Creation and casting 's 1961 novel
Franny and Zooey for his initial audition tape. Buchanan had previously appeared in an episode of
CBS's
The Equalizer in a role that featured no dialogue The ordeal left him a bit roughed up with Buchanan questioning if he'd made the right choice to give up modeling for acting.
General Hospital would change his mind about acting. Buchanan was doing performance art in New York City when executives from ABC saw one of his performances. Buchanan didn't take the network's interest seriously. "It's a leading romantic lead" Buchanan said of the original character description. Though impressed by his reading, what appealed to Monty the most was that Buchanan was an unknown. "I have always believed in never bringing on someone who has been seen before" she said.
Characterization Gloria Monty described what she initially looked for in the role to
Soap Opera Digest. "I was looking for a very rough edge to him. Someone who was physically attractive and someone who had style." Co-head writer Monty's sister, Norma Monty said Duke was conceived to be a "nightclub person, on the edge of the old times. A thirties type." Also, [Gloria] Monty intended to cast an actor without an accent. Buchanan further described Duke as having a "Good heart and soul." However, he was "corrupted by society." Buchanan said he could never be friends with Duke because "He's too unpredictable." In an interview with
The Newfoundland Herald in 1988, Buchanan his views on Duke. "I think he is probably a lot like what I would have been if I had stayed in Scotland." He further described Duke as "grumpy, groany, bad tempered" and "always moody." When asked if Duke was "good or bad," Buchanan said, "I think he is pretty stupid sometimes." Everyone has those moments though "he really means well." Buchanan likened Duke to a modern-day
Robin Hood. Duke never does anything that is "just evil or bad." He always has a reason for the bad things he does.
Relationships portrayed
Anna Devane, Duke's only major love interest within the series. Their "forbidden love" garnered fan support quickly and the duo would achieve supercouple status. The character was conceived by
Gloria Monty as a romantic interest for
Finola Hughes's
Anna Devane. Monty was very picky about Anna's next love interest considering the success of her pairing with
Robert Scorpio played by
Tristan Rogers. "I know Anna needed something a little bigger than life" Monty explained to
Soap Opera Digest. She continued, "Whoever we found had to be on par if not a step better than Scorpio..." Had Anna and Duke failed, Norma Monty revealed the backup plan – "Duke would have become a very bad man... Anna would be a heroine and put him in jail." Anna and Duke found success among fans and critics alike. The romance was very melodramatic as Monty had borrowed from one of her favorite movies, the 1941 film ''
A Woman's Face'' starring
Joan Crawford. Monty said the duo are frequently faced with "life-and-death" and in contrast to other pairings the relationship is "forbidden love" which is why it's attractive. "It just could be the start of a new kind of trouble," said Buchanan of the duo's impending nuptials in early 1987. The duo's success provided the writers under executive producer
H. Wesley Kenney with the opportunity to further complicate Duke and Anna's romance by having Duke "pine" for Sister Camellia (
Elizabeth Keifer) while always feels a strong connection to her first love and father of her child, Robert. Buchanan wasn't really a fan of the multiple triangles for the couple. While, Duke and Anna survive the external threats, there were more obstacles to come. In a 2010 interview, Buchanan admitted that at the time, he couldn't imagine staying for decades. "I was only there for three years but it seemed like 20 years of my life." In 2010, Buchanan revealed that sudden changes in writers and producers attributed to his departure. "I wasn't experienced enough to roll with it. It was too jarring" he admitted. Buchanan also had received offers for other work and his manager advised him to take capitalize on the opportunities while he could. Over the course of seven episodes, Duke undergoes plastic surgery to hide his identity. "I never really knew how that played out. I did go back and did several shows wrapped up in bandages with little slits for eyes. I'm not sure what that was about" Buchanan said of his brief return in 1989. However, Buchanan's return at the time was to facilitate a recast. When asked about how he felt about the decision to recast in 2010, Buchanan said he initially didn't think much of it, but admitted that upon further reflection, he questioned it. Duke returned to the canvas on January 19, 1990, with Greg Beecroft in the role using the alias
Jonathan Paget. The decision to recast was only made when Buchanan decided not to renew his contract in the summer of 1989. However, the recast was short lived and Beecroft's character was killed off after only seven weeks.
