James E. Reilly was an American soap opera writer. He was the head writer of NBC's Days of Our Lives and creator/head writer of Passions. Reilly won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Writing as co-head writer for Guiding Light in 1993.
Suzanne Rogers is an American actress with film and television credits. Her stage name was inspired by Ginger Rogers, whom she cites as a personal inspiration for joining the entertainment industry. Rogers got her start as a dancer/performer at New York City's Radio City Music Hall, but she is best known for playing Maggie Horton, a role she originated and has played since 1973 on the NBC/Peacock soap opera Days of Our Lives. She is currently noted as the longest serving actress still appearing actively on an American soap opera. In August 2023 Days of Our Lives aired Rogers 50th anniversary show celebrating the milestone.
Deidre Hall is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Marlena Evans on the NBC/Peacock daytime drama Days of Our Lives, who she has played for over 45 years.
Frances Reid was an American dramatic actress. Reid acted on television for nearly all of the second half of the 20th century. Her career continued into the early 2000s.
Mickey Horton is a fictional character from the soap opera Days of Our Lives, played from the show's debut episode in 1965 until January 2004 by John Clarke, spanning 3,500 episodes. The role was briefly played in 2004 by Richard Voigts, then by John Ingle from 2004 through 2006. Kevin Dobson appeared as Mickey in the character's final appearances between April and October 2008.
Eric Brady is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network, played since 2012 by Greg Vaughan, the longest tenured actor in the role. Eric was introduced in the episode of October 16, 1984, together with his twin sister, Sami Brady.
Belle Black is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network. Created by the head writer James E. Reilly, she was born on October 21, 1993, as the only child of supercouple John Black and Marlena Evans. She is also one-half of the supercouple Shawn Brady and Belle Black. Initially portrayed by several child actors between 1993 and 1999, Belle was rapidly aged to a teenager when Kirsten Storms took over the role from 1999 to 2004. Charity Rahmer briefly portrayed Belle for a month before being replaced by Martha Madison, who played the character from August 2004 to March 2008, when Belle departed the show. Madison returned as Belle for the soap's 50th Anniversary Celebrations in 2015 but departed the following year. Belle then appeared for various stints of different lengths before rejoining the regular cast again in 2020. She departed again in 2023.
Maggie Horton Kiriakis is a fictional character from the American Peacock/NBC network soap opera Days of Our Lives played by Suzanne Rogers since 1973, the longest running role on the show, and one of the longest running in American soap operas.
Kristen Blake DiMera is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network. The role was originally portrayed by Eileen Davidson. Davidson joined the cast of Days of Our Lives in 1993, and departed in 1998 after a five-year stint. After a 14-year absence, Davidson returned to the role of Kristen in the fall of 2012. Kristen and her brother Peter were raised by super villain Stefano DiMera at a very young age following the deaths of their parents; however, their mother Rachel was later revealed to be alive.
Thomas Horton is a fictional character and patriarch of the Horton family on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives. He was played by Macdonald Carey from 1965 until his death in 1994.
Julie Olson Williams is a fictional character and member of the Horton family on the NBC daytime drama, Days of Our Lives, a long running serial about working class life in the fictional town of Salem.
Carrie Brady Reed is a fictional character from the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, a long-running serial set in the fictional town of Salem, Illinois. Created by head writer Margaret DePriest, the role of Carrie has been most notably portrayed by Christie Clark, who took over the role in 1986 as a teenager. Clark remained with the series from April 1986 to January 1991 and from December 1992 to November 1999. She returned in 2005, leaving in October 2006, and returned in September 2011 as part of a reboot of the series. Her character left the show the following July, and in September 2016, it was announced that Clark would return as Carrie in 2017. Carrie, a lawyer, also returned for several weeks in early 2018 when her mother, Anna, was accused of the murder of Andre DiMera. She returned in June 2019 for the funeral of Caroline Brady. In 2021, Carrie appeared in the spinoff series Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem.
