AMP in the post
McDonnell was on the premiere episode of All My Children in 1970 and remained with the show until just before its 2010 cancellation. When he retired from the show a year before it left the airways, he left Susan Lucci as the only original AMC cast member. However, McDonnell did return as Joe for the soap’s reboot on OWN when Prospect Park produced the show.
All My Children News – He Was The Patriarch
As the patriarch of the show, he was the father of Tara Martin, and eventually married Phil Brent’s mother, Ruth (Mary Fickett, the first soap performer to ever win a Daytime Emmy). Together Ruth and Joe raised adopted son Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight), and had a late-in-life baby with Joey Martin, who later called himself Jake as an adult. When Ruth became pregnant with Joey, it was controversial because of their ages and the possibility of Joey having Down Syndrome.
Through the years, Dr. Joe became the town talk-to, always doling out sound advice for more troubled characters like Susan Lucci’s Eric Kane. Son Tad had his share of troubles as well that Joe and Ruth were always trying to rescue him from. Ray also had a son named Bobby who famously went upstairs to polish his skis early in the show’s run and never came down again, as if the character never existed. McDonnell also had to get to know a whole new Ruth Martin when Lee Meriweather assumed the role towards the end of All My Children’s run.
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All My Children News – Ray McDonnell’s Career
McDonnell was no stranger to soaps when he made his All My Children debut, having appeared on a host of them in the 1960s, including The Edge of Night. In 2004, he was honored by the television academy with a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award. He began his career on such primetime programs as The Jack Benny Program and Armstrong Circle Theater.
The actor’s cause of death is unknown but we do know he died in his home in Chappaqua, NY, and is survived by his wife Patricia, and his children, Sarah, Kyle, and Daniel. Keep checking Celebrating The Soaps for daily soap opera news and All My Children cast updates.