You Don’t Know Jack: On the Anniversary of His Days of Our Lives Debut, We Rattle *All* the Forgotten Skeletons in His Closet
Sunday, April 10th, 2022
From villain to lovable hero.
Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease, Days of Our Lives‘ Jack Deveraux first appeared in Salem on April 10, 1987, to seek medical treatment. Over the next three decades (and then some), he went from hated to loved and sometimes hated again, with a few actor swaps along the way.
Upon Jack’s initial arrival, he promptly fell for his nurse, a.k.a. Salem’s sweetheart, Kayla Brady. Despite being in love with Steve, Kayla married an ailing Jack, but she cheated on him with her true love. In a jealous rage, Jack raped her.
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The early days when Joseph Adams played Jack.
Credit: Bernard Boudreau/NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
That should have put an end to any root-ability factor Jack had, but as with many seemingly irredeemable characters before — and after — him, the writers transformed him into a goofy, yet upstanding journalist and family man. He wasn’t without his flaws though, as Jack had a penchant for abandoning said family and was known to pull a well (or poorly) laid out scheme or two.
Jack’s redemption was aided by the fact that he was actually Steve and Adrienne’s biological brother. Plus, Salem’s other sweetheart, Jennifer Horton fell in love with him, which set the couple on a decades-long quest to find happily ever after. Which they seemingly have, as they are recently re-married and running a newspaper together in Boston.
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Matthew Ashford and Melissa Reeves’ Jack and Jennifer.
Credit: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Before they got there though, Jack “died” a couple of times, got involved with other people (including Jennifer’s mother), was held captive, faked his death when he came down with another life-threatening disease, had two kids with Jennifer, ended up on Melaswen Island, had one kid he didn’t know about until she was an adult, did dastardly things with Eve when he had amnesia, sat by Jennifer’s side (and slept with Kate) while she was in a year-long coma, and so many other soap opera-y things we don’t have room for.
Actor Joseph Adams originated the character, but only lasted until July of 1987 when James Acheson was recast in the role. However, he too was short-lived, as Matthew Ashford took over just a few months later in October. Ashford’s casting stuck and he played Jack until 1993 when Jack left town, blaming himself for his daughter Abigail’s own medical condition, aplastic anemia.
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Mark Valley and Stephanie Cameron as Jack and Jennifer.
Credit: NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection
Of course, he couldn’t stay away and returned in the form of Mark Valley for a couple of years when Jennifer was played by Stephanie Cameron. Then, Steve Wilder took on the persona for a bit, and then it was back to Matthew Ashford, who has popped in and out of Salem as Abigail, JJ and Gwen’s father since 2001. Jon Lindstrom (Kevin Collins/Ryan Lavery, General Hospital) was even a stand-in for Ashford due to COVID when Lindstrom’s wife, Cady McClain was playing Jennifer.
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Best mates.
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
Tell us what you want to see happen for Jack in the comments and then…
Check out the photo gallery below of the most recast characters in daytime.
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<p>When the son of Joe and Ruth Martin graduated to grownup storylines in 1988, he also graduated to a grownup portrayer in Michael Brainard (who’d later play Ted Capwell on <em>Santa Barbara</em>). Just look at that expression: There’s a guy who’s thinking about his tax return! It doesn’t get any more adult than that.</p>
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<p>Is there a doctor in the house? There sure was in 2000, when <em>Young & Restless</em> vet J. Eddie Peck scrubbed in after his stint as Cole Howard, the ranch hand who’d given <em>everybody</em> a ride.</p>
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<p>Ricky Paull Goldin — previously Dean Frame on<em> Another World</em> — rounded out the adult Jake trilogy, playing the part from 2008 until the soap’s 2011 cancellation by ABC. <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/gallery/pine-valley-all-my-children-characters-necessary-abc-photos/" target="_blank">Catch him next on <em>Pine Valley</em></a>? That remains to be seen.</p>
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4/64
<p>Though the soap hit the bullseye when it cast Sarah Joy Brown — the fan favorite went on to win three Emmys — she left in 2001. How, fans wondered, could anyone replace her? Pretty well, it turned out.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
5/64
<p>Tamara Braun made the role her own — and made herself an in-demand daytime MVP in the process. She went on to appear on <em>All My Children</em> and to return to <em>General Hospital</em> as Kim Nero before resurrecting <em>Days of Our Lives</em>’ “ill-fated” Ava Vitali. Following her four-year run as Sonny’s moll, the show hoped to nail the key casting once again.</p>
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<p>Jennifer Bransford was already well-known to ABC viewers, owing to her run as <em>One Life to Live</em> nut job Georgie Phillips. But she didn’t <em>quite</em> work as Carly. So after just six months, the show switched gears and replaced her with…</p>
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<p>Fresh off her run on <em>Guiding Light</em> as stripper-turned-princess Cassie Winslow, Laura Wright relocated from Springfield to Port Charles and never looked back. By now, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the queenpin — even though we know, we <em>know</em>, they did!</p>
