It’s been less than 24 hours since Maurice Benard shared the devastating news that his longtime General Hospital castmate Tyler Christopher had passed away at age 50. We can’t wrap our heads around it and have a terrible feeling that we may never be able to. How could someone so mind-bogglingly talented, so full of life, so loved, just be all of a sudden… gone?

At the same time as we and all of Christopher’s admirers are grappling with the unthinkable, so are his General Hospital and Days of Our Lives families. It wasn’t only in his searing performances as Nikolas Cassadine and Stefan DiMera that the Emmy winner made an impression, it was in the bonds that he formed behind the scenes.

Days of Our Lives’ Steve Burton (Harris) worked with Christopher for years during his long run as Jason Morgan. But they were much more than castmates. “This hits hard. Really hard,” Burton said via Instagram. “Sometimes I use the word ‘brother’ loosely. But when I called Tyler my brother, I meant it.

“There’s a group of us… that have done and still would do anything for each other. That’s a brother,” he continued. “We lost one. A beautiful and talented soul at that. It hurts. Thank you for the memories, brother Ty. Love you. See you in heaven.”

Burton is by no means alone in his estimation of Christopher. In the below photo gallery, former leading ladies and scene partners throughout his career share their memories of the actor.