Beloved Days of Our Lives Star Drake Hogestyn Passes Away at 70

Drake Hogestyn, the beloved actor known for his icon­ic role as John Black on the long-run­ning soap opera Days of Our Lives, has passed away at the age of 70. The dev­as­tat­ing news was announced by the show’s social media account on Sat­ur­day, just a day before Hogestyn’s 71st birthday.

The Legacy of Drake Hogestyn

Hogestyn first appeared on Days of Our Lives in 1986 and played the char­ac­ter of John Black for an incred­i­ble 38 years, appear­ing in over 4,200 episodes. He was beloved by fans for his cap­ti­vat­ing per­for­mances and the depth he brought to his char­ac­ter over the decades.

Tributes Pour In From Colleagues and Fans

Hogestyn’s co-stars and col­leagues have shared heart­felt trib­utes to the late actor. Dei­dre Hall, who played Mar­lena Evans along­side Hogestyn, recalled how he was “dreamy” and “loved to rehearse, want­ed to get it right, very seri­ous about the work.” Ali­son Sweeney, who por­trayed Sami Brady, described Hogestyn as “an incred­i­ble man” who was “fun­ny, gen­er­ous and thoughtful.”

Fans have also expressed their deep sad­ness over the loss of this icon­ic soap opera star, mourn­ing the end of an era for Days of Our Lives.

A Brave Fight Against Pancreatic Cancer

Hogestyn was “thrown the curve ball of his life” when he was diag­nosed with pan­cre­at­ic can­cer, but he faced the chal­lenge with incred­i­ble strength and deter­mi­na­tion, accord­ing to the show’s state­ment. Sad­ly, after putting up an unbe­liev­able fight, he passed away peace­ful­ly sur­round­ed by his loved ones.

The world has lost a true tal­ent and a beloved fig­ure in the world of day­time tele­vi­sion. Drake Hogestyn’s lega­cy and impact on Days of Our Lives will for­ev­er be remem­bered by his devot­ed fans and co-stars.