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<p>Want proof that kids grow up fast? In 2008, the same year that Darcy Rose Byrnes left her role of Ashley Abbott and Victor Newman’s daughter, she was <em>boom</em>! Replaced by…</p>
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<p>No one seemed to notice that the tyke was suddenly so mature that she was played by Hayley Erin (later Kiki Jerome on <em>General Hospital</em>). The character wouldn’t get another makeover until 2010 when the audience was introduced to…</p>
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<p>During the character’s stretch as Genoa City’s <span style="text-decoration: line-through">foremost flasher</span> Naked Heiress, she was played by Emme Rylan, who exited stage left to replace Julie Berman on <em>General Hospital</em> as Lulu Spencer.</p>
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<p>Since 2013, Melissa Ordway has taken the legacy character from one husband to the next, one career to another. Oddly, one thing has never changed about Abby: She’s still beautiful. Go figure.</p>
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<p>Back when Jack Abbott’s younger son first made an impact on the canvas in 2010, Garrett Ryan took charge of the child’s play. “No, kid, a martini is <em>not</em> appropriate after a tween’s ballgame — not even if you won!”</p>
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<p>When SORAS (Soap-Opera Rapid-Aging Syndrome) hit, it hit hard, transforming the moppet in 2012 into Blake Hood. Viewers shouldn’t have gotten attached, though, because less than a year later, he was replaced by…</p>
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<p>Hartley Sawyer came and went from Genoa City as Summer Newman’s sweetheart as quickly as the title character on the CW series on which he’d eventually play Elongated Man: <em>The Flash.</em></p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
15/64
<p>In 2015, <em>Station 19</em> hottie Lachlan Buchanan took a turn as the Abbott heir… which ended less than a year later, at which point the show threw in the towel and decided to give the character a lil’ time-out.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
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<p>Finally, when Michael Mealor suited up (and stripped down) in 2018, fans knew that at long last, the <em>definitive</em> Kyle had been hired. How the show then let him slip away is another story altogether…</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
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<p>The first actor to make an impression as Nina and Phillip’s son was Penn Badgley, who went on to drop the “child” from “child star” and make waves on <em>Gossip Girl</em> and <em>You</em>.</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
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<p>When the legacy character was brought back to Genoa City in 2009 for a family reunion with Mom and Dad, who turned out to be (surprise) alive and (surprise again) gay, <em>Guiding Light</em> vet John Driscoll (Coop) won the part.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
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<p>Almost a decade after the halo-clad hero lost his virginity and got the hell outta Dodge, he was brought back with Donny Boaz in the role. When he contracted COVID just before his character’s big wedding to Abby, the soap had to call in a ringer to say “I do.” In other words…</p>
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<p>Justin Gaston had no trouble reciting vows to Melissa Ordway — he’d already done so in real life. But when it was time to bring in a permanent replacement for Boaz, the daytime drama turned to…</p>
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21/64
<p>When daytime newcomer Conner Floyd landed the pivotal part of Abby’s “late” husband, he had nearly a dozen movies in various stages of production, according to IMDb. One word: wow!</p>
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<p>As soon as Ridge and Taylor Forrester’s son was old enough to say lines — <em>and</em> have Aunt Bridget read him the book <em>What Is SORA</em>S? — Patrick Dorn was cast in the role.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
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<p>Once puberty hit the character, Drew Tyler Bell stepped in — and whad’ya know, there was reliable strumpet Amber Moore to ease Thomas’ transition into manhood.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
24/64
<p>When Adam Gregory inherited the role in 2010, Ridge’s chip off the ol’ block started doing a lot more lounging around with his abs rippling. Of note: This made total sense.</p>
Image: Denis Guignebourg/JPI
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<p>Though he’s wearing a shirt in this shot — yes, he <em>did</em> still own them! — the version of Thomas that Pierson Fodé played got naked often enough to conceive Douglas with Caroline Spencer <em>and</em> have a fling with Sally Spectra.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
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<p>When <em>Young & Restless</em> vet Matthew Atkinson — he’d been Austin Travers — was tapped to take over in 2019, the show brought to the fore Thomas’ dark side. Also a keener-than-we’d-guessed appreciation for mannequins that resemble Hope Logan.</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
27/64
<p>Back in 1987, the show had high hopes for Joseph Adams when he was dropped into a love triangle with supercouple Patch Johnson and Kayla Brady. But those hopes were quickly lowered, and Jack was quickly recast, first with the blink-and-ya-missed-him James Acheson, then with…</p>
Image: Gary Null/NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
28/64
