Thorsten Kaye

{{short description|German-British actor (born 1966)}}

{{BLP sources|date=March 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Thorsten Kaye

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|02|22|df=y}}

| birth_place = Frankfurt, West Germany (modern-day Germany)

| citizenship = West German, British, American

| birth_name = Thorsten Ernst Kieselbach

| nationality =

| occupation = Actor, poet

| years_active = 1991–present

| partner = Susan Haskell{{Cite web|url=https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/icymi-thorsten-kaye-interview/|title = ICYMI - Thorsten Kaye Interview|date = 25 April 2018}}

| children = 2

}}

Thorsten Kaye (born Thorsten Ernst Kieselbach, 22 February 1966) is a German-British-American actor. His best known roles include Patrick Thornhart on One Life to Live, Dr. Ian Thornhart on Port Charles, Zach Slater on All My Children and Ridge Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful.

Acting career

Kaye was born in Frankfurt, Federal Republic of Germany. He appeared in many classical theater roles, including The Winter's Tale, Tartuffe, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Love's Labour's Lost, Twelfth Night, and The Taming of the Shrew, both in London and with the Hilberry Repertory Company in Detroit.

Kaye then moved to Los Angeles, where he acted in many television shows, including the miniseries, Sidney Sheldon's Nothing Lasts Forever, before moving to New York to play Patrick Thornhart on ABC's One Life to Live (1995–1997). The character gained quite a bit of popularity, and it is where he would meet his real life partner, Susan Haskell. After completing a two-year stint on OLTL, Thorsten did some guest starring work for other shows, as well as starring in a few feature films.

In April 2000, Thorsten accepted the role of the dedicated physician Ian Thornhart (Patrick's older brother) on the ABC daytime soap (and the spin-off show of General Hospital), Port Charles (2000–2003). He appeared on the soap until its run ended in October 2003. Thorsten received two Daytime Emmy Award Nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor for his portrayal of Ian in 2003 and 2004.

In April 2004, Thorsten returned to New York to join the cast of the ABC soap All My Children in the role of casino owner, Zach Slater. He was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards in 2006 and 2009. Thorsten portrayed Slater until December 2009. He returned three times in 2010, and again in 2011 to bring Zach's storyline to a close when AMC came to an end after 41 years, in September 2011.

Thorsten Kaye has one of the lead roles in a new psychological thriller (feature-length film) titled Occupant, which was released in the U.S and Canada in October 2011 on demand in many cable/satellite markets as well as on most digital platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, Blockbuster, and PlayStation.

In 2012, Kaye began appearing in the role of Nick, a recurring character on the NBC series Smash. In October 2013, it was announced that Kaye was cast to portray Ridge Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful, replacing originator Ronn Moss, who departed the series in 2012 after 25 years in the role.{{cite web |url=http://www.tvguide.com/News/Bold-Beautiful-Thorsten-Kaye-1072090.aspx |title=Exclusive: Thorsten Kaye Cast as the New Ridge on The Bold and the Beautiful |last=Logan |first=Michael |work=TV Guide |publisher=TVGuide.com |access-date=15 October 2013 |date=15 October 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/thorsten-kaye-bbs-new-ridge |title=Thorsten Kaye Is B&B's New Ridge |author=SOD |work=Soap Opera Digest |publisher=Soapoperadigest.com |access-date=15 October 2013 |date=15 October 2013}} On 15 December 2023 Kaye became the first German-British to win the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, which he won for his portrayal of Ridge Forrester.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/12/2023-daytime-emmy-winners-1235669863/|title=Daytime Emmy Awards: 'General Hospital' Wins Outstanding Drama; Kelly Clarkson Best Talk Show & Talk Show Host – Full Winners List|author=Lynette Rice|publisher=Deadline Hollywood|date=15 December 2023|access-date=15 December 2023}} He won again in 2024.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

Personal life

When not working, Kaye enjoys music, literature and riding American motorcycles. He is a fan of the Miami Dolphins and the Detroit Red Wings.{{cite news | title=Who, Where and Wow! | date=2007-02-27 |work=Soap Opera Weekly| page = 15 }}

While appearing on One Life to Live, he met his partner, Susan Haskell, who played his on-show love interest (Margaret "Marty" Saybrooke). They have two daughters, McKenna (born February 2003) and Marlowe (born January 2007).

Kaye was an active blogger for the Detroit Red Wings at NHL.com during the 2008 and 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs.[http://www.nhl.com/ice/newsindex.htm?author=2572&view=headline Thorsten Kaye – Time to flip the switch – NHL.com]

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"

|+Film roles

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1996

|The Silencers

|Jasper

|

2000

|The Prophet's Game

|Joey Highsmith (adult)

|

2000

|Shark Attack 2

|Dr. Nick Harris

|Direct-to-video

2011

|Occupant

|Joe

|

2014

|Animal

|Carl

|

class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Television roles

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1991

|Deadly Desire

|Airport Agent

|TV film

1995

|Nothing Lasts Forever

|Jury Foreman

|TV film

1995–1997

|One Life to Live

|Patrick Thornhart

|Regular role

1998

|Sliders

|Ralph Hackett

|Episode: "Asylum"

1999

|Air America

|Sam Moon

|Episode: "Fear of Flying"

2000

|Falcone

|Isadore Rechelko

|Episode: "Pilot"

