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Santo DiMera | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Days of Our Lives character | |||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | James Scott (2007–2008) Fabrizio Brienza (2012) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Duration | 2007–2008, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | July 9, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Last appearance | May 8, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Created by | Hogan Sheffer | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Santo DiMera is a fictional character on the soap opera Days of Our Lives . He was portrayed by James Scott [1] from July 9, 2007 to September 28, 2007. Scott reprised the role on August 20, 2008, as a figment of John's imagination. The titular character was the father of Stefano DiMera and established the wealth and power of the DiMera family.
The character Santo is a traveling salesman and the father of crime lord Stefano DiMera. Victor Kiriakis described Santo as "brilliant, wealthy, charming and utterly crooked" with "operations all over the world". While doing business in Galway, Ireland, he became involved with a novice nun, Colleen Brady. Even though he was married and had a son at their first meeting, he is drawn to Colleen and chooses to pursue her. Santo and Colleen share letters and begin a relationship after Santo's wife allegedly dies. Their relationship is the reason the DiMeras start the Brady–DiMera feud.
According to Stefano, Colleen dies horribly by leaping to her death from a cliff overlooking the ocean (foreshadowing similar future scenes involving members of her family), and Santo blames the Bradys, but it is a simple truth that drove Colleen to her death. Santo's wife never died and Colleen, who had been intimate with Santo, was about to marry him when she learns the truth through her younger brother Shawn Brady, who was inadvertently tipped off by a young Stefano while they were playing together. Santo vows revenge against the Bradys for losing whom he now considers the love of his life, and a vendetta begins. Though occurring (off-screen) through occasional commentary from other Brady family members, viewers learn that the feud is particularly painful, vicious, and occasionally violent. In later years, Shawn goes to great lengths—including having his step-son Bo roughed up and briefly held captive in Ireland—to keep the feud's origins a secret.
Years later, in a letter written to Stefano in Rome from his deathbed in New Orleans, Santo tells him the Bradys are living in the American city of Salem and orders his son to come to America and continue the family vendetta, a move that proves beneficial to DiMera Enterprises. The governor of the unnamed state in which Salem is located, who happened to be the father of Stefano's ex-daughter-in-law Liz Chandler, had been bragging that, at the time, Salem had been free of the scourge of organized crime, which gave the DiMeras a "clean slate" from which to operate.
Stefano dutifully picks up Santo's mantle, and uses it to his own advantage, carrying out the vendetta and amassing great wealth in the process. Various letters among DiMera family members reveal that the key to ending the vendetta is contained in a portfolio that was left in Colleen's church in Galway, St. Malachy's. The sole condition to the vendetta's end is that his grandson EJ DiMera and Sami Brady must be married because EJ and Sami are identical lookalikes to Colleen and Santo, and therefore acceptable proxies to whom Santo considers soulmates.
In February 2008, Colleen is found alive and it is revealed she left Santo, faked her death, and went into hiding in a convent in South America where she had his son, Ryan Brady – then believed to be John Black – and gave him up for adoption. In August 2008, Santo appears as a vision to John, telling him not to let what Stefano did to him alienate him from the people he loves.
In the summer of 2012, the DiMera family begins to fall apart as Stefano's wife Kate Roberts has an affair with Ian McAllister, Stefano reveals that he isn't EJ's real father and disinherits him, and Lexie Carver dies from a brain tumor which is an after effect of André DiMera holding her captive in a tunnel years prior. In June 2012, Stefano appears to have been murdered, and EJ is arrested for the crime. After he is released, EJ is kidnapped by Ian, who reveals that Stefano is alive and the man who died was a lookalike. Ian's mother, Yvette, was an employee and lover of Santo's. Santo was also Ian's father figure. According to Ian, Santo intended for Yvette to inherit half of his fortune, and Ian arrived to collect the money on Santo’s behalf. Ian also reveals that he wanted to take everything away from Stefano and forged the letter from Alice Horton to Stefano saying that EJ wasn't Stefano's son when he was. EJ punches Ian, causing him to lose consciousness, and calls the police, who subsequently haul Ian off to a mental institution.
It is later revealed that John’s identity was not that of Ryan Brady’s. John was a baby at the orphanage where Ryan was born, with the latter dying shortly after birth. With the caretakers at the orphanage being unwilling to break the bad news to Colleen, they replaced Ryan with John. Colleen raised John as her own until she was no longer able to, and he was adopted by Leopold and Philomena Alamain. Philomena was the sister of Daphne DiMera, Stefano's future common-law wife and biological mother of Leopold and Philomena's other son, Lawrence Alamain. John's parents were eventually revealed to be Maude and Tim Robicheaux (aka Yo Ling).
John Black and Marlena Evans are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American daytime drama Days of Our Lives. John is portrayed by Drake Hogestyn and Marlena is portrayed by Deidre Hall. In magazines and in advertising, as well as on Internet message boards, the couple is often referred to by the portmanteau "Jarlena" or "Jolena".
Stefano DiMera is a fictional character from the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, played by Joseph Mascolo. Created by Pat Falken Smith, Stefano was introduced on January 18, 1982 as the father of Tony DiMera looking to expand his criminal empire to Salem. Stefano's early storylines included his feud with Roman Brady, playing his children – Tony and Renée DuMonde against one another when he is presumed dead, orchestrating a series of murders with his son and Tony's deranged look-a-like André, and replacing the presumed dead Roman with the brainwashed John Black.
