A spokesperson for Guiding Light has confirmed what Internet rumors have hinted at for a week now - Emmy-nominated
Grant Aleksander (
Phillip Spaulding) has been let go from Guiding Light.
"For the next few months, Grant will be featured in a riveting storyline that will keep the Cooper and Spaulding families in the forefront well into the new year," said Mary Dwyer-Dobbin, executive in charge of production for Procter & Gamble Productions. "Grant's gifted portrayal of this complex character is guaranteed to entertain our audience, as Grant has done for many years on Guiding Light."
Aleksander joined the cast of Guiding Light in December 1982. With the exception of two two-year breaks in 1984 and 1991 and a three-year stint as Alec McIntyre on
All My Children, Aleksander has been a part of the Guiding Light cast ever since. His most recent Guiding Light engagement started in 1996.
Aleksander's work on Guiding Light has earned him three Daytime Emmy nominations. In 1998 he earned his first nomination, a nomination in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category. In 2003 and 2004, Aleksander earned back-to-back Outstanding Lead Actor nods.
Sources say that Aleksander found out about his impending exit last week.
The role of Phillip will not be recast. Aleksander will last air sometime in November.
