Steve Burton (actor)

Jack Stephen "Steve" Burton (born June 28, 1970) is an American actor who is perhaps best known for playing Jason Morgan on General Hospital from 1991 to 2000 and subsequently from 2002 to present. He is also known for voicing the character of Cloud Strife in a wide range of Square Enix products, including Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and the Kingdom Hearts series.

Career
Burton got his break as a surfer boy on the sitcom Out of This World in 1987. His first acting teacher was Jon Cedar at Theater-Theater in Hollywood, where he trained with fellow actors Gedde Watanabe and Chris Aable. He won a Daytime Emmy as best supporting actor in 1998 for his portrayal of Jason Morgan. In 2007, Burton became an original cast member of the General Hospital prime-time spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift while maintaining his day job on General Hospital. Previously, he appeared on Days of our Lives in 1988 as Harris Michaels, a love interest to Eve Donovan, played by Charlotte Ross.

Burton also appeared in the science fiction miniseries Taken and in the movie The Last Castle in 2001 with Robert Redford and James Gandolfini. Burton is also the voice actor of Cloud Strife in the Kingdom Hearts series and the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII (excluding Final Fantasy VII itself, since it had no voice acting). He has voiced Cloud in the game Kingdom Hearts and its sequel, Kingdom Hearts II, as well as in the CGI movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and the video games Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Dissidia: Final Fantasy.

Burton also performs stand-up comedy. His own General Hospital character is often the target of his satire along with the fact that he does not actually watch the show.

Personal life
Steve Burton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Tory Burton, an optician, and father Jack Burton (after whom he is named), now divorced. He was raised in Cleveland before moving to Hollywood. He graduated from Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California. Burton married wife Sheree Gustin on January 16, 1999, and they have a daughter, Makena Grace Burton (b. September 5, 2003), and a son, Jack Marshall Burton (b. March 26, 2006).

Burton is known as a practical joker on the set of General Hospital. Co-star Maurice Benard who plays his on screen best friend Sonny Corinthos is also Burton's best friend off screen.

Burton with his General Hospital co-stars Scott Reeves, Bradford Anderson, and Brandon Barash formed a band called Port Chuck which he created.