Abe Carver is a fictional character on the long-running American soap opera Days of Our Lives. Actor James Reynolds has played the character since he originated it on the series in 1981, and is currently the fifth longest serving actor on the show. The role is one of the longest-running African American characters in American soap operas. The character was created by head writer Pat Falken Smith. Abe is the widowed husband of Lexie Carver, daughter of international crime lord, Stefano DiMera. He is the father of Brandon Walker and Theo Carver and the adoptive father of Lani Price.
Lexie Carver is a fictional character on the NBC soap opera, Days of Our Lives, created by head writer Leah Laiman. The role has been played most notably by actress Renée Jones, who appeared in the role from 1993 until departing in 2012. She is the daughter of crime boss Stefano DiMera, and the psychic Celeste Perrault. She is the mother of Theo Carver, and was the wife of mayor Abe Carver.
Shawn Brady is a fictional character from the American soap opera Days of Our Lives and the patriarch of the Brady family. He has been portrayed by Lew Brown, Peter MacLean, and most notably by Frank Parker.
John Black was a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera originally aired on NBC and now streaming on Peacock. Drake Hogestyn played the role from January 1986 until January 2009, and returned in September 2011. Hogestyn last appeared as John in the September 9, 2024, episode, weeks before his death on September 28.
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.
Victor Kiriakis is a fictional character on NBC's Days of Our Lives. The role was portrayed by John Aniston from 1985 until his death in 2022, with a storyline driven absence in 2004 when his character was "killed off" but found alive on the island of Melaswen. Aniston received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series nomination in 2017 for his portrayal of Victor.
Kate Roberts is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network. The matriarch of the series' Roberts family, the role was originated by Deborah Adair in 1993, and is currently played by Lauren Koslow, who has held the role since 1996. Kate is the mother of Austin Reed, Billie Reed, Lucas Horton, Philip Kiriakis, and the twins Cassie and Rex Brady. Kate is the ex-wife of Curtis Reed, Victor Kiriakis, Roman Brady and Stefano DiMera, and is the widow of André DiMera. She is known for getting what she wants via scheming.
EJ DiMera is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network. Created by head writer James E. Reilly and introduced under executive producers, Ken Corday and Tom Langan, EJ is the son of crime boss Stefano DiMera and the eccentric Susan Banks. Initially portrayed by child actors Avalon, Dillon, and Vincent Ragone from February 1997 to April 1998, the character was rapidly aged in 2006 when James Scott was cast in the role; he departed the role in October 2014. In 2018, the role was briefly portrayed by Trey Baxter. In June 2021, Australian actor Dan Feuerriegel assumed the role.
Susan Banks is a fictional character on NBC's daytime drama Days of Our Lives. She was played by Eileen Davidson from November 4, 1996, to April 8, 1998, and again in 2014 and 2017. Susan is the eccentric mother of Elvis "EJ" DiMera, and once acted as Kristen Blake's doppelganger. In November 2011, it was announced that Brynn Thayer would take over the role of Susan, since Davidson was committed to The Young and the Restless. Thayer made her brief one-off appearance as Susan on December 7, 2011.
Steve "Patch" Johnson is a fictional character on Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network. Created by head writers Sheri Anderson, Thom Racina and Leah Laiman, he has been portrayed by only Stephen Nichols on & off since 1985.
André DiMera is a fictional character from the NBC Daytime soap opera, Days of Our Lives. The role was originated in 1983 by Thaao Penghlis when André was introduced as the nephew of Stefano DiMera. Having undergone plastic surgery to look identical to Stefano's stepson, Tony, André—on Stefano's behalf—sets out to frame Roman Brady for a series of murders. However, plans go awry as André claims several victims including Stefano's daughter Renée DuMonde. André's later plans to help Stefano heal his brain tumor and get revenge on their enemies culminates in André's presumed death in November 1984.
Kayla Brady Johnson is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, a soap opera on the NBC network. She made her first appearance in 1982. Kayla was created by Pat Falken Smith as one of the original members of the Brady family. She is known for her popular pairing with Steve Johnson. This relationship gave the couple the title of a famous super couple. Kayla was described as being the "good" girl of the serial. During her time on Days of our Lives, Kayla was extremely well received by television critics. Kayla Brady Johnson is one of the six Brady children. She is the daughter of the late Shawn Brady and Caroline Brady. She is the sister of Roman and Kimberly Brady, the half-sister of Bo Brady, and the sister of adopted brothers Frankie and Max Brady. She has been married five times, once to Jack Deveraux and four times to Steve Johnson. Steve and Kayla have two children, a daughter, Stephanie, and a son, Joey. Mary Beth Evans returned to Days of Our Lives for a short-stint on June 18, 2010, and then again on recurring status starting in December 2011. She was upgraded to regular status in 2015.
Elvis "EJ" Aaron DiMera and Samantha "Sami" Gene Brady DiMera are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American soap opera Days of Our Lives. Since 1993, the role of Sami Brady has been portrayed by actress Alison Sweeney. James Scott originally portrayed the role of EJ DiMera when the character was introduced on May 30, 2006, but in 2021 when EJ finally returns for the first time on-screen since his supposed death in 2014, he is now portrayed by actor Dan Feuerriegel. Scott says that his days of acting are now behind him.
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.
Tony DiMera is a fictional character from the Peacock American soap opera Days of Our Lives, played by actor Thaao Penghlis on and off from November 6, 1981, until October 24, 1985, and from July 19, 2007, until April 1, 2009. One of the character's main storylines includes being impersonated by fellow character André DiMera at various points in the character's tenure. Both roles were played by Penghlis. He reprised the role in a guest capacity in March 2019, before returning in a recurring capacity later that July, and exiting again in May 2023. On October 3, 2024, it was announced Penghlis would reprise the role, when Tony returns in June 2025.