David Canary

David Canary Headshot

Actor

Birth Name: David Hoyt Canary

Birth Date: August 25, 1938

Death Date: November 16, 2015 — 77 years old

Birth Place: Elwood, Indiana

Silver-haired soap star David Canary began his career on the Broadway stage, debuting in Jose Quintero's 1962 production of "Great Day in the Morning," starring Colleen Dewhurst. The former college football player resumed his theatrical career after military service and soon found his way into TV and film, playing Dr. Russ Gehring on ABC's "Peyton Place" and acting in "Hombre" (his film debut) and "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" (both 1967) before landing a regular role on NBC's "Bonanza" as Candy, the ranch hand who practically became a member of the Cartwright family.

Although he appeared in three movies in 1975 (Cornel Wilde's "Shark's Treasure," Kirk Douglas' "Posse" and "Johnny Firecloud"), Canary's love for the theater brought him back to NYC where he reteamed with Quintero for the 1980 Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' "Clothes for a Summer Hotel," among other plays and musicals. No stranger to daytime TV, having portrayed Stephen Frame in NBC's "Another World" from 1981 to 1983, he joined the cast of "All My Children" (ABC) in 1983 as the powerful and mercurial Adam Chandler, and his responsibilities doubled when he assumed the role of Adam's shy, gentle twin, Stuart.

For his daytime efforts, Canary has received four Emmy Awards as Lead Actor in a Drama Series out of 11 nominations. Canary retired from the show and from acting in general in 2010. David Canary, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, died of natural causes on November 16, 2015. He was 77 years old.

Credits

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2006

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