LONGTIME VET, JOSEPH MASCOLO, FIRED AS MARCH SWEEPS GOES ON!

Its now official: Joseph Mascolo, who has played Stefano DiMera off and on since the 80's, has been cut from LIS! Mascolo last aired on March 10th when his car, in a huge rainstorm, went flying off a cliff, after he was nearly killed by Sami Brady(Alison Sweeney) and his wife Vivian Alamain(Louise Sorel)...however before his death, he also nearly killed Will Roberts(Stevie Brock) and Destiny Stokes(Ambyr Childers) in the process! Stefano was presumed dead after his car fell off the cliff.

"LIS loves Joe and all the years he has given to it, but for now he needs to exit...we had an open ended death, so he could be back someday if need be, but right now there are no plans to bring him back. Stefano has always been a major player on LIS, especially these past few months, but with the constant returns and comings someone needed to be cut...and I feel more oppurtunities with the DiMera's right now can be played out if he's gone. Fans may remember when he was dropped to recurring and barely seen in late 2007 until May 2008, and his death was faked while he was in a coma...well, this is different. He's been cut all the way this time." Tara Smith explained

Mascolo has had numerous stints on Days, and on LIS, he has been a presence ever since 2006...despite(as mentioned above) being dropped to recurring in late 2007 and early 2008.

Also, Andrew Hyatt Massey(Larry Welch), who returned in early Feburary, last aired after jumping into the Salem River. "He was always intended to be just a brief stint...mainly, I just used him as a catalyst in Stefano's death. After that, he didn't have much of a point, so he just ran into enemies Bo and Hope before exiting. Much like Stefano's exit, it was open ended...no one even knows if Larry actually died or not. That was intentional, so someday Larry very well could be back."