Roscoe Born

Roscoe Conklin Born (November 24, 1950 – March 3, 2020) was an American actor and songwriter. He is best known for his roles on various television soap operas, most notably as archvillain Mitch Laurence on One Life to Live in six stints between 1985 and 2012.

Roscoe Born
Born	Roscoe Conklin Born November 24, 1950 Topeka, Kansas, U.S.
Died	March 3, 2020 (aged 69)
Cause of death	Suicide
Occupation	Actor, songwriter
Years active	1976–2020
Spouse(s)	Randall Edwards ​ ​ (m. 1985⁠–⁠1990)​ Roberta Weiss ​ (m. 1994⁠–⁠1997)​
Children	1

Early life and education

Born was born in Topeka, Kansas.[1][2] He graduated from Albert Einstein High School in Kensington, Maryland, in 1968.

Career

Born has appeared most often in daytime television, first appearing on Ryan's Hope as troubled mob heir Joe Novak from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1988.[3] He next portrayed villain Mitch Laurence on One Life to Live from 1985 to 1987[4] then again from 2002 to 2003, reprising the role once again starting in November 2009.[3] Born appeared on Santa Barbara in his best known roles Robert Barr (1989–1991) and his twin Quinn Armitage (1990–1991), a role that earned him an Emmy Award-nomination. He was also a regular on the primetime soap Paper Dolls as Mark Bailey in 1984. From April 2005 to January 2006 and again in March 2009, Born was on The Young and the Restless in the critically acclaimed role of the evil Tom Fisher. Many of his daytime roles showcased him in evil roles, with the exception of Nick Rivers on the 1995-1997 ABC series The City. Nick was a grizzled musician, allowing Born the opportunity to perform his own material. He can be seen performing some of his more recent songs on YouTube.com: "Bob Dylan's Pepsi Blues"; "Blue State Mind, Red State Soul"; "Soldier On", a salute to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan; and "If It Don't Stink, Don't Stir the Pot", a response to the Boy Scouts of America sex abuse scandal. In February 2017, Born released two singles on iTunes via Chowderhead Records, "Let the Road Lead" and "Crazy is as Crazy Does".

In the 1980s, he also guest starred in such prime time shows as Murder, She Wrote and Midnight Caller and starred in the TV movies The Haunting of Sarah Hardy and Lady Mobster. In 1989, he had a featured role in the film Pow Wow Highway. 1970s TV appearances include The Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man, two episodes of The Rockford Files and the TV movie Fast Friends.

Around this time Born played the dastardly Jim Thomasen on All My Children. In late 1997, he abruptly left the role and did not appear on daytime for the next several years (save bit parts on As the World Turns and Guiding Light). Born was working outside of the industry when One Life to Live rehired him from 2002 to 2003 to reprise the role of Mitch. Born portrayed an evil prison warden on Passions in 2007, and played the contract role of Dean Trent Robbins on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives[3] from May 29, 2008 to September 26, 2008.

Born studied acting at the Arena Stage workshop and made his professional acting debut for them on November 13, 1969, in the play Edith Stein.[5][6][7] In 1979, he won an Drama-Logue Award for the play Life in the Theater.[5]

In 1990, Born earned nominations for a Daytime Emmy[8][9] and Soap Opera Digest award.[10]

Personal life and death

From 1982 to 1990, Born was married to fellow Ryan's Hope actress Randall Edwards. He was married to fellow Santa Barbara co-star Roberta Weiss from 1994 to 2000 and they had a daughter, Alberta.[11]

Born died on March 3, 2020, at the age of 69.[11][12] He died by suicide; his family issued a statement which said, "Roscoe has long struggled with bipolar disorder, a shadow that he succumbed to when he took his own life".[13][14]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Joe Forrester	unknown	1 episode
1977	End of the World	Bob
	Jailbait Babysitter	Robert
1979	Fast Friends	Ben Lakeman
	Dear Detective	unknown	1 episode
	The Rockford Files	TV Commentator/Tallafero	2 episodes
1981	Ryan's Hope	Joe Novak	1981–1983 1988
	The Incredible Hulk	Sheldon	1 episodes
1984	Paper Dolls	Mark Bailey	10 episodes
1985	One Life to Live	Mitch Laurence	1985-1987 2002-2003 2009-2010 2012
1988	Lady Mobster	Robert Castle
1989	Midnight Caller	Sawyer	1 episode
	The Haunting of Sarah Hardy	Allen deVineyn
	Powwow Highway	Agent Jack Novall
	Santa Barbara	Robert Barr	1989–1991
1990	Santa Barbara	Quinn Armitage	1990–1991
	Murder, She Wrote	Langston 'Lanny' Douglas	1 episode
1993	Family Passions	Kyle McDeere
1995	The City	Nick Rivers
1997	All My Children	Jim Thomasen
2001	As the World Turns	Det. Adamski	1 episode
	Guiding Light	Peter Vreeland	1 episode
	Days of Our Lives	Trent Robbins Baron Coe	2001; 2008
2005	The Young and the Restless	Tom Fisher	2005-2006 2009
2007	Passions	Warden
2008	Indie Jonesin for the Kingdom of Crystal Ice	Neighbor

References

1. Cushman, Dustin (March 6, 2020). "'Soap Legend Roscoe Born Dead at 69". Soaps.com. United States: SheKnows Media. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
2. Beresford, Trilby (March 5, 2020). "Roscoe Born, Actor on 'The Young and the Restless,' Dies at 69". The Hollywood Reporter. United States: Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group (Valence Media). Retrieved March 8, 2020.
3. Rabinowitz, Naomi (September 16, 2008). "The Born Identity". Soap Opera Digest. 33 (38). United States: American Media, Inc. Odyssey Magazine Publishing Group Inc. pp. 63–65. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
4. Waggett, Gerard J. (November 1997). "One Life to Live". The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. New York City: Avon. pp. 163–188. ISBN 978-0061011573.
5. Reed, Jon-Michael (16 January 1983). "Night Caller". Quad-City Times. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
6. Reichardt, Nancy M. (11 November 1990). "Roscoe Born enjoys playing twins on 'Santa Barbara'". The Morning Call. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
7. Variety Magazine (Vol. 257, Iss. 2 ed.). p. 64. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
8. Lipton, Lauren (May 11, 1990). "CBS Dominates Daytime Emmy Field With 74 Nominations : Television: The networks' order in nominations mirrored their daytime ratings. ABC got 39; NBC took 30". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times Communications LLC (Nant Capital). Retrieved March 9, 2020.
9. Passalacqua, Connie (July 22, 1990). "Daytime Emmys were better than usual". The Evening News. Newburgh, New York: Newburgh-Beacon News Co. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
10. "The Soap Opera Digest Awards: 1990". Soap Opera Digest. Soap Opera Digest. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
11. Evans, Greg (March 6, 2020). "Roscoe Born Dies: 'The Young And The Restless', 'All My Children' Actor Was 69". Deadline Hollywood. United States: Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
12. SOD (March 6, 2020). "Soap Opera Vet Roscoe Born Passes Away". Soap Opera Digest. American Media, Inc. Odyssey Magazine Publishing Group Inc. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
13. Ausiello, Michael (March 9, 2020). "Roscoe Born's Family Reveals Cause of Death, Calls For More 'Conversations Around Mental Illness". TVLine. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
14. Michael, Maloney (March 10, 2020). "Soap Opera Veteran Roscoe Born's Cause Of Death Revealed". Soap Hub. Retrieved March 10, 2020.

External links

• Roscoe Born at IMDb
• Roscoe Born Facebook Page