14 Celebrities You Forgot Appeared On General Hospital

Before many actors became the household names we know and love today, they got their starts on daytime soap operas. The longest-running American soap opera, "General Hospital," has been on the air since 1963 and has welcomed all sorts of faces over the years — some of whom have since become A-list stars. Among its thousands of episodes since its premiere six decades ago, there are quite a few characters that fans have completely forgotten ever appeared in its hospital's halls.

Even those who spent their early careers on set have seen how the television series has truly evolved over the years. "It is at a different studio, and only about eight or nine people who are there I remember from before," musician Rick Springfield, who started his early acting career on the soap opera in the early '80s, shared during an interview with The Gainesville Sun.

Including Rick Springfield, the following celebrities once appeared in the long-running soap "General Hospital."

It turns out, actor Elizabeth Taylor was a big fan of "General Hospital" before landing a role on the soap opera. In fact, according to People, Taylor requested that the team behind her acting career request that the show's writers create a spot for her on the show — specifically to guest star during characters Luke and Laura's big wedding in 1981. Of course, the cast and crew wanted the iconic actor on their set!

Taylor was given the role of the original character Helena Cassadine, one of the main villains in the series. Though Taylor only appeared in five episodes, her legacy has truly lived on. The role has continued to be mentioned throughout the entirety of the soap opera and has since been played by two additional actresses over the years: Dimitra Arliss and Constance Towers.

The evil character may have lived on long after Taylor portrayed her on our small screens, but Helena eventually reached her demise on the soap opera when poisoned by her grandson in 2015. However, the iconic character has continued to appear in multiple episodes throughout a series of flashbacks on the show.

If there's one thing that Ricky Martin would want to tell the former executive producer of "General Hospital," it would be, "I am here today because of you," the musician revealed to Soap Opera Digest.

As Martin was first beginning to build up his music career in real life, he began playing a musician on the soap opera, too. In 1994, he secured the role of aspiring musician Miguel Morez, which he played for two years before focusing more heavily on his offscreen musical career.

Starring as Miguel in the series — and showing off his character's iconic mane — is a memory that Martin looks back on fondly. After all, it marked the very beginning of his acting career, and he never wants to forget about his time on the soap. "That was a time of intense adrenaline," he told Soap Opera Digest. "Living here in Los Angeles and going into that studio every day was very heavy, you know? I really enjoyed it."

Just three years before his famous debut on the sitcom "Full House," actor John Stamos had a solid gig in the world of daytime soap operas. On "General Hospital," he played the recurring role of Dr. Rick and Lesley Webber's foster son, Blackie Parrish, in 1982. His character left the series after Blackie was sent to prison for the death of Lou Swenson in 1984.

Throughout his three years on the series, Stamos says he learned a lot about show business. "That was my first job and I had a very powerful producer named Gloria Monty, who was very strict and very smart," he said during an interview with TV Insider.

Stamos' portrayal of the drummer Blackie Parrish even earned him major accolades. In 1983, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category – and he has since solidified himself as a household name. "Without 'General Hospital' I wouldn't be talking to you," Stamos told TV Insider. "I guarantee it."

When character Josh Clayton was killed off on "General Hospital" in 1985, actor George Takei signed onto the soap opera as someone to help end the violence in the area. That year, he played the character Mr. Diem — but this character wasn't as honest as the others in the series originally thought. It's quickly revealed that he was working for a mobster in the Asian quarter named Chaing Wu.

After this news is revealed to long-time recurring character Robert Scorpio, Chaing was willing to do anything to stop Diem from revealing any more information about him or his location. A couple of months later, the character Diem was poisoned and died, releasing Takei from the soap opera world and on to new projects. From there, the actor went on to star as Hikaru Sulu in the "Star Trek" series. He also lent his voice to various animated series such as "Kim Possible" and "Phineas and Ferb."

In the aughts, actor James Franco was making a film in which he would play a soap opera star — and then he decided he should actually experience what that was like for himself. "My manager represents Steve Burton [who plays Jason Morgan on 'General Hospital'], and we called them and said I'd like to be on the show," Franco explained at the time during an interview with The New Yorker.

The crew was eager to get the actor on board and asked him exactly what type of role he would like to play on the daytime soap. "I wanted their full treatment, so all I said was that I wanted to be an artist and I wanted my character to be crazy," Franco added. It was then that the character "Franco," an artist and serial killer, was born. (Funnily enough, his character was obsessed with Steve Burton's character.)

The actor initially signed on for 20 episodes of the soap opera in 2009, where he reportedly brought his own film crew to capture clips for his own movie. Clearly, he left an impression on the crew. He was then asked by producers to return to the series to play the character for an additional three stints through 2012. After that, the character's role was passed onto actor Roger Howarth, while Franco's original portrayal of the serial killer can be seen in his since-finished film "Francophrenia."

Actor Kristin Davis entered the soap opera scene in 1991. It was then that she appeared as the character Nurse Betsy Chilson on "General Hospital."

Following Davis' time on the daytime soap opera in the '90s, she secured a guest-starring spot in another fictional hospital's halls in "ER." She also appeared on the sitcom "Seinfeld" before landing the major role as Charlotte in "Sex and the City." Although her career stems back to her time on the daytime soap opera, her "Sex and the City" role earned her a massive following.

In 2012, Davis excited her OG soap opera fans when she took to the stage in the Broadway play "The Best Man" alongside John Stamos, who also happened to get his start on "General Hospital." "But years apart, years apart," the actor clarified in an interview on ABC. "Or I would have been following him around the halls."

Richard Simmons may be known to most for his fitness videos, but in 1979, he fit acting into his schedule, too. For four years, he held a recurring role playing himself on the daytime soap opera "General Hospital." Throughout his time on the series, he was the workout instructor for characters such as Lesley Webber and Monica Quartermaine.

When his time on the soap opera came to a close in 1983, Simmons starred in his own series called "The Richard Simmons Show," which won four Daytime Emmys during its time on television.

It seems, however, that Simmons simply couldn't stay away from "General Hospital." For the soap opera's 50th anniversary in 2013, he reprised his role for a special celebratory episode at the famous Nurses Ball — where his character ends up being carried out of the event at the end of the episode. "Off to do General Hospital this morning," he teased fans on Twitter at the time. "What fun!"