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Réal Andrews

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Réal Andrews
Born
Réal Johnson

(1963-01-31) January 31, 1963 (age 61)
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
OccupationActor
Years active1981–present
Spouse
Michele Viscasso
​
(m. 2000)​
Children3

Réal Andrews (born Réal Johnson; January 31, 1963)[1][2] is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Chance Walker in the first season of the syndicated action drama series Soldier of Fortune, Inc., and for playing Marcus Taggert on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital since 1996.

Early life and education

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Born Réal Johnson, Andrews was raised in Vancouver, British Columbia by a single mother. Andrews did not have a relationship with his biological father, a musician who abandoned Andrews and his mother when he was only a few years old. Andrews only met his birth father one time while in college.[2] When Andrews was 21 years old, his mother Troy married Cyril Nathan Andrews, who adopted Reál as his own.[2][3] Andrews was raised as a Catholic and attended an all boys private school.[4] Growing up, Andrews wasn't interested in acting at all and described himself as a jock. Andrews was first exposed to acting when his aunt invited him to a seminar at her acting school. In 1981, the 18 year Andrews relocated to Toronto, Canada for college where found work in the entertainment industry.[2]

Career

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Andrews started his career in 1981 as a stuntman, becoming one of the first Black stunt men in Canada.[2] While he had a long list of credits, Andrews had been working as a struggling actor for years by the time he booked General Hospital in late 1996. Marcus Taggert which originally was an "under-five" role which would help launch Andrews career. From 1997 to 1999, Andrews would also star in the Dan Gordon created series, Soldier of Fortune, Inc..[4] He would leave the role of Taggert for a few months in 1997 only to return by year's end. In 2003, Andrews chose not to renew his contract with General Hospital and Taggert was written in May 2003.[5] Andrews quickly joined the cast of CBS Daytime's As the World Turns as Walker Daniels in 2003.[6] Only a year later, Andrews was let go from the series.[7] In 2010, Andrews joined the cast of the web series, The Bay as Dr. Keith Campbell.[8] In 2015, Andrews joined the cast of Days of Our Lives in a recurring role.[9] In 2020, Andrews made an unannounced return to General Hospital as Taggert on January 17, 2020.[10] In October 2024, he announced he had concluded his time at General Hospital and revealed he had a new, undisclosed project he was signed to.[11]

Personal life

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On November 4, 2000, Andrews married Michele Viscasso.[1] They have three children together.[3][12]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1984 Iceman Lab tech
1984 Listen to the City Green
1986 Busted Up Auditioning fighter
1987 Wild Thing Raul
1987 Nowhere to Hide Luther
1987 City of Shadows Thug in Diner
1987 Last Man Standing Razor
1988 Night Friend Myles
1989 Food of the Gods II Mark
1989 Born on the Fourth of July Vet #3
1989 Renegades Cop
1994 Final Round Carlos Direct-to-video film
2006 Movin' Too Fast Detective #2

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1984 The Glitter Dome Cooley Television film
1985 Night Heat 4 roles 4 episodes
1986 In This Corner Fighter #2 Television film
1987 CBS Schoolbreak Special Gordon Episode: "The Day They Came to Arrest the Book"
1987 21 Jump Street Drug dealer Episode: "Besieged: Part 1"
1988 China Beach Patient #3 Episode: "Waiting for Beckett"
1989 Street Legal Wendell Walker Episode: "Basketball Story"
1989 Friday the 13th: The Series Deacon Episode: "Night Hunger"
1989 Hard Time on Planet Earth Deacon Powell Episode: "All That You Can Be"
1989 C.B.C.'s Magic Hour Tommy Mills Episode: "The Fighter"
1989 E.N.G. Roy Episode: "Pilot: Parts 1 & Part 2"
1990 War of the Worlds Man in Bar Episode: "Synthetic Love"
1992 Catwalk Tyrone Episode: "Life's Not Black 'n White"
1993 Night Owl Ivan Television film
1995 Days of Our Lives Robert Parry Guest role
1996–2003,
2020–2023		 General Hospital Marcus Taggert Series regular: 1996–2003;
recurring role: 2020–2023
1998 Port Charles Marcus Taggert Recurring role
1997 Soldier of Fortune, Inc. Chance Walker Main role (season 1)
2003 As the World Turns Walker Daniels Recurring role
2005, 2009 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Sergeant Ray Crawford / Army Recruiter Episodes: "Blood", "Turmoil"
2006 Law & Order Deon Episode: "Release"
2010 The Bay Keith Campbell Recurring role
2016–2017 Days of Our Lives Hal Michaels Recurring role: May 12, 2016 to March 9, 2017

References

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  1. ^ a b Levinsky, Mara (March 2, 2020). "Truly Andrews". Soap Opera Digest. 45 (9). American Media, Inc.: 42–45.
  2. ^ a b c d e Jacobs, Damon L. (January 10, 2011). "THE BAY Series Interviews - Real Andrews Part One". We Love Soaps. p. 1. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Cyril Andrews Obituary - West Vancouver, BC". Legacy.com. October 24, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Jacobs, Damon L. (January 12, 2011). "THE BAY Series Interviews - Real Andrews Part Two". We Love Soaps. p. 2. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  5. ^ Kroll, Dan J. (February 7, 2003). "Andrews to leave role as Taggert". Soapcentral.com. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  6. ^ Kroll, Dan J (May 6, 2003). "ATWT Snares Another Former ABC Soap Star". Soap Central. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  7. ^ "Andrews ATWT stint is Réally over". Soap Central. September 1, 2004. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  8. ^ Giddens, Jamey (October 28, 2010). "Days of Our Lives Alum Charles Shaughnessy and General Hospital Vet Real Andrews Make Their Bay Debuts!". Daytime Confidential. United States: Confidential Media, Inc. (SAY Media). Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  9. ^ White-Nobles, Ryan (November 10, 2015). "'DAYS' Casting News: Brandon Beemer Returning as Shawn; 'GH' Alum Cast". TV Source Magazine. United States: SoSource Media, LLC. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  10. ^ Clifford, Kambra (January 16, 2020). "Réal Andrews returns as General Hospital detective Marcus Taggert". Soap Central. United States. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  11. ^ Brounstein, Diane (October 15, 2024). "Réal Andrews: 'My Chapter With General Hospital is Over'". Soap Opera Digest. United States: A360media. ISSN 0164-3584. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  12. ^ "Réal Andrews". About the Actors. Soap Central. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
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