Chris Robinson, a daytime television icon whose on-camera charm and catchphrase entered pop culture history, died at 86. He is best remembered for his decades-long run as Dr. Rick Webber on General Hospital and for inspiring a thousand late-night jokes with the line, “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.” Robinson died quietly in his sleep overnight at his ranch outside Sedona, Arizona, after suffering a bout of heart failure, says friend and collaborator MJ Allen.
Robinson’s career spanned more than six decades, and his face was as familiar to soap fans as the opening bars of their favorite theme songs.
Born in 1938 in West Palm Beach, Florida, Robinson began early in Hollywood. By his teen years, he was getting work in low-budget genre movies such as The Diary of a High School Bride, and even created his monster mask for 1959’s Beast from Haunted Cave. His early TV work is like a checklist of mid-century staples, including guest spots on The Donna Reed Show, Sea Hunt, Gunsmoke, The Fugitive, and Death Valley Days. His breakthrough arrived in the late 1960s when he played Technical Sergeant Sandy Komansky on ABC’s war drama Noon High—a role that provided him with his initial experience of series stardom.
To daytimers in millions, though, Robinson will never be forgotten as General Hospital’s Dr. Rick Webber, the dashing, emotionally troubled doctor who was the focal point of one of the most legendary soap opera storylines ever. Hired by the show in 1978, Robinson contributed to General Hospital’s record-breaking ratings, especially on the historic Luke and Laura wedding show, still the highest-rated hour in daytime TV history.
Dr. Webber’s love triangle with Dr. Lesley Webber, Dr. Monica Quartermaine, and Alan Quartermaine was among television’s most-watched episodes in the 1980s. Despite Robinson’s leaving the show in 1986, he made a grand reprise in 2002 for a storyline that disgusted long-time viewers: Rick’s murder by Scotty Baldwin, played by Kin Shriner. The shock, covered extensively at the time, solidified Rick Webber’s place in soap opera lore and created an indelible niche in the show’s mythos.
Outside the borders of Port Charles, Robinson was a sensation within the ad community as the first-ever national spokesperson for Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup. His famous line—”I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV”—was meant to establish credibility, but it soon became a national catch phrase, parodied and referenced ad nauseam. The success of the advertising campaign further entrenched Robinson’s place in pop culture, even though his run as the brand’s spokesperson ended following a tax-evading scandal. He was later replaced by fellow soap star Peter Bergman, who, coincidentally enough, acted as a doctor on TV.
Robinson’s career went much further beyond General Hospital. He appeared occasionally on The Bold and the Beautiful as Jack Hamilton and Another World as Jason Frame, and made guest appearances on Hogan’s Heroes, Barnaby Jones, Perry Mason, and Fantasy Island. He even parodied his soap opera fame with a cameo on Garry Marshall’s 1982 comedy Young Doctors in Love. On screen, he co-starred with Burt Lancaster in Birdman of Alcatraz and appeared in family staples like Savannah Smiles and Disney’s Amy.
A jack-of-all-trades artist, Robinson wrote, directed, and starred in a string of low-budget films during the 1970s, including The Great Balloon Race and The Intruder. They showed his versatility not just as an actor but as a writer who was not afraid to try his hand at every facet of the craft.
Robinson’s personal life followed the curve of the characters he played. Married four times, most recently to artist and actor Jacquie Shane-Robinson, he was a dedicated father to a large and loving family, including sons Shane, Coby, Christian, Taylor, Christopher, Christopher Lance, and adopted son Robb Walker. He also leaves five grandchildren. In 2010, his son Christopher Robinson co-directed a documentary called Bastard: An Illegitimate Film, which chronicled their family’s complicated past—a rich and honest portrait of life in and around the limelight.
Tributes have been flooding in from right around the entertainment industry. The General Hospital’s official Instagram account remembered Robinson, saying that his performance as Dr. Webber helped make the show’s legacy what it is today. Friends and colleagues recalled him being kind, spirited, and endlessly devoted—whether swapping Hollywood war tales over lunch or tearing around his Arizona ranch on an ATV.
Chris Robinson might not have had a medical degree, but he portrayed a doctor so warmly and convincingly that he became part of the fabric of daytime television. His career, characterized by performances etched in the memory, memorably delivered lines, and a passion for the profession, has a legacy extending far beyond the television screen. He might have bid us farewell for the last time, but to generations of viewers, he’ll always remain the doctor who made TV a tad more melodramatic—and considerably more memorable.