Happy birthday to ‘General Hospital’ star Van Hansis!

Wishing a happy birthday to one of my favorite actors: Van Hansis who plays Dr. Lucas Jones on the ABC daytime soap General Hospital.

So good to have him back on television on a regular basis!

On the one hand, it’s hard for me to believe that this talented four-time Emmy nominated actor is 44! But then again, it’s been at least 20 years since I started watching him on the late great daytime soap As the World Turns.

Van was so good as Luke Snyder who we saw grow up from gay teenager in love with his straight best friend to confident young man who ends up in a lovely relationship with a brilliant and very sexy surgeon (Reid Oliver played by Eric Sheffer Stevens). In between, he was in part of one of daytime’s great gay couples – Luke and Noah (played by Jake Silbermann).

Next came another classic, Emmy-nominated role in EastSiders about a gay couple in Silver Lake dealing with infidelity and substance abuse. The series ran four seasons and 27 episodes and I’ve seen every one of them – more than once!

Van has many other credits but another one that is quite special to me is his 2015 film Kiss Me, Kill Me also starring Gale Harold. I got to be an extra in a nightclub scene and quite enjoyed the experience.

Anyway, Van came out as gay in The Fight Magazine in May 2014, in an interview with his EastSiders costar and creator, Kit Williamson. He has been with his partner Tyler Hanes since 2007.

Below is some of Van’s work on various shows. Enjoy!