Roger Howarth is an American actor. He played character Todd Manning on the daytime drama One Life to Live (OLTL); the character earned Howarth a Daytime Emmy Award in 1994, and is cited as an icon in the soap opera genre. He left the series in 2003 and joined soap opera As the World Turns, where he played the character of Paul Ryan until the series' final episode in 2010. Howarth returned to OLTL in May 2011, continuing the role on General Hospital in March 2012. He returned as Franco on General Hospital, the character formerly created and portrayed by James Franco. When the character was written off in March 2021, Howarth returned two months later as a new character, Austin Gatlin-Holt. In addition to his soap opera work, Howarth has guest starred in television shows such as Prey, The Flash and Dawson's Creek.
Early life and education
Roger Howarth was born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He took the opportunity to play in other countries with the Puma Shoes U.S. National Soccer Team. In an interview, when asked if he was a professional soccer player, Howarth answered, "No! Heavens no." and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1994 for the role. Subsequent attempts to redeem Todd, however, unnerved Howarth. After a female fan shouted "Rape me, Todd!" at a public appearance, his ambivalence about the role deepened. After attempts were made to romantically pair Todd with his victim, Marty Saybrooke, Howarth quit the show in 1995. He subsequently returned, but Todd was portrayed even more as a villain than a hero. His character's pairing with Kassie DePaiva's Blair Cramer won over fans and the two later became a supercouple. While with the series, Howarth found time to extend his career to primetime, and was cast as the murderous Randall Lynch for 4 episodes of the sci-fi series Prey.
In 1998, Howarth departed One Life to Live for a second time, looking to pursue other acting projects both on Broadway and in Hollywood. He made his first Broadway debut in The White Rose, but also did some theater work in Henry IV, Passions, You Touched Me, Mother Courage, and Orestes. A prominent stage appearance for Howarth was in James Goldman's Broadway production of The Lion In Winter. The play officially opened on Broadway on March 11, 1999, and ended with "its final curtain" on May 30, 1999. During the play's run, Howarth appeared opposite Stockard Channing and Laurence Fishburne. On April 4, 2011, it was confirmed that Howarth would be returning to the series. Before reclaiming his previous role, it was initially unknown if he would be returning as Todd or someone connecting him to the character. "I am looking forward to returning to One Life to Live," stated Howarth. "We are going to have a lot of fun telling this story, and I am excited to see how it will unfold." Howarth made his onscreen return on May 13, 2011.
Howarth, Michael Easton and Kristen Alderson appeared on General Hospital from 2012 to 2013. Their characters of Todd Manning, John McBain and Starr Manning would return to One Life to Live and likely be recast with new actors with the current actors receiving new characters once they return to General Hospital. Prospect Park owned the rights to all One Life to Live characters; TV Guide reported that because ABC does not want to risk any further legal disputes with Prospect Park concerning the characters, the only way to avoid such disputes may be to have the former One Life to Live actors portray "characters that in no way resemble the current ones" in order to stay on General Hospital. He made his last appearance as Franco Baldwin on March 11, 2021. He returned on May 27 in the role of Dr. Austin Gatlin-Holt. In August 2025, it was announced Howarth had joined The Young and the Restless; he made his first appearance as Mitch Bacall on October 31. It was soon revealed that this name was an alias and Howarth is playing Matt Clark.
Personal life
Howarth met actress Cari Stahler in New York City when he lived above the café where she worked. She asked him out on a date, which took place at Coney Island. They later married, and now have two children.
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| 2017
| Destruction Los Angeles
| Dr. Paul Grant
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Television
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|-
| 1992
| Loving
| Kent Winslow
| 100 episodes
|-
|1992
| Guiding Light
| Jory
| September–December
10 episodes
|-
| 1992–1995, 1996–1998,<br>2000–2003, 2011–2013
| One Life to Live
| Todd Manning
| Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series<br>Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Younger Lead Actor<br>Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain (1998)<br>Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series<br>Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for American's Favorite Villain (Special Fan Award)<br>Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain (1994)<br>Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actor (2001, 2003)
|-
| 1996
| Diagnosis: Murder
| Real Bad Radio Host
| Episode: "FMurder"
|-
| 1998
| Prey
| Randall Lynch
| 4 episodes
|-
| 2002–03
| Dawson's Creek
| Professor Gregory Hetson
| 9 episodes
|-
| 2003–10
| As the World Turns
| Paul Ryan
| 713 episodes<br>Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (2004–05)<br>Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actor
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2012–2023
| rowspan="3"| General Hospital
| Todd Manning
| Series regular; role held from 2012 to 2013
|-
| Franco Baldwin
| Series regular; role held from 2013 to 2021
|-
| Austin Gatlin-Holt
| Series regular; role held from 2021 to 2023
|-
| 2015
| The Flash
| Mason Bridge
| 4 episodes
|-
| 2025–present
| The Young and the Restless
| Matt Clark
| Recurring role
|}
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+List of acting awards and nominations
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Award
! scope="col" | Category
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Result
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
| 1994
| Daytime Emmy Award
| Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series
| rowspan="8" |One Life to Live
|
|
|-
| 1994
| Soap Opera Digest Award
| Outstanding Villain/Villainess
|
|
|-
| 1995
| Daytime Emmy Award
| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
|
|
|-
| 1995
| Soap Opera Digest Award
| Outstanding Younger Lead Actor
|
|
|-
| 1998
| Soap Opera Digest Award
| Outstanding Villain
|
|
|-
| 2001
| Soap Opera Digest Award
| Outstanding Lead Actor
|
|
|-
| 2002
| Daytime Emmy Award
| America's Favorite Villain (Special Fan Award)
|
|
|-
| 2003
| Soap Opera Digest Award
| Outstanding Lead Actor
|
|
|-
| 2004
| Daytime Emmy Award
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
| rowspan="3" |As the World Turns
|
|
|-
| 2005
| Daytime Emmy Award
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
|
|
|-
| 2005
| Soap Opera Digest Award
| Outstanding Lead Actor
|
|
|}
See also
- Todd Manning and Blair Cramer
- Todd Manning and Téa Delgado