David Canary, Veteran Soap Actor And ‘All My Children’ Star, Passes Away At 77


David Canary, a veteran actor best known for his roles on soap operas — All My Children in particular — has died. He was 77.

As ABC News reports, Mr. Canary died at his home in Connecticut on November 16, but his death was just confirmed to the media this week.

David Canary is perhaps best known for his nearly 30-year stint on the ABC soap opera All My Children, where he played twins Adam and Stuart Chandler. In characteristic soap opera fashion, one twin was good and one twin was evil.

Canary joined the cast of All My Children in 1983, after three other brief stints on the soap operas The Search for Tomorrow, The Doctors, and Another World, according to MSN. During his 30-year career on All My Children, David Canary would win five Daytime Emmy Awards. During the 2005 Daytime Emmys, Canary famously poked fun at himself, appearing on stage with another daytime TV regular, Sesame Street‘s Oscar the Grouch.

David Canary appeared with Oscar the Grouch at the 2005 Daytime Emmy Awards, [Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images]
David Canary appeared with Oscar the Grouch at the 2005 Daytime Emmy Awards [Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images]
Prior to hitting it big on All My Children, David Canary worked in theater, both before and after a brief stint in the Army, according to the Wilton Bulletin. His early career included movie work on Hombre (1967) and The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967). He followed up his film work breaking into TV, with appearances on Bonanza(where he appeared in nearly 100 episodes as Candy Canaday), Peyton Place, and Gunsmoke.

Despite being an award-winning, beloved, and respected actor, David Canary preferred a private life out of the spotlight. Speaking to the Associated Press in 1993, Canary told a reporter that he favored small-town life in Connecticut over the high-profile lifestyle of some of his peers on TV.

“At the risk of being misunderstood, I’m a real private person. I don’t make appearances. I don’t do fan magazine interviews. My wife and our two children live in a little town in Connecticut, where most of the people don’t watch the show and, if they do, don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Off-camera, Mr. Canary preferred to invest his time and money in charitable organizations in and around his adopted home town of Wilton, Connecticut. He acted, free of charge, in a local theater production to raise money for A Better Chance (a Wilton charity intended to help kids prepare for college), he sang in Kiwanis holiday concerts, he spoke at an area school’s Career Day, and he was a supporter of Wilton’s public library.

After officially retiring from All My Children in 2010, Canary returned to Wilton to enjoy his twilight years with his wife, Maureen, where he continued to be active in the community.

Canady’s co-star on All My Children for 12 years, Kelly Ripa — who played Canary’s daughter on the show from 1990-2002 — posted a touching tribute to her friend and on-screen dad on Twitter.

Another one of David Canary’s All My Children co-stars, Sarah Michelle Gellar, also posted a tribute to her friend and co-star.

In an obituary posted by the Wilton Bulletin, David Canary’s family asked that donations in his name be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.

[Photo by Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images]

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