Donald Hogestyn

Noted soap opera actor Donald Drake Hogestyn is most renowned for his recurring role as John Black on the hit soap Days of Our Lives, a role he has carried since 1986 and continues to play today. However, the soap star, who was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on September 29, 1953, actually enjoyed a baseball career before he got into acting.

After graduating from the University of South Florida, Hogestyn was drafted by the New York Yankees and played for them until an injury in 1978 prevented him for going further.

He broke into acting four years later on the TV series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a short-lived series based loosely on the original 1954 musical film directed by Stanley Donen. The series adaptation, which lasted from September 19, 1982 to July 2, 1983, starred Richard Dean Anderson of MacGyver, Peter Horton, Roger Wilson, Tim Topper, Brian Utman, River Phoenix, and Terri Treas, in addition to Hogestyn.

He went on to appear and star in several made-for-TV movies, including Generation in 1985; Beverly Hills Cowgirl Blues in 1985, which featured James Brolin, One Stormy Night in 1992; and Night Sins in 1993, in which John Aniston, the father of Jennifer Aniston, starred.

Rewind a bit to 1986, when Hogestyn snagged a breakthrough role on Days of Our Lives as Roman Brady, a role which later merged into his current role as John Black on the show. Then in 1991, producers wanted to bring soap actor Wayne Northrop back to play Brady—which was originally Northrop’s role—but because Hogestyn had won his way into fan’s hearts, they concocted a new storyline which kept both actors on the show.

Hogestyn continues to play John Black today, and is romantically linked with the popular character

Marlena Evans, played by soap actress Deidre Hall. Characters Black and Evans are considered a Days of Our Lives “supercouple.”

Regarding his real-life romantic life, Hogestyn was rumored to have had an affair with a female Days of Our Lives co-star, although he is currently married to his childhood sweetheart Victoria.

Hogestyn recently made headlines again after being attacked by a man named Carl Raymond Cheney on January 4, 2007. Cheney was calling him “John Black” and was upset about a Days of Our Lives storyline from years ago. Hogestyn, who is filing for a restraining order, finally restrained Cheney with the help of his stepson, actor Ben Hogestyn, until the police came.

YUDDY