Original Santa Barbara cast member Dane Witherspoon has died at age 56.A Martinez, who starred as Cruz Castillo in Santa Barbara, revealed the news on his Facebook page:
"Dane passed this morning. People who watched Santa Barbara in its earliest days will remember him as Joe Perkins, a character to which he brought a quiet grace and deep, bittersweet sense of soul. He was a singular, standup guy, loved and admired by many. My first thought, upon meeting him in 1984: 'This is the most beautiful man I've ever seen.' That beauty went all the way to his core."
Witherspoon played "Joe Perkins" in the original cast of NBC daytime drama Santa Barbara in 1984 but was fired from the show after a few months.