Per A Martinez's (Cruz Castillo, SB) FB page:

"DANE WITHERSPOON
1957-2014

Dane passed this morning. People who watched Santa Barbara in its earliest days will remember him as Joe Perkins, a character to which he brought a quiet grace and deep, bittersweet sense of soul. He was a singular, standup guy, loved and admired by many. My first thought, upon meeting him in 1984: "This is the most beautiful man I've ever seen." That beauty went all the way to his core."

Even though he was only on SB for 3 months, he still carved out an undeniable niche that people still remember nearly 30 years later. May he RIP.

I've only seen parts of his SB run and a little of his Capitol run, but he was a gorgeous man and not a bad actor either. I'm sorry to hear of his passing. So young. I'm glad he had a happy life after daytime.

He also leaves two teenage sons from his second marriage.

OMG. I'm shocked to read this. Way too young.

http://www.welovesoaps.net/2014/03/dane-witherspoon-dead-at-56.html

Wonder if Robin Wright will comment on this?

I doubt it.

I find that sad but wont be shocked if she doesnt

Edited March 30, 201411 yr by John

I would seriously doubt it myself. She's newly engaged, her career is hotter than ever (as evidenced by her recent Golden Globe win) - she closed that chapter of her life a long time ago. But hey, I've been wrong before. Who knows?

My sense from Robin's interviews over the years is that she considers her marriage to Dane a huge mistake. She certainly detested her time on SB. IIRC, he hated it as well and argued with TPTB about his character, the dialogue, the pace, etc. from the beginning. Perhaps their mutual distaste for the show brought Robin and Dane together, I don't know. In any case, I wouldn't think she'd comment publicly and there's really no need for her to.

I am surprised that he was only on SB for three months -- amybrickwallace is absolutely right, he left a much bigger impression than that.

I'm sure I have a few other articles around (I may have posted them long ago in the SB thread, I don't know), but here's one from 1986, from a Soap Opera's Greatest Stars & Stories.

i didnt watch SB when he was on but I saw some of his stuff on YT and I think he was really charismatic. They should have gone with a Joe/Augusta pairing i think that could have been awesome.

He was gorgeous and had skills. Replacing him for Burke Moses was wrong on EVERY level. He could have ruled the whole show and Joe/Kelly could have been just as memorable as Mason & Mary or Cruz & Eden.

Every pairing Kelly 1.0 had after him was a re-hash of the Joe/Kelly pairing in my eyes.

I am surprised at how much the news is upsetting to me. His family has all my sympathy.

Even though I am not, never have been or have any plans to be in show business, I can certainly relate to Dane's feelings of losing his SB job as related in the article posted above. I recently lost my job with no warning and no good explanation (the company is run by minions, if you ask me) - so the feelings of hurt and bitterness he conveyed struck a nerve with me. Sorry the Capitol gig didn't work out, either (though it wasn't too long after he was let go there that the show was cancelled, so he would have lost that job eventually anyway).

An SOD interview with Robin Wright I put in the SB thread a few years back.

[url=http://s1038.photobucket.com/user/CarlD2/media/CarlD2001/SOD10885013_zps4157538e.jpg.html]

Edited March 30, 201411 yr by DRW50