Jason Craig Thompson (born November 15, 1976) is a Canadian

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He joined the cast of the American daytime drama '' General Hospital'' in December 2005 as neurosurgeon Dr. Patrick Drake. In 2007, Thompson became an original cast member of the '' General Hospital'' prime-time spin-off '' General Hospital: Night Shift'' while maintaining his day job on ''GH''. On April 1, 2015, Thompson also portrayed original GH character Steve Hardy in a flashback for the show's 52nd anniversary. He has portrayed Billy Abbott on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

soap opera ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...

'' since 2016.

Early career

He was discovered at 16 working at a restaurant in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

by model scout Kelly Streit of mode models. At 18 years old, Thompson left home to build a career in runway, print and commercial modeling. One of his most well-known ad campaigns are the three TV commercials for Gap he did with director Pedro Romhanyi in 1999: "Everybody in Cords", "Everybody in Leather" and "Everybody in Vests". Though modeling paid the bills and allowed Jason the opportunity to travel extensively, he admits that becoming an actor was never far from his thoughts. Within a few years of committing to an acting career, Thompson amassed various television, film and theatre credits. He has had lead roles in such plays such as ''The Academy'', ''More Than You'' and ''Jakob''. In film, Thompson had starring roles in ''Wishmaster: The Prophecy Fulfilled'' and ''Divide''. In television, Thompson has landed guest roles on shows like '' Felicity'', '' Flipper'', and '' Castle''.

Daytime career

Thompson's most popular role to date is that of Dr. Patrick Drake on the ABC

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' General Hospital''. Since playboy Patrick Drake's first appearance on the show, he has flirted with various women (many who work at the hospital call him Dr. Hottie in reference to his good looks and as a tribute to fellow ABC hot doc ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...

s Dr. McDreamy), saved many lives, and mended a contentious relationship with his father, Dr. Noah Drake (played by returning castmember

Rick Springfield Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut ...

). In one storyline, Patrick donated a part of his

liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it ...

to save his father's life. At the same time, Patrick began falling for his co-worker and friend, the HIV-positive Dr. Robin Scorpio, which brought up the question of whether Patrick could give up his womanizing ways. In July 2006, through an operating room mishap, Patrick was exposed to

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

, though his HIV test returned a negative result. After much resistance on Robin's part, Robin and Patrick were finally married and welcomed their baby girl, Emma Grace Scorpio-Drake. As part of ABC's Fan February promotions in 2007, Thompson switched places with a first-grade teacher for a day and taught her class in Irving, Texas. In October 2015, Thompson confirmed his exit from ''General Hospital''. He last appeared on January 7, 2016. In December 2015, it was announced that Thompson would join ''

'' as Billy Abbott; he first appeared on January 14, 2016.

Personal life

On April 5, 2015, Thompson married his longtime girlfriend, Paloma Jonas, in San Pancho, Mexico. Their first child, a son, Bowie Banjo, was born on May 23, 2016. The couple welcomed their second child, a daughter, Rome Coco, on September 20, 2017.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Jason Thompson's Actor Biography on ABC.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Jason Canadian male soap opera actors Canadian male television actors People from St. Albert, Alberta 1976 births Living people Male actors from Alberta 21st-century Canadian male actors Daytime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series winners