Due to my latest interview with legendary soap star Thaao Penghlis (Episodes 83 & 84), I have put together this eye-opening trivia list featuring some fun facts of the daytime drama “Days of Our Lives” for you to test your knowledge about this legendary series. Enjoy!
Husband and wife Ted and Betty Corday created the soap in 1965 as a hospital drama.
“Days Our Lives” is NBC's longest running soap opera. The record was previously held by “Another World”,, which was cancelled in 1999. Beginning September 12, 2022, Days moved from NBC to the Peacock Streaming service.
Due to the series' success, daily episodes were expanded from 30 minutes to 60 minutes on April 21, 1975
The series is set in Illinois, in the fictional city of Salem, and primarily focuses on two groups – the Brady and the Horton families. Other families, however, are also frequently represented including the DiMera and Kiriakis families.
Deidre Hall and Andrea Hall were the first real life twins to play twins in a soap opera.
Almost unchanged since the show's debut in November 1965, Days of Our Lives's title sequence shows an hourglass, with sand trickling to the bottom against the backdrop of a partly cloudy sky, accompanied by the spoken words, "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of Our Lives." The title sequence has been modified only three times since the series first premiered:
MacDonald Carey's voice over in the opening title was kept as a tribute to the actor after he died.
Actor Drake Hogestyn is best known for playing the role of John Black but he has actually played seven different characters in total, including Roman Brady and Father John.
One of the longest-running story lines involved the rape of Mickey Horton's wife Laura by Mickey's brother Bill. Laura confides in her father-in-law Dr. Tom, and the two agree that her husband Mickey should never know. The secret, involving the true parentage of Michael Horton (a product of the rape) and Mickey's subsequent health issues as a result of the revelation, spanned episodes from 1968 to 1975.
In the early 1980s, the Brady and DiMera families were introduced, and their rivalry quickly cemented their places as core families in Salem beside the Hortons.
Since the 1990s, with the introduction of writer James E. Reilly, “Days of Our Lives” moved from traditional plots to some supernatural and science-fiction-themed stories, in conjunction with the rivalry of good vs. evil, in a Hatfield/McCoy feud style the Bradys versus the DiMeras.
The show made history by casting a male actor to portray a woman's character. In 2005, when Alison Sweeney took maternity leave, the show took a daring turn by introducing Dan Wells as "Stan," a male alter ego for Sami, created to seek revenge on another character. Dan brought "Stan" to life for six months, adding an intriguing twist to the storyline, until Alison returned to reprise her role as Sami. This step contributed to its lasting legacy and continued popularity.
When the Salem stalker wreaked havoc on the town in 2003, many characters were thought to have been killed. However, they were actually alive on the fictional Melaswen Island. Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis) was behind the plot.
“The Walton’s” Mary Jackson was the original Alice Horton in the unaired pilot. The role was then assumed by Frances Reid for the TV broadcast who has played her since the show's TV debut.
“Golden Girls” star Betty White appeared on two episodes of Days during the week of January 25-29, 1988. NBC Daytime created a contest inviting fans to guess how many times White appeared in its slates of soaps. That included “Days of Our Lives”, “Another World”, and “Santa Barbara”. For the Days promo, Betty appeared with Charles Shaughnessy, as Shane Donovan, and Billy Warlock, as Frankie
On the hit sitcom “Friends”, Joey played a fictional character on Days. Dr Drake Ramoray was killed off in an elevator shaft accident before being revived with a brain transplant from Jessica Lockhart, who was played by Susan Sarandon. Several Days cast members guest-starred in related Friends episodes as well.
Actress Jennifer Aniston (who played Rachel Green on “Friends”) is the daughter of John Aniston, who portrayed Victor Kiriakis on Days from 1985 until his death in 2022.
Suzanne Rogers is the longest-serving member of the program's current cast, and the longest-serving current cast member of an ongoing American soap opera, having appeared on the show since August 1973 (Rogers celebrated 50 years on Days of Our Lives in 2023)
Days has had many high-profile fans. In 1976, Time magazine reported that then-Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall would call a recess to court proceedings around the 1:00 p.m. hour to watch the show.
