UPDATED:  Just heartbreaking news over the weekend.  Former Port Charles star and soap veteran, Jay Pickett died suddenly while filming a movie.  His cause of death was not immediately known, although in a post on Sunday from Travis Mills it appears to have been from a heart attack. Pickett was 60-years-old.

In addition to his most remembered role on daytime as Frank Scanlon on the GH spinoff, Port Charles, where he appeared in over 762 episodes, Pickett also appeared on GH replacing Ted King as Lorenzo Alcazar and came back to the show in 2006-07 in the recurring role of Detective David Harper.  Jay also spent time on Days of our Lives as Dr. Chip Lakin and appeared on primetime’s Desperate Housewives and Queen Sugar countless other TV series and films.

Word of Pickett’s death first came via Facebook from Jim Heffel who is the film’s co-producer, who shared along with these images (see below): “Yesterday I lost a good friend and the world lost a great person. Jay Pickett decided to ride off into the Heavens. Jay died sitting on a horse ready to rope a steer in the movie Treasure Valley in Idaho. The way of a true cowboy. Jay wrote the story and starred in it. He was also coproducer with myself and Vernon Walker. He will be truly missed. Ride like the wind partner.”

Photo: ABC/Getty

Michael Dietz, who played Pickett’s on-screen brother, Joe Scanlon on Port Charles shared his grief on the news on Facebook, expressing: “My greatest friend has sadly left this world. We met when we were cast as brothers on Port Charles many, many years ago. He played my big brother on TV but that carried over into real life and an amazing friendship that was one of a kind. He was an incredible husband, father, friend, and godfather to my daughter. Everyone that knew him loved him. I love you, Jay. Keep smiling my friend. All my love to his family, who truly became our family as well. You will be forever missed.”

Kin Shriner (Scott, GH) and Jay’s former co-star at Port Charles shared: “The sudden passing of my pal Jay Pickett Is very sad . He loved acting and Westerns , and when we got together we laughed a lot . R.I.P. Jay”

Kelly Monaco (Ex-Livvie, PC and now Sam, GH) shared on her Instagram:  “My heart goes out to the family and friends of Jay Pickett. If you knew him, you loved him. Words can’t describe…”

Travis Mills from the film Treasure Valley, in which Pickett was filming at the time of his death, shared on Sunday morning this updated message on Facebook: “Many of you have already heard about the tragedy that happened two days ago. Jay Pickett, our leading man, writer, producer, and creator of this movie passed away suddenly while we were on location preparing to film a scene. There is no official explanation for the cause of his death but it appears to have been a heart attack. Everyone present tried as hard as they could to keep him alive. Our hearts are broken and we grieve for his family who are so devastated by this shocking tragedy.  As so many of us know, Jay was an incredible man. He was kind, sweet, and generous. He was one of the best actors I ever worked with and it was an honor to collaborate with him. Everyone who met him, even for the briefest moment, could feel his warmth, his wonderful spirit. It is difficult to find the words right now to say more. His closest friends have said that he was very happy making Treasure Valley and my hope is that he truly was. He was doing what he loved: acting, riding horses, making movies. And he was magnificent.”

Jay is survived by his wife, Elena, and their three children, Maegan, Michaela and Tyler.

We will have more on this continuing story as remembrances for Pickett are shared, and updated on news of his passing.

Share your condolences and thoughts on Jay via the comment section below.

 

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Three very familiar faces to daytime fans have their new potentially new nighttime gig!  E.J. Bonilla (Ex-Rafe, Guiding Light) has been added as as series regulars opposite Annie Ilonzeh (Ex-Maya, GH) along with former Ryan’s Hope favorite Marg Helgenberger (Ex-Siohan) to the NBC drama pilot, Getaway.

In Getaway, the loglines for the series read that the proposed series “centers on a destination wedding at an isolated luxury resort that quickly descends into chaos after a group of dangerous criminals takes the island hostage. The small group of guests, led by a fearless female Army vet (Ilonzeh), will do everything they can to stay alive.

According to Deadline: Helgenberger will play Sen. Charlotte Pierce. As a senior Democratic senator from New York, Charlotte is used to calling the shots. She’s happy to see her son, Jack (played by Matt Long), settle down with his bride, Grace (Jasmine Mathew), but there are darker forces at play she has yet to fully understand. Charlotte will soon have to choose between her family and the political career for which she’s worked so hard.  Bonilla will play Rafi Salinas. Rafi claims to be a fisherman on the run with his friends from a gang of cartel members, but he’s hiding a dark secret that will put everyone at the resort in danger.

So, what do you think of the concept for this new drama pilot for NBC and the cast? Comment below.

There’s a new man in soap veteran and Selling Sunset star, Chrishell Stause’s life.  And it is … none other than her boss at the Oppenheim Group, a real estate company, in Los Angeles which is at the epicenter of the Netflix reality series.

Stause who is also a real estate agent at the firm, made her relationship with Jason Oppenheim Instagram official when she posted a pic of the two of them while the cast of Selling Sunset were in Italy.

Oppenheim told PEOPLE: “Chrishell and I became close friends and it has developed into an amazing relationship. I care about her deeply and we are very happy together.”

Previously Stause was married to This is Us star, Justin Hartley and following their divorce, was briefly dating Dancing with the Stars pro dancer, Keo Motsepe.

So, what do you think of the love connection between Chrishell and Jason? Comment below.