Michael Easton will always remember his One Life to Live costar Kamar de los Reyes, who died from cancer on December 24, 2023, at age 56. The soap opera star recalled the final moments he spent with the late actor before he took his final breath.
“I was holding his hand when he passed, and he was surrounded by family and friends. There was so much love around him. I mean, he touched so many lives,” Michael, 57, remembered during the Daytime Stands Up: A Benefit for Stand Up to Cancer – We All Have a Story on May 16.
As for de los Reyes’ memorial, which took place in “biggest room at Forest Lawn [in Los Angeles],” many of his Hollywood costars showed up to pay their respects.
“There was people stretched out all the way to outside,” he added. “People showed that hadn’t seen him in 20 years. That was the effect. So many of the One Life cast members came and cast from All American.”
From 1995 to 2009, de los Reyes starred as Antonio Vega on One Life to Live, opposite Michael’s character John McBain. The duo were friends for three decades, also costarring together in the film Coldfire in 1990.
“It was a 30-year friendship with Kamar. We did our first movie together in 1990. I was scared and I was quiet, and I was instantly drawn to his bravado and his sense of himself. Kamar was larger than life,” Michael reflected.
“He was the best man at my wedding, and I’m godfather to his son Michael. His loss was profound on all of us,” the Ally McBeal alum said, adding that de los Reyes “was fierce to the end.”
Michael previously wrote a heartfelt statement on Facebook upon de los Reyes’ death.
“We are all broken now but blessed to have shared this time and although the nights seem suddenly darker, I know you are still with us, your light guiding us forward,” the post read. “Where you are going my friend, there I will be someday and I know I will find you. Until then, I love you brother.”
De los Reyes was married to actress Sherri Saum, and they shared twins Michael and John. He was also a father of son Caylen, whom he welcomed during a previous relationship.
“You were a fighter. You fought to your last breath. A man of faith that never lost hope,” Michael said of his late friend. “You loved your wife, and you loved your children and their love for you was the lifeforce that kept you going. You meant so much to so many.”
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