<p>By the time Matthew Ashford moved to Salem and became half of a supercouple opposite Melissa Reeves as Jennifer Horton, he was already a soap vet, having played Drew Ralston on<em> One Life to Live</em> and Cagney McCleary on <em>Search for Tomorrow</em>. A year after his 1993 exit, the soap replaced him with…</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p>As if it wasn’t hard enough being a recast, Mark Valley had to try to make fans love him as Jack even as they were <em>also</em> getting used to a new Jennifer, Stephanie Cameron. (Spoiler alert: They never did get used to her.)</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
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<p>When Steve Wilder took the character in a suddenly shirt-averse direction in 1997, viewers had to tell the show, “You don’t know Jack.”</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
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<p>Since 2001, anytime Jack’s returned from the dead, it’s been Ashford who once again has been playing Abigail’s (and now Gwen’s) dad.</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
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<p>Puberty… it does a body good! And when Jill and John Abbott’s son emerged on the other side of it, he was played by future Emmy winner David Tom, whose sister Heather (Katie Logan on <em>The Bold and the Beautiful</em>) was at the time playing Victoria Newman.</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
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<p>Upon Tom’s departure from Genoa City, Ryan Brown (once Bill Lewis on <em>Guiding Light</em>) stretched out and got comfy in his vacant role.</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
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<p>After appearing on <em>All My Children</em> and before joining <em>General Hospital</em>, Billy Miller struck supercouple gold as half of “Villy” — a pairing made possible by the fact that he and new Victoria Amelia Heinle weren’t real-life siblings.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
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<p>Three Daytime Emmys later, Miller moved on, leaving behind both his character and his leading lady to… original Billy David Tom. Alas, his return engagement was a short one. Before the year was out, he’d been succeeded by…</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
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<p>He took a handsome photo, that’s for sure, but the fit wasn’t quite right with Burgess Jenkins. So in 2016, the audience turned on the show to find that they were on…</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
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<p>Fresh from his successful run as Patrick Drake on <em>General Hospital</em>, Jason Thompson made his Genoa City debut (with Peter Bergman and Gina Tognoni as Jack and Phyllis Abbott)… in a hospital bed!</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p>After five child actors played Victoria Lord’s firstborn with husband Joe Riley, Joey Thrower took over in 1991 — and was thrust into a frontburner storyline with Yasmine Bleeth as LeeAnn Demerest.</p>
Image: ABC
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<p>Thrower was replaced after only a year by Kirk Geiger, whose stay in Llanview lasted until 1994 and the introduction of…</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p>The third time definitely <em>wasn’t</em> the charm for this legacy character: Ken Kenitzer came and went so fast that there isn’t even a photo of him. Kevin Stapleton made a more lasting impression in his 1996-98 stint in the role.</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p>Soap-hopper Timothy Gibbs — perhaps best known for playing Gary Sinclair on <em>Another World</em> — spent 1998-2001 as a member of the Buchanan clan. Whether he maintained this pose the whole time… er, we can’t recall.</p>
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<p>Here wearing the same expression we did when we heard that the show had been cancelled is Kevin’s final portrayer, Dan Gauthier.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p>Tyler Christopher took daytime by storm when he was tapped to play Laura Spencer’s surprise son — and a Cassadine to boot! — in 1996. When he left after three years to see what <em>else</em> he could take by storm, in came…</p>
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<p>Coltin Scott was a fine stand-in for Christopher, but at the end of the day, he kinda <em>felt</em> like a stand-in — the menu item you order when the one you really want isn’t available. </p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
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<p>Remember what we said in the previous caption? That might have something to do with the fact that Christopher was brought back to the role he originated in 2003.</p>
Image: ABC
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<p>When a temp was needed to fill in for Christopher in 2005, Chris Beetem — better known as Jordan Sinclair on <em>As the World Turns</em> — stepped up.</p>
Image: ABC screenshot
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<p>At the end of Christopher’s return engagement, Nick Stabile (once Mark Wolper on <em>Sunset Beach</em>) was brought in to finish out the storyline that “killed” Ava Jerome’s future husband.</p>
Image: ABC
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<p>In 2019, the Cassadine prince was raised from the grave with a brand-new face: that of Marcus Coloma. But that <em>still</em> wasn’t the end of the line for the character. In 2021, we got…</p>
Image: ABC screenshot
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<p>However briefly, Adam Huss carried Nikolas’ baggage.</p>
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<p>Back in the 1970s, Andrea Evans originated the role of the future nymphet who would turn out to be the half sister of fancypants Victoria Lord.</p>
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