A Days of our Lives Goodbye That Was Even Sadder Than Anyone Could’ve Guessed at the Time

A decade ago today, a soap great made what would be his final appearance in daytime.

When John Callahan‘s last Days of our Lives episode aired in 2010, we were bummed. Not since his soap debut, as Leo Russell on General Hospital back in 1984, had the actor failed to show us a good time. But it wasn’t the end of the world. The role of Days of our Lives’ Dr. Baker had been a villainous hoot, what with all the baby-swapping and blackmail and everything. However, it was never going to be Callahan’s calling card.

So yeah, we were bummed that the veteran’s stay in Salem had come to a close, but we weren’t worried. We knew that the MVP, best known for his long run as Edmund Grey on All My Children, would turn up again. Maybe, we thought, he’ll head up a new family on The Young and the Restless — one to rival the Abbotts and Newmans.

Ah, if we’d only known. Callahan would never again appear on daytime television. He worked on the web soap The Bay but didn’t get to join The Young and the Restless or The Bold and the Beautiful as we hoped. He passed away on March 28 of this year, following a massive stroke, shattering friends, family and fans alike.

“We are extremely saddened and distraught over the loss of John,” said former wife Eva LaRue, who played Maria to his Edmund on All My Children and with whom he had a daughter. “The absence of his bigger-than-life, gregarious personality will leave a hole in our hearts forever. Words cannot express the shock and devastation we are feeling at this time.”

Even now, we still can’t believe that he’s gone and has brought to life his last daytime character. While you try all over again to process your grief, you might as well go all in and review the below photo gallery of other soap legends that we’ve lost in 2020. Hey, we were feeling glum already.