Soap Veteran Nick Benedict has passed away

Soap vet Nick Benedict has passed away

Soap Opera fans are processing that there has been yet another death in the world of daytime. Bronwen Boothe, Jeffrey Carlson and Andrea Evans were reported to have passed away in recent weeks, and now comes the news that veteran actor Nicholas Benedict has passed away. His age was given as 76 or 77 depending on who was reporting.

He made his television debut as a child actor in 1955 in the series Wiretapper and when he was 17 he appeared in Mike and the Mermaid. His daytime debut was in 1973 as Vietnam war veteran Phillip Brent, on All My Children. In 1979 he received a Daytime Emmy Nomination in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Dool and Y&R performances were memorable

Benedict was well known for two iconic soap characters he played. The first is Michael Scott on The Young and the Restless and the second is Curtis Reed on Days of Our Lives. On Y&R Michael fell in love with Julia Newman (Meg Bennett), who was the wife of the ruthless Victor Newman (Eric Braeden). Victor punished Michael by locking him in the basement of his home inside a cage and feeding him rats to keep him alive.

On Days of Our Lives, Benedict portrayed Curtis Reed the abusive, evil, and sadistic former husband of Kate Roberts (Lauren Koslow). He was also the father of Kate's first two children Billie Reed (Lisa Rina) and Austin Reed (Austin Peck). Curtis was so evil he was shown in the flames of hell as he died. Thankfully neither Billie nor Austin seemed to inherit their father's evil streak.

Additional roles on TV and in film

The actor was born Nicholas Joseph Sciurba on July 14, 1946, and passed away on July 14, 2023. In addition to the soaps, he had other roles in television and film.

From 1982-1983, he played Ron Washington on Another Life. He appeared on The Dukes Of Hazzard, as Frank James, in the seventh-season episode Go West, Young Dukes. He played the attorney Michael Fox in the 1985 Tales from the Darkside episode "Madness Room". In 1990 he starred alongside Nancy Allen in the TV film Memories of a Murder. His last screen appearance was a minor role in George Santo Pietro's Kept in 2001.

He also appeared in the following: Adam-12. 1971, Ironside. 1970 , Mission:Impossible. 1969, The Naked Cage, 1986, The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend, 1991 and An American Summer, 1990, Kept 2001, A Beautiful Friendship, 2011, and Entourage, Perfect Fit, and Mars and Beyond in 2000.

Nick Benedict's personal life

It's easy for fans to assume that larger-than-life actors are all living well from royalties in older age but this is not necessarily true. Prior to Benedict’s death, A GoFundMe page was set up to assist his wife Ginger. On July 2, Ginger shared that her spouse had undergone spinal cord surgery and was paralyzed from the neck down.

Two days later, on July 4, he entered hospice care and on July 14, he was surrounded by his loved ones including Ginger when he passed away. The soap vet was previously married to Michelle Dow and there is no record of whether or not he had children.

Nick Benedict will be fondly remembered by fans for his many roles. Soap fans especially will recall him as Michael in the cage and Curtis burning in hell. The news of the actor's death was revealed by Barbara Ferrante, owner of Jake’s Steakhouse in Tehachapi, CA, where Ginger, who had been married to Nick for 22 years works as a bartender.