American actor Robert Kelker-Kelly, best known for playing Bo Brady on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, has died. He was 62.
He reportedly died after a medical emergency at his home in Missouri, in the United States. According to TMZ, the medical examiner confirmed his death. His cause of death has not been officially confirmed.
The St. Peters Police Department told TMZ that officers went to his home at about 8.16pm local time. The actor had complained of chest pain and then became unresponsive.
CPR was reportedly already under way while paramedics and police were on their way. Officers and paramedics tried to save his life, but they did not succeed.
According to TMZ, police found nothing suspicious at the scene. The circumstances appeared to match a medical event, the report said.
Kelker-Kelly took over the role of Bo Brady from actor Peter Reckell. He played the character from 1992 to 1995. His storyline included a romance with Billie Reed, played by Lisa Rinna.
He once told the website We Love Soaps that the work schedule on the show was very hard. “I was working, on average, 90 hours a week. They were shooting one to two shows a day so we would be doing 120 pages of dialogue and that went on for a long time,” he said.
“I went through one three-year contract and negotiated a second contract, and then that one fell apart. But it was exhausting. They worked us to death,” he said.
He also spoke about the physical side of the role. He said he would wake up at 3am and go to the gym from 4am to 6am. He would then be at the studio until 8pm or 9pm.
Off screen, his relationship with Rinna was reportedly far from friendly. In her memoir, published in February this year, Rinna claimed the two “hated each other” behind the scenes.
“He made my life a living hell on the set of Days. He was horrible to me. I’d go so far as to say verbally abusive,” she wrote in the book.
Kelker-Kelly made his television debut in 1987 on the soap Another World, where he played Sam Fowler. He later said the role came at a very hard time in his life.
“At the time I got cast on Another World I was homeless, sleeping in my Jeep, or on anyone’s floor that I could, and working as a secretary for a headhunter’s office in LA,” he told We Love Soaps.
He also appeared on General Hospital as Stavros Cassadine from 2001 to 2003. He returned to that role in 2013 and 2014.
By then, he had mostly stepped away from acting and turned to a career in aviation. He worked as a charter pilot flying Lear jets for a company based at Spirit of St. Louis airport in Missouri.
He also worked as a flying instructor and still taught acting through private coaching. “I’m living in the Midwest. And I’m a dad,” he told We Love Soaps.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL Entertainment. Image: IOL Entertainment. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Entertainment desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Rirhandzu Baloyi writes about entertainment for Tzaneen Voice. Rirhandzu covers South African music, film, TV, streaming, awards and celebrity news, from amapiano and local soapies to Showmax and Netflix releases. Stories stick to what happened, who was involved and when fans can watch or listen.