Michael E. Knight’s time on “General Hospital” has ended, at least temporarily.
According to Soap Opera Digest, which first reported the news, the actor, who has played the recurring role of Martin Grey on and off since 2019, left the canvas last week when the character boarded a plane to visit his ailing mother.
The outlet noted that Knight’s exit is temporary but did not provide any indication as to when the character might return, particularly as the series is undergoing a shift behind the scenes with new head writers taking over from outgoing head writers Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor, the two primary writers behind the character’s introduction.
Christine Bartolucci/ABC
In the episode aired on Monday, February 12, as Martin is preparing to leave town, his girlfriend Lucy (Lynn Herring) tries to let him know how she feels after realizing her true feelings for him but is thwarted by Martin, who can’t shake the continued attachment Lucy has with her ex, Scott (Kin Shriner). Additionally, one of his last acts before leaving Port Charles was to encourage Laura and her husband Kevin (Genie Francis and Jon Lindstrom) to adopt Laura’s grandchild, baby Ace, as the two are the closest family the child has left following the presumed death of Ace’s mother, Esme (Avery Kristen Pohl), and the imprisonment of his father, Nikolas (Adam Huss), along with the presumed death of his older brother, Spencer (Nicholas Chavez).
Before joining “General Hospital” in September 2019, Knight was best known to soap fans for his long-running portrayal of Tad Martin on “All My Children,” having played the character off and on from 1982 through the show’s ABC finale in 2011. He later reprised the role in 2013 for the online reboot. As Tad Martin, Knight crossed over to sister soap “One Life to Live” in 2003 and 2005 during the infamous baby switch storyline encompassing both shows.
Outside of playing Tad Martin, Knight also portrayed look-alike Ted Orsini on the soap opera for a storyline from 1993 to 1994. By 2015, Knight joined the cast of “The Young and the Restless” in the recurring role of Simon Neville. He concluded his run on the CBS soap in 2016.
In primetime, Knight has appeared in episodes of “Matlock,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “ Hot in Cleveland” and “NCIS,” among others.