Peter White, ‘All My Children’ and “The Boys in the Band” Star, Dies at 86

Peter White, who starred in ABC’s “All My Children” from 1974-1980 as Lincoln Tyler, has died at the age of 86. White’s death was confirmed by his costar Kathleen Noone to multiple news outlets.

In addition to the soap opera White also starred in the stage and film adaptations of “The Boys in the Band” as well as the drama series “Sisters.” He also made appearances on “Ally McBeal,” “The X-Files,” “The West Wing,” “JAG,” and more.

White was the third actor to take on the role of Tyler. After leaving the role in 1980, he returned for short stints in 1981, 1984, 1986, 1995, and 2005.

He joined the off-Broadway cast of “The Boys in the Band” in 1968 as Alan McCarthy. The play is about a group of gay men who are attending a birthday party in Manhattan; at the end of the play, it is unclear if White’s character is gay.

The production resonated with the LGBTQ+ community. As White later said, “Opening night, none of us knew what we had. We all just thought, ‘It’s a play, it’s something new, it’s different and it’s good.’ It was a 100 percent gay audience — and then the next day, it went crazy!”

White was born in New York City on Oct. 10, 1937. His acting career began in 1965 when he joined the cast of “The Secret Storm.” He was on a touring production of “Barefoot in the Park” when he was called to join “The Boys in the Band.”

He took on his first soap opera role in 1971 when he joined the cast of “Love is a Many Splendored Thing.” Still, his time on “All My Children” is what he remembered fondly. As he told Soap Opera Digest, his costar Eileen Herlie was especially impactful.

White said, “I started on the show around 1974. When Eileen came on, and we all realized we were going to have our storylines together…forgive me for saying this, but that’s when soaps — [including] ‘All My Children’ — were really good…I remember talking to [show creator] Agnes Nixon, and she said, ‘I have to write a storyline about you guys because you all get along so well!’ That was sort of it; we just became instant family and have been ever since, which is great.”

News of White’s death was first reported by SoapHub.

The post Peter White, ‘All My Children’ and “The Boys in the Band” Star, Dies at 86 appeared first on TheWrap.