'One Life to Live' actors return to 'General Hospital'

LOS ANGELES, May 13 (UPI) -- Three actors forced to temporarily leave "General Hospital" due to legal issues have returned to the U.S. soap opera as different characters.

Roger Howarth, Kristen Alderson and Michael Easton started reprising their "One Life to Live" roles of father-daughter Todd and Starr Manning and Police Detective John McBain on "General Hospital" in 2012 after "OLTL" was canceled.

However, they were forced to temporarily leave "GH" in February when "OLTL" was revived online and its producers demanded the actors and their respective characters return. The new web version of "OLTL" began airing last week.

Howarth, Alderson and Easton appeared in separate scenes at the end of Monday's edition of "GH" within moments of each other, but they gave away little about the characters they would be playing.

A brunette Alderson, who is usually blond, opened the door of an apartment where Chad Duell's character Michael Corinthos, Starr's former boyfriend, was looking for his brother and a mystery woman, who may be Lauren, the long-lost member of the wealthy Quartermaine dynasty.

Easton was seen at a hospital, wearing a blood-stained lab coat. Kelly Monaco's character Sam McCall seemed to recognize him, but appeared surprised to see him alive, suggesting he might be Caleb Morley, a vampire Easton played on the now-defunct "GH" spinoff "Port Charles."

Howarth's newly blond character was spotted at the ABC studio where two "GH" characters were appearing on the food-themed chat show "The Chew," while two others watched on a monitor backstage.