Prior to landing the role of the kooky Dr. Simon Neville on The Young and the Restless, Michael E. Knight spent many years acting alongside David Canary on ABC's All My Children.

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Canary portrayed twins Adam and Stuart Chandler while Knight mainly portrayed Tad Martin, but also had a small stint as Ted Orsini.

Unfortunately, Canary recently passed away on Nov. 16 at the age of 77 and many of his former costars from the many years on All My Children as well as other projects have been paying tribute to him, including Knight.

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Knight exclusively spoke with On-Air On Soaps about working with Canary over the years and other fond memories of the pop culture icon. 

"David was one of the guys I felt very fondly towards. He was definitely one of the family. I think he and I started on All My Children at exactly the same time. He was the best of us. First of all, he was a known actor. I remember watching David on Bonanza, when I was a kid. He was unbelievably talented and at the same time, humble and generous," Knight recalled, adding, "I remember his Emmy reel one year with scenes between Stuart and Adam, when Stuart's wife on the show died of AIDS. There was a scene at the chapel of the hospital. I remember he was acting his heart out, and my mouth was agape."

Canary is a five-time Daytime Emmy Award winner. Plus, he has been nominated additional times too.

"David was a beautiful guy inside and out. He was professional, and he was the quintessential gentleman," Knight dished, adding, "David and Susan Lucci [Erica Kane] set the tone for us at All My Children. It's a hard job. It would be very easy to behave like a diva. I've done it, but David was not one of those guys. He set a very, very high mark for me, and everybody else."

The soap star had so many other pleasant things to say about Canary as an actor and friend, including, "When the news broke of David's passing it hit all over the country. He is the type of guy where when you learned this, you just sit there for awhile with it very quietly."

"David's passing should be a big deal and written about. He was huge in pop culture for decades. If you knew anything about soaps, you certainly knew who David Canary was. And people who don't know soaps knew who he was! David was a big deal. He still is," Knight declared, noting, "Everybody should be lucky enough to know somebody like him. I can't say it any better than that."

The Young and the Restless airs on weekdays at 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Tags: The Young and the Restless television CBS All My Children ABC Michael E. Knight David Canary