2000–2003

|Port Charles

|Dr. Ian Thornhart

|Regular role

2004–2011, 2013

|All My Children

|Zach Slater

|Regular role

2012–2013

|Smash

|Nick Felder

|Recurring role, 13 episodes

2013–present

|The Bold and the Beautiful

|Ridge Forrester

|Regular role

2016

|Falling Water

|Javier Mendoza

|Episode: "Castles Made of Sand"

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" | {{abbr|Ref.|References}}

style="text-align:center;"|1993

| Soap Opera Digest Award

| Outstanding Male Newcomer

| One Life to Live

| {{nom}}

|

style="text-align:center;"| 2001

| Soap Opera Digest Award

| Outstanding Hero

| rowspan="4"| Port Charles

| {{nom}}

|

{{center|2003}}

| Daytime Emmy Award

| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

| {{nom}}

| {{center|{{cite web|title=Nominees for Daytime Emmys |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-03-12-daytime-emmy-list_x.htm |work=USA Today |publisher=Gannett Company |access-date=6 May 2013 |agency=Associated Press |date=12 March 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927200408/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-03-12-daytime-emmy-list_x.htm |archive-date=27 September 2013 |location=Tysons Corner, Virginia |url-status=dead }}}}

style="text-align:center;"| 2003

| Soap Opera Digest Award

| Outstanding Lead Actor

| {{nom}}

|

{{center|2004}}

| Daytime Emmy Award

| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

| {{nom}}

| {{center|{{cite web|title=The 31st Annual Daytime Emmy Award Nominations |url=http://www.emmyonline.org/releases/pdf/Daytime_Emmy_Nom_Release_Final_for_Web.pdf |publisher=emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |access-date=6 May 2013 |date=4 March 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929081434/http://www.emmyonline.org/releases/pdf/Daytime_Emmy_Nom_Release_Final_for_Web.pdf |archive-date=29 September 2013 |location=New York |url-status=dead }}}}

style="text-align:center;"| 2005

| Soap Opera Digest Award

| Favourite Return

| rowspan="3"| All My Children

| {{nom}}

|

{{center|2006}}

| Daytime Emmy Award

| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

| {{nom}}

| {{center|{{cite web|title=The 33rd Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations |url=http://www.emmyonline.org/emmy/33rdAnnual_daytime_nominees_only.html |publisher=emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |access-date=5 May 2013 |date=8 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519105718/http://www.emmyonline.org/emmy/33rdAnnual_daytime_nominees_only.html |archive-date=19 May 2013 |location=New York |url-status=dead }}}}

{{center|2009}}

| Daytime Emmy Award

| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

| {{nom}}

| {{center|{{cite web|title=The 36th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations |url=http://www.emmyonline.org/mediacenter/daytime_36th_nominations.html |publisher=emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |access-date=5 May 2013 |date=14 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723202021/http://www.emmyonline.org/mediacenter/daytime_36th_nominations.html |archive-date=23 July 2013 |location=New York |url-status=dead }}}}

{{center|2017}}

| Soap Awards France

| Best Actor of the Year

| rowspan="7"| The Bold and the Beautiful

| {{nom}}

| {{center|{{cite web|title=Soap Awards France 2017 : Hélène Rollès, Les Mystères de l'amour, Ambroise Michel, Terre de passions, Eric Braeden... le palmarès complet|url=https://www.toutelatele.com/soap-awards-france-2017-helene-rolles-les-mysteres-de-l-amour-ambroise-michel-terre-de-passions-eric-braeden-le-palmares-complet-91285|publisher=toutelatele.com and Médiamétrie|access-date=17 August 2020|date=1 June 2017|location=France }}}}

{{center|2017}}

| Soap Awards France

| Best Couple of the Year – "Caroline and Ridge"
(shared with Linsey Godfrey)

| {{nom }}

| {{center|}}

{{center|2020}}

| Daytime Emmy Award

| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

| {{nom}}

| {{center|{{cite web|url=https://theemmys.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020.05.21-DTE-Release.pdf|title=The 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Nominations |publisher=emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |access-date=21 May 2020|year=2020|location=New York }}}}

{{center|2020}}

| Soap Hub Awards

| Favorite The Bold and the Beautiful Actor

| {{nom}}

| {{center|{{cite web|last1=Montgomery|first1=Daniel|title=1st Annual Soap Hub Awards decided by fans honored 'Days of Our Lives,' Steve Burton, Sharon Case and more|url=https://www.goldderby.com/article/2020/soap-hub-awards-days-of-our-lives-steve-burton/|website=Gold Derby|publisher=Penske Media Corporation|access-date=3 September 2020|date=2 September 2020}} }}

{{center|2021}}

| Daytime Emmy Award

| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

| {{nom}}

| {{center|{{cite web|url=https://theemmys.tv/daytime-48th-nominations-cbs/|title=The 48th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Nominations |publisher=emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |access-date=25 May 2020|year=2020|location=New York }}}}

{{center|2023}}

| Daytime Emmy Award

| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

| {{won}}

|{{center|{{cite web|url=https://theemmys.tv/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Daytime-Nominations-with-Credits-2023-05-10-1700.pdf|title=The 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Nominations |publisher=emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |access-date=13 May 2023|year=2023|location=New York/Los Angeles}}}}

{{center|2024}}

| Daytime Emmy Award

| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

| {{won}}

|

References

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}