Saturday morning TV star Wesley Eure starred on Days from 1974 to 1981. As a matter of fact, from 1974 to 1976 he starred on Days and the Saturday morning kids fantasy series “Land of the Lost” simultaneously.
Australian actor Thaao Penghlis joined Days in 1981 as Stefano DiMera’s son, Tony. And a few years later, he began playing Tony’s villainous twin, Andre DiMera. In 2002, Tony was "brought back from the dead," offering Penghlis the opportunity to replay the role of one of Salem's great villains. Over the years, Thaao earned three Daytime Emmy Award nominations for his popular role(s) on the show.
Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes played Doug and Julie Williams, but their romance behind the scenes inspired the pair to secretly tie the knot in 1974 — two years before their fictional counterparts did the same on the show
In 1991 Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans Black) was lured back to “Days of Our Lives”with the promise that she could serve as executive producer of a DAYS spin-off called "Manhattan Lives". Initial hopes were to begin airing in 1994 if “Another World” wasn't renewed. In the end “Another World” was renewed and the spin-off never came to be.
Kristian Alfonso was cast as ingenue Hope Williams on “Days of Our Lives” in 1983. Though she’s left the show at points to pursue other endeavors, she’s always returned to continue her iconic role.
When Kristian Alfonso was marrying her first husband back in the ‘80s, she actually wore the same wedding dress that her “Days of Our Lives” character, Hope, wore to her wedding to Bo on the show.
From 1997 to 2000, “Supernatural” star Jensen Ackles played Eric Brady on “Days of Our Lives”. At the time, Eric was the rule-abiding teenage son of Roman Brady and Marlena Evans.
Actress Leann Hunley played the role of Anna DiMera on “Days of Our Lives” from 1982 to 1986. Hunley won an Emmy Award at the 13th Daytime Emmy Awards for best supporting actress in 1986. She then went on to star on three seasons of the hit prime time soap opera “Dynasty”, portraying Dana Waring, Adam Carrington's wife.
After a 21-year absence from playing the role of Anna DiMera, Leann Hunley returned to “Days of Our Lives” as Anna in 2007, recurring on the series until mid-2010. She again returned to play the role of Anna for a story arc beginning in January 2017, and has continued to make appearances on the NBC daytime serial as of September 2022, while also playing the same character in the spinoff series “Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem” airing on the Peacock streaming service since 2021.
In 2020, producers put the entire cast on notice with severance packages. The intention was to cut costs and reduce the cast. Kristen Alfonso was the first cast member offered her job back and she shocked producers when she declined, deciding to part from the show permanently.
In July 2021, Peacock ordered a five-episode limited series titled “Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem”. The original cast's Lisa Rinna and Deidre Hall, among others, appeared. Clark, Jackée Harry, Peck, Thaao Penghlis, Leann Hunley, and Davidson were also cast.
From 2021 to 2023, legendary sitcom star Marla Gibbs (The Jeffersons) was cast on Days of Our Lives as Olivia Price, the mother of real estate mogul-turned-Salem mayor Paulina Price (Jackée Harry,). Reuniting Gibbs with her former 227 co-star Jackée Harry!
After airing for some 57 years on NBC, Days of our Lives transitioned to the network’s streaming service Peacock where it has played exclusively since September 12, 2022.
The show won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Writing Team in June 2012, April 2018, and June 2022 and also won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in June 2013, April 2015, and April 2018.
Trivia items from IMDB & Wikipedia
Don't forget to check out my podcast episodes 83 & 84, where I had a fascinating conversation with former "Days of Our Lives" star Thaao Penghlis, who shared some fun behind-the-scenes stories from his last four decades playing Count "Tony" DiMera and Andre DiMera (Tony’s evil look-alike cousin) on the hit daytime drama. Click the links below to enjoy!
Episode 83 - HERE
Episode 84 - HERE
