Dena Higley (born September 26, 1958) is an American writer, speaker and author.
Higley grew up in East County, San Diego and was the first of three children. She moved to Los Angeles as a teenager eventually graduating from the University of Southern California with a BFA in Theatre. Dena was previously the head writer of the daytime soap operas Days of Our Lives and One Life to Live . In February 2015, Soap Opera Digest confirmed Higley's imminent return to Days of Our Lives, this time alongside Josh Griffith. The pair begin writing for the series on February 16, 2015, with their material airing on August 19, 2015. [1] [2] Higley was fired again in January 2017; she was replaced by Ron Carlivati. [3] [4] Higley, formerly a member of Writers Guild of America West, left and maintained financial core status during the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. [5]
Dena has been married for 25 years to Mark and is a mother of four children, including an autistic son Connor, a daughter Jensen, an adopted daughter with physical disability, [6] from Vietnam Adelle, and an adopted son Helio, from Ethiopia. [7] Her current non-fiction book Momaholic: Crazy Confessions of a Helicopter Parent was released April 14, 2012. [8]
Writers Guild of America Award
Erika Alma Hermina Slezak is an American actress, best known for her role as Victoria "Viki" Lord on the American daytime soap opera One Life to Live from 1971 through the television finale in 2012 and again in the online revival in 2013. She is one of the longest-serving serial actors in American media. For her portrayal of Viki, she has won six Daytime Emmy Awards, the most of any daytime drama actress.
Hogan Sheffer was an American screenwriter.
Anna DiMera is a fictional character on the NBC daytime drama, Days of Our Lives. She was introduced as the estranged wife of Roman Brady and the biological mother of his daughter, Carrie Brady. Created by head writers, Margaret DePriest and Sheri Anderson, Anna is portrayed by Leann Hunley. Anna is known for being a member of the powerful, upper class DiMera family from her marriages to Tony DiMera.
Bettina Francion Bradbury was an American television soap opera screenwriter. She was the daughter of American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury.
Christopher Whitesell is an American television soap opera writer. He has served as either co-head writer, associate head writer, or a breakdown writer on the shows he has worked. In April 2012, he was named co-head writer of Days of Our Lives with Gary Tomlin, replacing Marlene Clark McPherson and Darrell Ray Thomas who had been let go.
Joe Shelby "Josh" Griffith is an American soap opera writer and producer.
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.
Michelle "Shelly" Altman is an American soap opera writer who is known as breakdown and associate head writer of numerous American daytime soap operas, including Another World, General Hospital and One Life to Live.
Ronald David Carlivati is an American screenwriter. He is best known for his tenures as head writer on the ABC Daytime soap operas One Life to Live and General Hospital. He is currently serving a position as head writer for the Peacock soap opera Days of Our Lives.
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 return was short-lived; she left the show the following July. In September 2016, it was announced that Clark would again reprise her portrayal 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.
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.
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).
Chad DiMera is a fictional character from the original NBC Daytime soap opera, Days of Our Lives, played since 2014 by Billy Flynn. The role was originated and played by Casey Deidrick from 2009 to 2013, when Flynn replaced him.
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.
Theo Carver is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network. Created under head writer Dena Higley, Theo was born onscreen in 2003. The character was portrayed by two sets of twins and three child actors, Chase and Tyler Johnson (2003–2004), Kavi Faquir (2006–2007), Amyrh Harris (2007), Terrell Ransom Jr. from (2008-2015), Kyler Pettis (2015–2018), Cameron Johnson (2020–present). Along with several other child characters, Theo was rapidly aged in November 2015 and Pettis stepped into the role. Pettis announced his departure from the series in 2017 and he vacated the role in 2018. After a two-year absence, Theo was recast when Johnson took over the role in 2020.
Ava Jerome is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network. The role is portrayed by three-time Daytime Emmy Award winner Maura West, who made her first appearance on May 8, 2013.
Ben Weston is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network, most notably portrayed by Robert Scott Wilson. The role was originated by Justin Gaston in 2014, as Ben Rogers, when the character was introduced as the new love interest of Abigail Deveraux, and was later revealed to be the estranged brother of Jordan Ridgeway.
Lani Price is a fictional character on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, played by Sal Stowers. On September 25, 2015, Lani was introduced by co-head writers Josh Griffith and Dena Higley as a rookie police officer, who is revealed to be the daughter of long-running character, Mayor Abe Carver. While Lani is quickly promoted to detective, the character struggles to find a place on the canvas and is abruptly written out on June 9, 2016, after Stowers was released from her contract. Lani was reintroduced on December 19, 2016, and Stowers became a series regular again a year later.
Eli Grant is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network, portrayed by Lamon Archey. The character made his first appearance on February 23, 2017, and was introduced as the son of established character, Valerie Grant and the previously unknown grandson of Julie Olson Williams. As Valerie's son with Julie's late son David Banning, Eli is the product of daytime's first interracial romance, and the first African-American member of the show's core family, the Hortons.