Former soap star Dane Witherspoon has died at the age of 56.
According to Soap Opera Digest, the news of the actor's death was shared over the weekend by former co-star A Martinez, who starred alongside Witherspoon in the daytime drama, "Santa Barbara" in 1984. Martinez said Witherspoon died on March 29.
"Dane passed this morning. People who watched Santa Barbara in its earliest days will remember him as Joe Perkins, a character to which he brought a quiet grace and deep, bittersweet sense of soul," Martinez said on Facebook. "He was a singular, standup guy, loved and admired by many. My first thought, upon meeting him in 1984: 'This is the most beautiful man I've ever seen.' That beauty went all the way to his core."
Witherspoon married actress Robin Wright, who also starred in the NBC soap. The two were married from 1986 to 1988. The actor went on to marry "Trading Places" actress Tracy K. Shaffer, but the couple divorced in 2011. They had no children. Wright married Sean Penn in 1996 and "The House Of Cards" star is now engaged to actor Ben Foster.
Witherspoon was an original cast member on "Santa Barbara," but he was fired shortly after the show began in 1984. He later went on to play Tyler McCandless on the CBS soap opera "Capitol" from 1985 to 1986. He appeared in TV movies like "Chameleons" and "Asteroid."
"Dane was a most compelling man, and it must have been very hard on him to drift away from the path he first imagined," Martinez said on Facebook. "We'd do well to hold his kin in our thoughts, and imagine them finding a way to make the most of the lessons of his life."
Us Weekly reported that Witherspoon's cause of death has not yet been released.
