Two more One Life to Live actors will exit before the show's final broadcast in January 2012. Emmy winner Gina Tognoni (Kelly Cramer) and newcomer Tom Degnan will tape their final scenes next month.
News of Tognoni's exit was inadvertently revealed when another One Life to Live actress announced her own exit. Last month, Robin Strasser (Dorian Lord) announced that she'd have to bow out of the show due to medical concerns, and would tape her final One Life to Live scenes on July 1.
"Have no control over how they'll write Dorian/Kelly off by July 1," Strasser posted on Twitter. "I haven't had significant story in years -- hoping they'll do D. and K. good."
Tognoni returned to the role of Kelly Cramer in February 2010. It had been nearly a decade since the actress, who had originated the role, last appeared in Llanview. After Tognoni left the show in 2001, two other actresses put their spin on Kelly. Tracy Melchior took on the role for about four months in 2003, and Heather Tom appeared as Kelly from December 2003 through December 2006.
Tognoni also made an early exit from her previous soap role, Guiding Light. The actress stopped filming a little over a month before GL taped its final scenes, however, Tognoni pre-taped scenes for the long-running soap and she was able to continue airing through its September 2009 finale. During her five years with Guiding Light, Tognoni won two Daytime Emmys in the Outstanding Supporting Actress category.
There are rumors that Tognoni has already landed a post-OLTL gig, possibly on The Young and the Restless
Degnan took on the role of One Life to Live's Joey Buchanan in November 2010. Degnan became the eighth actor to play Joey -- even though the ABC soap hadn't originally envisioned him for the role. Just a few days before Degnan's addition to the OLTL cast was announced, the ABC soap had revealed that it had hired actor Josh Kelly as its new Joey. When Degnan became available, the show shuffled some stories and created the role of Cutter for Kelly.
Prior to joining One Life to Live, Degnan appeared for several months as Adam Munson on As the World Turns.
With Kelly and Joey exiting around the same time, it's logical to wonder if the characters might ride off in the sunset together. A show source tells Soap Central that the characters will, in fact, exit the canvas together.
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