Who did Nick Benedict play in The Young and the Restless? Characters explored as soap star dies aged 77

American actor Nick Benedict recently passed away on Friday, July 14, at the age of 76, reportedly from complications caused by spinal surgery. Benedict famously portrayed Michael Scott on the soap opera The Young and the Restless between 1980 and 1981.

Several people who knew Benedict over the years paid tribute to him on various social media platforms. Photojournalist and a close friend of the late actor, Tony Rizzo, shared a Facebook post and wrote that July 14 also marked Benedict's 77th birthday. He continued:

"I met Nick when he was playing one of Erica Kane's husband on "All My Children" and we had a blast doing photo sessions for "Soap Opera Digest." He was really a sweet wonderful guy."

Author Darrel Campbell also shared a post on Facebook and wrote that he and Rodney Stone cast Nick in the role of Coach Press Maravich in The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend. He added that he and Nick first met while working on the soap opera Another Life. The post continued:

"Nick worked hard at his craft, and he also worked hard at making work a lot of fun. Two days ago Stone and I were talking about Nick and how we should cast him in our next film."

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Nick Benedict appeared in various TV shows over the years

Born on July 14, 1947, Nick Benedict started his career as a child actor in 1955 in the TV series, titled Wiretapper. He then gained recognition for his performances in Mike and the Mermaid, followed by an episode of the espionage series, Mission Impossible, in 1969.

Nick then appeared as Ron Washington in the CBN soap opera series, Another Life. The show aired for 875 episodes from June 1, 1981, to October 5, 1984. Benedict also starred as Frank James in an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard. He next appeared as Michael Fox in an episode of the series, Tales from the Darkside. Additionally, he played one of the leads in the film Memories of Murder, released in 1990.

Nick became a popular face for his performance as Curtis Reed in the longest-running soap opera, Days of Our Lives, wherein his character ties the knot with Kate Roberts but leaves her on the side of the road after discovering that she had an affair.

Curtis and Kate have two children and the former takes the kids with him. The trio continues to switch cities alongside changing their names due to Curtis' involvement in different criminal activities. He is ordered by the character of Stefano DiMera to kill John Black but he does not, due to which Stefano does not pay him. Stefano is kidnapped by Curtis and after Kristen Blake pays the ransom, Stefano kills Curtis.

Nick Benedict's father, Richard Benedict, was also an actor and director. He appeared on shows like The Lone Ranger, Perry Mason, Hawaii Five-O, and more. Richard passed away from a heart attack in 1984.

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GoFundMe page launched for Nick Benedict

The GoFundMe page for Nick Benedict (Image via GoFundMe)

Before his death, a GoFundMe page was launched for Nick Benedict by Harmony Nessa on behalf of Nick's wife, Ginger, who was employed at a restaurant called Jake's Steakhouse.

The page's description mentioned that Ginger has taken a leave to look after Nick and that the duo were married for 22 years. It further stated:

"On July 2nd, Sunday Nick had an emergency spinal cord surgery. On July 4th he was admitted to hospice. He is paralyzed from the neck down. He will need constant care and support."

The page was launched to collect funds for medical expenses and other bills. It aims to collect $10,000 out of which donations worth $4,135 have been made so far.