As the World Turns star Scott Bryce dies at 68

Daytime television just lost one of its true originators, an actor who created one of soap opera's most iconic villains from absolute scratch, and his story deserves to be told with all the heart it carried. Scott Bryce passed away on July 12th at age 68, following a battle with stage 3 esophageal and stomach cancer first diagnosed back in 2025. He was best known for originating Craig Montgomery on As the World Turns Back in 1982, a manipulative, ambitious character who became central to one of the show's most memorable love triangles alongside Meg Ryan's Betsy Stewart and Frank Runyon's Steve Andropoulos. Bryce played that role across three separate stints between 1982 and 2008, earning two Daytime Emmy nominations along the way. He actually came from Daytime royalty. His father, Ed Bryce, spent years playing Bill Bauer on Guiding Light, and his mother, Dorothy Bauer, appeared on The Doctors, so acting was quite literally in his blood from the very beginning. Bryce's career stretched far beyond soaps, too, with credits on Murphy Brown, One Life to Live, Blue Bloods, Homeland, 30 Rock, and The Golden Girls, plus a more recent appearance on The Blacklist back in 2021. The news was shared by his longtime friend and former co-star Lucy Arnaz Luckinville, daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, in an emotional Facebook tribute. She wrote that Bryce was a wonderful actor and a beautiful man, praising his wit, his intelligence, his bravery, and his laugh, before sending love directly to his wife Jodi and their son Jackson. Just last October, Jodi had celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary alongside Jackson's 19th birthday, writing about sharing that day, honoring the two greatest loves of her life. Bryce's Craig Montgomery helped define an era of daytime drama that shaped how soap villains were written for decades afterward, influence that still felt across the genre today. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and the entire daytime television community during this loss. Share your favorite Scott Bryce memory below!