Scott "Scotty" Baldwin is a fictional character from the ABC soap opera General Hospital and its now-defunct spinoff Port Charles.

[2] Shriner left the series briefly on September 19, 1980 to play Jeb Hampton on Texas, and returned in 1982 for a one-year contract.

With the departure of actress Rachel Ames as Audrey Hardy, Scott became the oldest character (in real time) appearing on General Hospital, having been introduced in 1965.

Executive Producer at the time Gloria Monty asked him to return a year later, ready to turn his character into a "rat.

[9] Fans accepted the change, both because he was more interesting to watch, and because they understood the character's past and felt that the betrayal of both the love of his life (Laura) and one of his good friends (Luke) left him a broken man, and in turn caused him to become bitter and jaded about the world.

There was a lot of family strife in the first couple of years as Meg became engaged to the dashing Dr. Noel Clinton, sending Brooke into a tailspin.

They fell in love and, after many obstacles (including the manipulations of Scotty's on-again/off-again lover and Laura's nemesis Bobbie Spencer), they finally married,[10] but their happiness was short-lived.

Since then, although Scott's more scrupulous side has re-emerged more than once, he always returned to engaging in underhanded and often illegal activities, even as district attorney of Port Charles.

He has had several brief relationships, and in 1982 married Susan Moore, supposedly for financial reasons while he began an affair with Heather Webber.

Scott returned in 1987 and helped to destroy Bobbie's marriage to Jake Meyer, before becoming involved in an off-on relationship with Lucy Coe.

After an ill-advised engagement to Katherine Bell, Scotty left town once again in late December 1993, then returned to Port Charles in 1997.

Much of the storyline revolved around Scotty's struggle to suppress his jealousy of Luke, out of his genuine desire that Laura return to him willingly.

Scott was an extremely corrupt DA, frequently using his position to take action against his enemies, and at one point even ordered Luke arrested by his own son, Lucky.

During the storyline with the Port Charles Hotel fire, Scotty faked his own death in order to steal a treasure from Skye.

He was faced with an investigation by Internal Affairs and fled the city with the money, presumably leaving with his daughter Serena.

Logan admits he had found letters Scott had written to his mother, and a DNA test proves they are father and son.

He uses dirty tricks to get Johnny the death penalty, including forging papers stating his son was working undercover for the police.

Scott's return to town also coincides with the appearance of a replica of the infamous Ice Princess Diamond, which had been addressed to Lulu on Valentine's Day.

Scott is given incriminating evidence on his running mate, Lazaro, with resident mob boss, Sonny Corinthos.

Back when Laura had requested a divorce from Scott, he was consumed with anger and grief, and had gotten intoxicated at Kelly's one night.

Scott realizes that Heather is telling the truth but laments the fact that his career is over because of what will come out about his familial connections.

He gains Cameron, Aiden, and Jake Spencer as his step-grandsons by his son Franco's marriage to Elizabeth Webber.

In 2023, Charlie Mason from Soaps She Knows placed Scotty #11 on his ranked list of General Hospital’s 40+ Greatest Characters of All Time, commenting that "It’s no wonder this rascally attorney’s hair is always fantastically askew: Next to the wisecracks in his head are countless plots, both the cajillions that he’s already hatched and executed, and — dare we hope?