The Young & The Restless' Kristoff St.john - A Soap Star's Tragic Death

The actor became a daytime drama icon—but battled with personal demons and heartbreak behind the scenes

- Christina Dugan

For 27 years Kristoff St. John won hearts as dashing dedicated father and husband Neil Winters on The Young and The Restless. But on Feb. 4 his fans, costars and family were left reeling when news broke of the 52-year-old’s sudden death in his San Fernando Valley home of a possible alcohol overdose. (The official cause of death is pending additional test results, including a toxicology report.) “Kristoff has been paving the way,” his Y&R costar Shemar Moore said, describing the Emmy winner as the “most popular, the most iconic black man in soap opera daytime history. Kristoff is truly the closest thing to a brother and a brother’s mentorship that I’ve ever known.”

The New York City native shone early on. After his breakout performance at age 13 as young Alex Haley in the 1979 ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, St. John worked consistently leading up to 1991, when he began his life-changing turn on the popular CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless in a role he continued to portray until his death.