…even though I cannot deny West’s talents, I simply have not enjoyed the character of Ava (nor Julian) and their effect upon the emphasized mob direction of GH. Of course, I can also say the same for the characters of Sonny and Carly…whilst I’ve no quarrel with the actors who portray them, I cannot abide the way they have monopolized the goings-on in Port Charles.
Shay merry Christmas best wishes for 2017 the fact you re still watching GH tells me you have had a lobotomy or a glutton for punishment! Lol you hang in there
Darlings FV thinks it is OLTL
@k/kay…..Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you, as well! For the record, I’ve not had a lobotomy, nor am I a glutton for punishment….I barely watch GH anymore. The last full episode I tuned into was when “painted as sainted” Sabs kicked the proverbial bucket, and that one was worth the price of admission, believe you me! Other than occasional snippets here and there, I really don’t view the show, but hope always springs eternal it will someday get it right again. Until then, the void for daily drama is more than filled by the likes of MFSoaps and the… Read more »
Ooh more Jeromes !!
Let’s complete the family and bring back daddy Victor. Jack Axelrod is still acting at 86!
Hey Olivia meet Olivia falcineri, lol, I was a kid back when Olivia Jerome was on and while I don’t remember everything bout the character I do remember her obsession with Duke, she was cray cray for sure in the good way she’ll be fun to watch with Ava.
Been waiting 26 years for this reunion! I agree the case of the 2 Olivias does complicate things but the addition of Tonja to the canvas is sure to set off a lot of sparks across various storylines. Is Nelle part of her master plot? Did she pull the strings on the Duke hit? If she was so Duke-obsessed why wait so long after his death to reappear! What does she have in mind for Sonny? Lastly, is she connected to Paul Hornsby? See ya around Port Chuck, Oscar!!!!!?
I wasn’t a GH viewer back when Tonja was on, but I’ve heard about Olivia Jerome and think she would be a great addition to the canvas. However, the casting notice doesn’t specify that she’ll be playing Olivia, and since there is already another Olivia currently on the show, are they really going to have two characters with the same name?
I’m glad, it’s about time. She was so great first time around. My only thing is, now we’ll have two Olivias on the show.
Olivia VS Ava=Jerome Fireworks!
Both actresses BRING IT! and i know with them together, it will be magical!
Skip Julian, i’ll take the Jerome girls ANYDAY!
This could potentially shake things up in a really good way that pays homage to GH history.
Maybe she’s Griffin’s mom…believed dead. I didn’t watch back then but since she had a thing for Duke…could it be she changed her identity…Griffin in the dark about her past…
I was gonna say the exact same thing! Could she be Griffin’s believed-to-be-dead Mother? Especially considering her past connection(s) with the character of Duke who of course happens to be Griffin’s father…
Yep…would be interesting! Lol…poor Griffin…he’s so good…it’d devastate him. And Anna’d freak. But still, an interesting twist… Let’s see if we’re right….
I do not remember her. Was she before 1989?
The best years of GH were before 1989, Tskyent. But yes, she came on the show in ’88 and was front burner with Duke and Anna.
And she left in ’90 after being redeemed.
I’ve watched in the seventies, and early eighties. Thank you 🙂
Great to see Tonja Walker on soaps again, I really liked her as Alex on OLTL. I hope GH treats her well and that she is on it full time, or at least recurring.
I know I’m late responding to this announcement but this is awesome. How could they possibly bring her back as Olivia unless she was in disguised as Alex Olonov on OLTL all these years? Coming back as Olivia will pull multiple GH favs into the storyline. This will drive Ana completely crazy. She could also be Griffins mother with Duke. She will definitely come gunning after Julian. She could even have a vendetta against Ava being the bastard child of her father. It could get even more interesting if she removed Ana’s fetus after the elevator accident and implanted it… Read more »
I would love to see her playing the character from One Life. Certainly she learned a lot from Asa and Carlo to be a very dangerous woman. She’s been living on that Island of hers all these years. A rise to power would be great for her!! And she’s alive, not even presumed dead. She can pretend to be whoever she wants.