50 Greatest Soap Actors: #47 Ron Hale

NAME: Ron Hale
RANK: 47
SOAP ROLES: Mike Corbin, GENERAL HOSPITAL (1995-present); Mike Corbin, PORT CHARLES (1997) Roger Coleridge, RYAN'S HOPE (1975-1989); Jim Abbott, LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING (1973); Walt Driscoll, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW (1969)

AWARDS:
1986 Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Outstanding Villain on a Daytime Serial
1980 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for a Daytime Drama Series
1979 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Daytime Drama Series

COMMENTS FROM THE PANEL:
Alan Carter: Smarmy as a worm, Roger on RYAN'S HOPE was still fun to watch ...his every move was poetry in motion.

Roger Newcomb: It took me a while to figure out the character of Roger Coleridge on RYAN'S HOPE, but I grew to love him over the years and his relationships with Jill and Delia. Hale started in soaps over 40 years ago and has earned his spot on the list.

Damon L. Jacobs: Decades before E/R or GREY'S ANATOMY, Ron Hale showed how to make the life of an ethically challenged TV doctor sexy, fun, and delightfully devious on RYAN'S HOPE.  You never quite knew what Roger Coleridge was going to do, but you knew it would be fascinating to watch.  But he defied all expectations by taking on the understated role of Sonny's long lost father on GENERAL HOSPITAL. As broken-down gambling addict Mike Corbin, he has lent a quiet dignity and compassion to a man drowning in regrets.  Whether he's drinking bourbon in leopard-print sheets on RH or ducking emotional bullets on GH, Hale always gives the viewer something to feel, and something to remember.

Lynn Liccardo: A couple of years ago, I wrote about this RYAN'S HOPE's Roger Coleridge: "This is not to say there aren’t ruthless people on RYAN'S HOPE: Roger Coleridge comes to mind. But the insecurity that underlies Roger’s behavior is so transparent, it’s hard to think of what he’s doing as pure ruthlessness."

There are so many actors who would have played Roger has a mustache-twirling villain, but not Hale. He always found the perfect balance between Roger's ambition and vulnerabilities.