Return (2012) While Buchanan went on to do other things, he appeared on several other soaps and in 2007 he said he'd be open to reprising the role but, "They never asked me, which was the interesting thing." He described himself as "totally open" to a return but there had never been a "serious" discussion about it. Buchanan responded to fan questions about his return on Twitter with the statement "My tweets are sealed." Meanwhile, executive producer
Frank Valentini teased a huge surprise for the episode airing on Monday August 27. Ian Buchanan reappeared for the first time in 23 years on August 27, 2012 and the 1990 recast was officially
retconned with Paget being scripted as an impostor. "I've come to the conclusion that's why nobody can use a cell phone in the studio" Buchanan said joking to
Soaps in Depth in reference to his top secret return. Buchanan didn't even tell his longtime friend and co-star Finola Hughes that he had visited the studio. Buchanan revealed that he was unaware of the story the writers had planned for him when he agreed to return. Viewers quickly realized that something had gone wrong with Duke as he had become quite un-apologetically evil as Duke had suddenly killed
Steve Burton's beloved
Jason Morgan. Buchanan was afraid of the fan backlash and hesitant about playing the story because it was far removed from the man viewers had come to know and love.
Death (2015) On March 27, 2015,
Michael Logan of
TV Guide reported that Buchanan's Duke was once again to be killed off. However, the network did not comment on the decision. The April 13 issue of
Soap Opera Digest reported that a "back from the death character" was soon to be killed off as part of cast cuts. Errol Lewis from
Soap Opera Network assumed Buchanan's Duke and
General Hospital were the character and soap in question due to Logan's previous report. Leading up to Buchanan's exit, Duke is "blinded by vengeance" the actor explained. He continued, "I think [Duke]'s come to the realization that if you revenge, be prepared to dig two graves." The character is killed off on the May 12, 2015 episode—the victim of a botched mob hit. Buchanan's final scenes aired on May 14. "I have mixed feelings about it, but it is what it is" Buchanan said of his departure. Much like viewers, Buchanan himself went through a grieving process. In praise of the writing, Buchanan said "[it] was very good right up until the end." Due to the plot direction, Buchanan admitted that he expected his character to be written out and others seemed to catch on as well before Buchanan finally met with Frank Valentini about the developments. "The writing's been on the wall!" In reference to Duke's "out of character" actions prior to his death, Buchanan felt "justified" because the character had always been a "loner." Having lost Anna, Duke didn't have anyone to hold him accountable or expect better from him so he didn't do better. While some viewers questioned Duke's loyalty to fellow mobster
Sonny Corinthos (
Maurice Benard) over Anna, Buchanan appreciated that the writing actually acknowledged it. In just being the character, without questioning the writing, Buchanan was able to identify Duke's motives for himself – "Duke wanted to be a man again." Buchanan explained that the process was made much more difficult due to the fact that his co-stars always wanted to discuss it. While he was happy to be invited back, Buchanan admitted "I wasn't quite sure what it meant." Buchanan praised the writing for his return scenes as "poignant." He continued, "it was a really hectic day because it was a [May] sweeps week, and there were some big stunts going on and some big reveals, but of course it was lovely to be part of it." While Buchanan did not get the chance to work with
Matt Cohen who had recently joined the cast as Duke's long lost son, the actor said of the plot twist, "I think it's very nice." Buchanan made his final appearance as Duke's ghost on Friday, May 27. The actor described the final scenes in which Duke and Anna share one final dance as "a way of him setting [Anna] free to move on with her life." Buchanan returned for one episode on March 8, 2017, when his character appeared as a hallucination of the deranged
Olivia St. John (
Tonja Walker). In December 2020, in a fan-requested
Cameo, he announced he would reprise the role once again. He returned during the December 16 episode. ==Reception==