Joe Mascolo, the actor who played one of the most prolific villains in soapie history, has died. Mascolo played supervillain Stefano Dimera in the longtime running Days of Our Lives. Dimera was referred to as the phoenix for managing to always rise after a dozen deaths on the show.
According to Variety magazine , the actor died on Thursday after years of battling Alzheimer's disease. Mascolo was 87 years old.
"It is with great sorrow that we share the news of the passing of our dear friend and beloved member of the 'Days of our Lives' family, Joseph Mascolo," Days of Our Lives executive producer Ken Corday said in a statement.
"His larger than life presence, kind heart, and unwavering positivity has impacted us all for decades, and will live on in the memories of his many fans."
We have rounded up some of our favourite story lines from Days, that saw him named as Soap Opera Digest's all-time best villain.
1. The one where Hope shoots him:
2. The one where "he is finally captured"
3. Here he gets shots again, only now by Marlena
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Fans on social media also shared their sadness and some of their favourite moments from the show:
The world does not make sense anymore. How does Stefano Dimera die? 2016 is Satan himself I have concluded.
— Khaya Dlanga (@khayadlanga) December 10, 2016
But 2016 though...Even Stefano Dimera? 😳 Nah man. Do we really need the last 21 days of this month? Mayival'we i2016! 😪
— Hulisani Ravele (@HulisaniRavele) December 10, 2016
RIP #StefanoDiMera. I suppose for real this time 😢
— Cam Contois (@LegendKiller54) December 10, 2016
Stefano once saved John's memory in a Floppy disk 😂
— Fentse (@OfentseZA) December 10, 2016
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