Jennifer Horton is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network, currently played by actress Cady McClain. Jennifer was created by scriptwriter Pat Falken Smith, and executive producer Betty Corday. Melissa Reeves played the role of Jennifer on and off for over 35 years, premiering on October 9, 1985. The role has also been portrayed by Maren Stephenson, Jennifer Peterson, Stephanie Cameron, and Marci Miller.
Sami Brady is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the Peacock streaming service, portrayed by Alison Sweeney since 1993. The character is first seen as a newborn baby in the episode of October 16, 1984, in which mom Marlena Evans gives birth to her and her twin brother Eric Brady. Initially played by a series of child actresses, Sweeney took over the role of Sami when the character was rapidly-aged from a pre-teen to a teenager, in January 1993, under the pen of head writers Sheri Anderson and James E. Reilly.
Caroline Brady is a fictional character from the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, a long-running serial drama about working class life in the fictional United States town of Salem. Matriarch of the series' Brady family, the character has been continually featured since her debut. Created by writer Margaret DePriest, the role was originated by actress Peggy McCay on February 7, 1983. Jody Carter stepped into the role briefly in 1984, followed by Barbara Beckley from 1984 to 1985. McCay returned to portray Caroline from July 17, 1985, to December 5, 2003, when the character was seemingly murdered by a serial killer. McCay returned in 2004 when Caroline was found alive. She played Caroline for another 12 years; last appearing in August 2016.
Will Horton is a fictional character from the American daytime TV soap opera Days of Our Lives, known for a highly praised coming out story, award-winning performances by actor Chandler Massey, and as one half of US daytime drama's first male gay wedding and marriage. The character first appears in the episode of November 16, 1995, when his mom Sami Brady gives birth to him. Initially portrayed by a series of child actors, the character grew up in real-time as the show aired, eventually to be played by adult actors Chandler Massey, and Guy Wilson (2014–2015).
Marlena Evans is a fictional character on the NBC/Peacock soap opera Days of Our Lives, a long-running serial about working life in the fictional town of Salem. She has been played by actress Deidre Hall since 1976, but the character was absent from the show from 1987 to August 1991 and again from January 2009 to September 2011. Marlena was created by scriptwriter Pat Falken Smith and executive producer Betty Corday, and has become one of Days of our Lives' most well-known characters. Hall made her debut on the soap on June 21, 1976, currently making her the second longest running actress on the serial, surpassed only by Suzanne Rogers.
Days of Our Lives is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television network NBC from 1965 to 2022, is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965. A co-production of Corday Productions and Sony Pictures Television, the series was created by husband-and-wife team Ted Corday and Betty Corday. During Days of Our Lives' early years, Irna Phillips served as a story editor for the program and many of the show's earliest storylines were written by William J. Bell, who would depart the series in 1975 to focus full-time on The Young and the Restless, which he created for CBS in 1973. Following the 2007 cancellation of Passions, Days of Our Lives remained the only soap opera airing on NBC. On August 3, 2022, NBCUniversal announced that it would relocate the series exclusively to its Peacock streaming service beginning September 12 after 57 years on the network and leaving NBC as the only Big Three network without a daytime serial.
Nancy Wesley is a fictional character from the American NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, played by Patrika Darbo. Nancy was created when the serial's producer Tom Langan wanted a "real woman" as opposed to a "super-skinny" actress to join the cast. Casting director Fran Bascom contacted Darbo with the offer and she accepted. Langan did not require the actress to audition for the role. Nancy is introduced as the wife of Craig Wesley and is described as a loyal spouse. Langan liked the dynamic between the two characters; he believed that "handsome" Craig loved the "not super-thin" Nancy very much. Darbo has spoken about the characters sharing a mutual love and credits her own rapport with Spirtas to the character's popularity. Nancy has been featured in storylines involving breast cancer, a feud with Mike Horton, getting run over by a truck, and having a child to provide her leukemia stricken daughter, Chloe Lane with a bone marrow transplant. The character was also involved in a storyline that was part of a promotional campaign for food franchisor Mrs. Fields and charity Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
