We’re sad to report that it’s the end of an era for General Hospital as the show’s first Cassadine, André Landzaat, has passed away at the age of 81, Dutch media reports. Yes, Tony beat out both Victor and Mikkos in Port Charles when he showed up and got the Ice Princess saga ball rolling.
Landzaat was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 and raised in the Netherlands, finding success both there and in Hollywood, where he appeared on shows like Lavern & Shirley and The Six Million Dollar Man before landing the role of a lifetime on General Hospital.
First introduced as Tony Castle in 1981, fans soon learned that his last name was an alias. He was, in fact, Tony Cassadine, the first of the villainous family to make an appearance on General Hospital. It wasn’t long before he was joined by his brothers, Victor (played by Days of Our Lives‘ Tony, Thaao Penghlis) and the ruthless Mikkos (played by the late, great John Colicos).
Victor was ruthless and Mikkos was downright insane with his plan for world domination, but Tony went along with the whole Ice Princess scheme, hoping more for the utopia that his eldest sibling promised. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. And once Tony began asking too many questions and doubting his big brothers, both he and his former lover, Alex Quartermaine were frozen to death offscreen.
Luke and Laura stumbled upon their frozen corpses on Cassadine Island and that was the end of Tony Cassadine. But it was, as we know far, far from the end of the Cassadine family. And it all began with Landzaat and Tony over 40 years ago. And for that, we’ll be forever thankful.
Our hearts and thoughts are with Landzaat’s friends and loved ones as they say goodbye.
