David Canary: Actor who played twins, one good-hearted, the other evil, on the US daytime soap ‘All My Children’

'At the risk of being misunderstood, I’m a real private person,' he said in 1993.

Canary: ‘I’m a real private person,’ he said. ‘I live with my wife and children in a small town in Connecticut’ (ABC)

David Canary was an actor best known for his role as twin brothers on the US daytime soap opera All My Children. His career spanned more than five decades, with appearances in the films Hombre and The St Valentine’s Day Massacre before he won recurring roles in Peyton Place and Bonanza. In 1983 he joined the cast of All My Children as the twins Adam and Stuart Chandler. Playing the brothers – one evil, the other good-hearted – brought Canary his greatest fame and five Daytime Emmy Awards.

Despite his popularity on the show, Canary shunned the spotlight and preferred to live quietly with his wife and family. “At the risk of being misunderstood, I’m a real private person,” he said in 1993. “I don’t make appearances. I don’t do fan magazine interviews. My wife and our two children live in a little town in Connecticut, where most of the people don’t watch the show and, if they do, don’t make a big deal out of it.”

The actor was at first reluctant to take a role on a daytime soap. But after getting a chance to play a madman in The Doctors, Canary spent two years on the soap Another World. Then came the opportunity to join All My Children. “I was reluctant to even sign a two-year contract,” he recalled. “That seemed like a long, long time.” He left the show in 2011.

Canary also performed on the stage, appearing in on- and off-Broadway productions. Born in Indiana, he grew up in Massillon, Ohio, and went on to play football at the University of Cincinnati, where he graduated with a major in music.

ANTHONY McCARTNEY

David Canary, actor: born Elwood, Indiana 25 August 1938; married (two children); died Wilton, Connecticut 16 November 2015.