Nicholas Pryor, the seasoned actor who enjoyed a nearly 350-episode run on soap drama “Port Charles” and shared the screen with Tom Cruise in “Risky Business,” has died. He was 89.
Pryor died Monday of cancer in his home in Wilmington, N.C., his agent Susan Tolar Walters confirmed Wednesday to The Times. “Nicholas was an incredible individual, both inside and out,” Tolar Walters’ agency posted on Instagram, “He will be greatly missed.”
For nearly 70 years, Pryor earned more than 170 TV and film credits, including a notable run on “Port Charles,” a spinoff of ABC’s ongoing “General Hospital.” Pryor appeared as ex-spy Victor Collins for both daytime dramas, but starred in the satellite series from 1997 to 2002.
“The entire General Hospital Family is saddened to hear of Nicholas Pryor’s recent passing,” the “GH” account tweeted Tuesday. “We would like to extend our condolences to his loved ones during this difficult time.”
Jon Lindstrom, “General Hospital” star and Pryor’s onscreen son, bid farewell in an emotional tribute on Instagram. “He was my friend,” Lindstrom wrote. “One of the best I’ve ever had.”
Lindstrom added: “He was a mentor, a sounding board, a trusted confidant, and even a father-figure…he was one of the funniest people you could hope to spend time with over a bottle of good wine and a great meal.”
Pryor, as Lindstrom’s post observed, was known for taking on paternal roles. In “Risky Business,” he was the high-strung pop of Cruise’s sneaky Joel Goodsen. In 1987‘s “Less Than Zero,” Pryor played a similar role alongside Robert Downey Jr.
Before Pyror became onscreen dad material, he began his TV and film career in the ’50s. After a series of minor roles, Pryor seemed to hit his stride in the mid-’60s with soap series “Another World” and “The Nurses.” His soap opera résumé also included appearances on “All My Children,” “The Edge of Night” and “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing.”
Pryor also appeared in the TV series “M*A*S*H,” “Dallas,” “The Bronx Zoo,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “Beverly Hills, 90210,” among others.
Beyond TV, Pryor’s career included appearances in films “Damien: Omen II,” “Airplane!,” “Pacific Heights,” “Collateral Damage” and, most recently, “Halloween Kills.”
Nicholas Probst was born Jan. 28, 1935, in Baltimore. He graduated from Yale University and performed with the Drummond Players and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among other groups and theaters. Probst, who adopted the stage name Pryor in the late ’50s, had also appeared in several Broadway plays.
He married “Beverly Hills, 90210” co-star Christine Belford in 1993. In addition to his wife, Pryor is survived by his daughter, Stacey Pryor, and grandchildren Auguste and Avril Bas.
