GH Star Doug Sheehan Dead at 75

Actor Doug Sheehan , who soap fans will remember as Joe Kelly on General Hospital , has died at the age of 75. According to the announcement from Kane Funeral Home in Big Horn, WY, he passed away peacefully at his home on the morning of June 29 with his wife, Cate Abert, at his side. No cause of death was given.

After appearing in episodes of Charlie’s Angels and Kaz as well as the Blake Edwards film 10 , Sheehan got his big break when he joined the cast of GH as Joe Kelly in 1979. Playing the detective-turned-lawyer who dated Anne Logan and Bobbie Spencer earned the young actor a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Supporting Actor in 1982.

Sheehan exited GH in 1982 and appeared in episodes of Cheers and Alice before being cast as Ben Gibson on primetime sudser Knots Landing from 1983-88. He also starred as Brian Harper in the NBC sitcom Day By Day, which ran from 1988-89, and played Cher’s father Mel Horowitz in the TV adaptation of Clueless from 1997-99.

The actor could also be seen in TV movies like Crash: The Mystery of Flight 1501 , A Mom for Christmas , and In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders . He returned to daytime for a brief appearance as an attorney named Davis on the NBC soap Passions in 2002, and his last acting role was playing Sabrina’s father, Edward Spellman, on ABC’s Sabrina the Teenaged Witch in 2003.

Our thoughts are with Sheehan’s family and friends during this difficult time.