David Canary, star of 'All My Children' for decades, dies at 77
David Canary, who for almost three decades played the twin brothers Adam and Stuart Chandler on the ABC soap opera All My Children, has died. He was 77.
Canary, who earlier portrayed Candy Canaday, the ranch foreman of the Ponderosa, on the iconic NBC Western Bonanza, died Nov. 16 of natural causes an assisted living facility in Wilton, Conn., his family announced.
The blue-eyed Canary first appeared on All My Children as Adam Chandler in 1984 and received five outstanding actor Emmy Awards and 16 nominations through 2001. He retired from acting in 2010.
Adam Chandler was underhanded, evil and one of Pine Valley's wealthiest men, while Stuart -; who was introduced to the show a year after Adam -; was his meek, traumatized twin brother. Adam often impersonated Stuart to get what he wanted.
A native of Elwood, Ind., Canary played football for Ohio's famed Massillon Tigers of Washington High School before earning a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati. He graduated with a major in music.
Instead of accepting an offer to turn pro with the American Football League's Denver Broncos in its first year, Canary went to New York to pursue acting, and he made his Broadway debut in Great Day in the Morning opposite Colleen Dewhurst.
After two years in the U.S. Army, Canary came to Los Angeles and appeared in Hombre (1967) with Paul Newman, as a mobster in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) with Jason Robards and Sharks' Treasure (1975) with Cornel Wilde. He also drew attention as Mia Farrow's physical therapist in the hugely popular ABC nighttime soap Peyton Place.
Producer David Dortort saw Canary shine in a two-part Gunsmoke episode in 1967 and hired him to play Canaday soon afterward. He stuck with the show until it ended in 1973.
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