Robert Kelker-Kelly, best known for playing Bo Brady on Days of Our Lives, has died at 62. He passed away on October 3, as per TMZ.
Robert Kelker-Kelly's cause of death revealed?
It is not yet known how Robert Kelker-Kelly died. His cause of death is not yet known.
According to TMZ, the medical examiner in Missouri said he died on October 3.
Who was Robert Kelker-Kelly?
Kelker-Kelly began his acting career in 1987 on Another World, where he played Sam Fowler.
He joined Days of Our Lives in 1992 as Bo Brady, taking over the role from Peter Reckell. He left in 1995 when Reckell returned to the role.
{{/usCountry}}He joined Days of Our Lives in 1992 as Bo Brady, taking over the role from Peter Reckell. He left in 1995 when Reckell returned to the role.
{{/usCountry}}On the show, he played opposite Kristian Alfonso's Hope Brady and Lisa Rinna's Billie Reed.
Kelker-Kelly later appeared on General Hospital as Stavros Cassadine. He also worked as a professional pilot.
Kelker-Kelly's early life and struggles in acting
Kelker-Kelly was born and raised in Kansas. His love for acting began at the Wichita Collegiate School. He briefly joined the University of Kansas, but left school to act full time, according to E! News.
The road was not easy. He had been open about how his first job on Another World changed his career.
“At the time I got cast on Another World I was homeless, sleeping in my Jeep, or on anyone's floor that I could, and working as a secretary for a headhunter's office in LA,” he recounted to We Love Soaps in 2013. “God, I had forgotten that.”
He said “Another World was a godsend.”
The first days on set were hard for him and his co-star Sandra Ferguson, who played Amanda.
"I had a whole bunch of theater training, which really didn't matter all that much in soaps," he explained. “They just threw us to the wolves. It was a lot of work and a lot of location shooting in New York. It was a ton of fun, but I remember the stress at the time being pretty high.”
"They worked us to death," he said. “At the time, because my shirt was off all the f--king time, I would get up at three o'clock in the morning, go to the gym from four to six, and then be at the studio from six to eight (or nine) at night, and then go to sleep and do it all over again.”
He was cast as Bo Brady five years later. His three years on the show were even harder than Another World.
Lisa Rinna's claims in her memoir
Kelker-Kelly made headlines earlier this year after Rinna talked about their difficult relationship in her memoir.
"Behind the scenes, we hated each other," Rinna wrote, per People. "Remember when Kathy Hilton said I was the biggest bully in Hollywood? Not true. Not even close! I have legit stories about the real bullies in this town. Robert Kelker-Kelly is one of those bullies."
"He made my life a living hell on the set of Days. He was horrible to me," she added. "I'd go so far as to say verbally abusive. He was passive-aggressive, manipulative and played weird mind games."
According to TMZ, Rinna also claimed that his sudden exit from Days of Our Lives led NBC to give her and Alfonso security for several weeks.
Kelker-Kelly and Rinna joined the show in the same year. They won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Hottest Soap Couple in 1995. That was the same year both of them left the show.