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Roger Howarth
Roger Howarth
Roger Howarth as Todd Manning
Profile
Born September 13, 1968
Died Deceased
Series
One Life to Live
Character Todd Manning
Victor Lord, Jr. (flashbacks; 2011)
General Hospital
Character Todd Manning
Franco
Duration 2012-13
2013-21 (as Franco)

Roger Howarth is an American actor. He portrays character Todd Manning on the daytime drama and currently on Prospect Park's One Life to Live, which became an iconic fixture in the genre's medium, and earned Howarth a Daytime Emmy Award. He left the series in 2003, but returned in May 2011, eventually deciding to continue the role on General Hospital in March 2012. He left GH and taped scenes for the OLTL reboot. He is playing Todd Manning and his new GH character intermittenly. In addition to his work on One Life to Live, Howarth has guest starred in television shows such as Prey and Dawson's Creek '', and starred on the daytime drama As the World Turns in the role of Paul Ryan.

Career[]

Howarth was discovered during a nationwide talent search, and was cast in the role of Kent Winslow on the ABC daytime drama Loving. The role was short-lived. It was shortly after this that he was cast on the fellow ABC daytime drama One Life to Live as Todd Manning, in what was supposed to be a day-player role but became one of the genre's most successful and enduring characters. Howarth is perhaps best remembered for his portrayal of Todd, a role he portrayed on-and-off from 1992 to 2003. He was strongly praised for his work on the series, and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1994. Subsequent attempts to rehabilitate the rapist character of Todd, however, unnerved Howarth. After a female fan shouted "Rape me, Todd!" at a public appearance, his ambivalence about the role deepened. After attempts were made to pair Todd and the woman he raped, Marty Saybrooke, as a romantic couple, Howarth quit the show in 1995. He subsequently returned, but Todd was portrayed even more as a villain than a hero. His character's pairing with Kassie DePaiva's Blair Cramer won over fans and the two later became a supercouple. While with the series, Howarth found time to extend his career to prime time, and was cast as the murderous Randall Lynch for 4 episodes of the sci-fi series Prey.

In 1998, Howarth departed One Life to Live for a second time. He looked to pursue other acting projects both on Broadway and in Hollywood. 

In 2000, Howarth returned to One Life to Live. He portrayed Professor Greg Hetson on the series Dawson's Creek in 2003 during a brief break from the role of Todd. Later that year, he decided it was time for him to move on from the role of Todd, and he signed on with the CBS daytime drama As the World Turns, taking over the role of Paul Ryan in July 2003.

In August 2010, it was reported that Howarth would be returning to One Life to Live some time in January 2011, though other sources disputed this. On April 4, 2011, it was confirmed that Howarth would be returning to the series. Before reclaiming his previous role, it was initially unknown if he would be returning as Todd or someone connecting him to the character. "I am looking forward to returning to One Life to Live," stated Howarth. "We are going to have a lot of fun telling this story, and I am excited to see how it will unfold." Howarth made his onscreen return on May 13, 2011 until the network series finale on January 13, 2012.

Howarth, Michael Easton and Kristen Alderson appeared on General Hospital from 2012-2013. Howarth's character of Todd Manning has been on the online reboot played by Howarth.  It was originally thought that the characters Todd Manning, John McBain and Starr Manning would return to One Life to Live and be recast with new actors with the current actors receiving new characters once they return to General Hospital. Prospect Park currently owns the rights to all One Life to Live characters; TV Guide reported that because ABC does not want to risk any further legal disputes with Prospect Park concerning the characters, the only way to avoid such disputes may be to have the former One Life to Live actors portray "characters that in no way resemble the current ones" in order to stay on General Hospital.[1] However neither The actors returned to ABC's GH on May 13, 2013, but without naming the characters they will portray. He will also continue to portray Todd Manning on the online version of One Life to Live. Alderson is currently playing Kiki Jerome (aka Lauren Katherine "Kiki" Jerome), who was mistakenly speculated as the missing heir to wealthy Quartermaine's ELQ company. Howarth's new character is a recast of James Franco's special character Robert "Franco" Frank (a serial killer). It was originally revealed that Franco is Lauren/Kiki's father, thus allowing Alderson and Howarth to again play daughter and father.  However, it has turned out that Howarth's Franco isn't Kiki's father, her true biological father is Easton's Silas Clay. Easton would end up playing a brother (Dr. Silas Clay) of a character that he played on Port Charles (a former GH spin-off).

See Also[]

References[]

  1. Logan, Michael. "Breaking News: One Life to Live Stars Head Back to General Hospital", TV Guide, March 25, 2013. Retrieved on March 25, 2013. 


External links[]

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