Roger Howarth Announces His Return
For fans of GENERAL HOSPITAL wondering why they haven’t seen Austin on screen in a while, it’s because portrayer Roger Howarth was out of commission for a bit! The actor shared a selfie from an Equinox gym and offered an explanation for his absence and some inspiration for the future.
“Work,” he posted. “Progressive overload is the theory that whatever you do next should be more challenging. After a month off for COVID and knee MRI, I am back. And… accountable to you. Another gym post in 30 days. In that time, we can both try something new and difficult! Deal? It’s a way for us all to support and lift one another up. Peace. Seriously… peace.”
In the comments, fans were happy to hear that Howarth was feeling better and expressed how much they couldn’t wait to see him back on screen again soon to find out what Austin is up to next. And some even shared workout routines and promised to eat healthier!
Howarth actually made his daytime debut back in 1992 with short-lived roles on LOVING and GUIDING LIGHT before finding success when he was cast as Todd Manning on ONE LIFE TO LIVE. His short-term villain proved so popular he remained with the soap until 1998, earning two Daytime Emmy Award nominations and winning OutstandingYounger Actor in 1994. After working on the Broadway stage for two years, he returned to Llanview in 2000.
In 2003, Howarth joined the cast of AS THE WORLD TURNS as the newest actor to play Paul Ryan and garnered two more Emmy nods, this time for Lead Actor. After the CBS sudser was canceled in 2010, he came back to OLTL to reclaim the role of Todd (the Todd who had been on the soap for years played by Trevor St. John was revealed to be his twin brother, Victor Lord). When OLTL came to an end in 2012, Howarth joined castmates Kristen Alderson (Starr) and Michael Easton (John) in bringing their characters over to GH.
Things got complicated when Prospect Park sued ABC over the rights to the OLTL characters, and GH assigned the actors all new roles. Howarth then took over the part of Franco, who had previously been played by James Franco in a guest stint. After this alter ego was killed off in 2021, Howarth returned a few months later as the newly created character of Austin Gatlin-Holt.
With Austin currently pretending to help Ava even as he hides the fact he knows Nikolas is really alive, there’s lots more juicy drama to come, so it’s good to know Howarth is feeling better and we’ll be seeing him on GH again soon!
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