Actor: Deidre Hall. Role: She’s played Dr. Marlena Evans since 1976. Beyond Salem: In the 1980s, she starred on NBC’s family drama Our House with Wilford Brimley and Shannen Doherty. Fun Fact: Long before Marvel and DC ruled the box office, Hall was half of the dynamic duo Elektra Woman and Dyna Girl on a Saturday-morning kids show.
Actor: Drake Hogestyn. Role: He’s played (no matter his identity in any given year!) John Black since 1986. Beyond Salem: He starred in the early-’80s series version of the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Fun Fact: Hogestyn played third base for one of the New York Yankees’ farm teams until a 1978 injury forced him to hang up his glove.
In the Beginning: Hogestyn and Hall were first paired by Days of Our Lives in 1986, back when he was a heavily bandaged John Doe that everyone came to believe was Marlena’s “late” husband, Roman Brady. A Happy Ending: Today, “Jarlena” are as much a part of the NBC soap as blackmail, infidelity and that iconic hourglass.
Actor: Sal Stowers. Role: She’s played Lani Price since 2015. Beyond Salem: When All My Children briefly moved online, she was cast as Angie Hubbard’s daughter, Cassandra Foster. Fun Fact: Stowers won the ninth season of America’s Next Top Model.
Actor: Lamon Archey. Role: He’s played Eli Grant since 2016. Beyond Salem: Before being cast as Eli, he had two under-five parts on the NBC soap and appeared as Mason Wilder on The Young and the Restless. Fun Fact: Archey has a dozen tattoos.
Actor: Victoria Konefal. Role: She’s played Ciara Brady since 2017. Beyond Salem: She won a guest gig on the hitcom Modern Family despite reeking of gasoline at her audition. Fun Fact: Konefal was crowned Miss Poland USA in 2015.
Actor: Robert Scott Wilson. Role: He’s played Ben Weston since 2014. Beyond Salem: He played Pete Cortlandt in the online reboot of All My Children. Fun Fact: Wilson was the first male model on The Price Is Right.
Actor: Leann Hunley. Role: She’s played Anna DiMera since 1982. Beyond Salem: She spent three years on the original Dynasty as Dana Waring. Fun Fact: Hunley’s infamous for having played the Dawson’s Creek schoolteacher who had a fling with a student.
Actor: Jackée Harry. Role: She’s played Paulina Price since 2021. Beyond Salem: The alum of 227 and Sister, Sister has a list of primetime credits that’s longer than she is tall. Fun Fact: She is the first and, to date, only Black performer to win the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Actor: James Reynolds. Role: He’s played Abe Carver since 1981. Beyond Salem: When Hill Street Blues‘ Taurean Blacque left the NBC soap Generations, Reynolds took over his role of Henry Marshall. Fun Fact: He got into acting in college when he realized that the theater department was the best place to meet girls.
Actor: Chandler Massey. Role: He’s played Will Horton since 2010. Beyond Salem: He’s guest-starred on One Tree Hill and Army Wives. Fun Fact: Massey made Daytime Emmy history with his three consecutive wins as Outstanding Younger Actor.
Actor: Billy Flynn. Role: He’s played Chad DiMera since 2014. Beyond Salem: His big break was a Taco Bell commercial. Fun Fact: The economics major once envisioned a future in finance for himself.
Actor: Lisa Rinna. Role: She’s played Billie Reed off and on since 1992. Beyond Salem: She’s been one of Bravo’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills since 2014. Fun Fact: Rinna has been married to L.A. Law heartthrob Harry Hamlin since 1997.
Actor: Eileen Davidson. Role: She joined Days of Our Lives as Kristen Blake DiMera in 1993 (and later added a host of the character’s relatives to her repertoire). Beyond Salem: Four years after she won the Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy for Days of Our Lives, she emerged victorious again for her long-running role of Ashley Abbott on The Young and the Restless. Fun Fact: She met husband Vincent Van Patten when he briefly played her love interest on the CBS soap.
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