DAYS: R.I.P. Drake Hogestyn (John Black, Days of our Lives)

[dragonflies]

 

[wonderwoman1951]

free link to ny times obit: 

ny times obit

[DramatistDreamer]

Personally, this news is so deeply triggering and tragic. So many of us have lost loved ones due to pancreatic cancer. 
Why can’t every effort be exhausted in order to formulate treatments that help people go into remission or even prevent the most deadly cancers instead of all this energy to annihilating people??

This is just too much.

Heartfelt condolences to Hogestyn’s family and loved ones. Each of these announcements are devastating.

Edited September 29, 2024 by DramatistDreamer

[Antoyne]

Ended up reading through some more of this thread just filled with tears. John Black was the perfect hero lead that soaps have completely forgotten. Drake was just such a special fun talent to watch. John Black had so many dynamic relationships across the canvas and Drake just sold you on those relationships so effortlessly. Still shocked.

[LondonScribe]

My mother has long since stopped watching Days of our Lives but when I told her today, she was genuinely upset, such is the mark John Black the character left on her. I remember her lovingly aping the way he used to exclaim ‘Doc!’ and I suspect she quite fancied him and his hero character.

Whenever I saw John, I’d break out into an involuntary smile, maybe for that reason, but also because of the charisma and charm Drake Hogestyn brought to the role. 

I remember being quite annoyed when he was written out and got a kick out of RoboJohn, even knowing it couldn’t last forever.

I, too, felt profound sadness when I read this news, not just for the actor, but also because he seemed to be a thoroughly decent and caring man.

Rest In Peace.

Edited September 29, 2024 by LondonScribe

[carolineg]

My greatest takeaway is how genuine he seemed.  We can joke about his acting, expressions, and tics, but every relationship on the show was believable.  From Marlena to his children and his grandkids on the show.   All of his friendships.  Drake just radiated joy and happiness playing John.  You knew he was enjoying his role and enjoyed his fans.  We lost a good one yesterday, but I'll always be grateful for the memories and joy he brought me.

 

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[Liberty City]

He really looked like he enjoyed filming these scenes, haha.

[carolineg]

It looked like he loved it lol.  

[janea4old]

 

[Liberty City]

It really did! Amazing.

[Maxim]

This man had such X Factor, such light coming out of him. 

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[Taoboi]

Le sigh.

 

The gasp I let out at work yesterday when I was on break and saw the header here. Then I had to let my friend know since DAYS (and Ms. Sami Brady) was the soap she grew up with. 

 

True Reilly's DAYS is what grew me into the show when I was growing up, but seeing the dashing hunk of a man at Manison Blanche...I was smitten. From the Possession to Aremid to Lady in the Cage to him, Marlena, and Kristen...I loved me sum John Black. Most definitely my first DAYS crush and John/Marlena was definitely one...if not my favorite DAYS couple. And you really don't see the Good Guy/Hero type on current soaps anymore. 

 

And pick on him or not, good acting or not, Drake never phoned it in and was always engaged. Bonus...in interviews I read, he always seem cool, caring, and had a great sense of humor. I know I always loved that while he did not do baseball, his love for the sport shined through and he still had all this knowledge about it. I'm not a big baseball fan, but there's something about seeing someone talking about a thing they love that just shows so much about a person. 

 

I very much love that he had no problem playing a character who has a gay son and he treated him no difference than any of his other kids. That resonated so very much with me given my relationship with my own father. And the horror fan in me did not mind his dad was Jigsaw.

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He was a real one. My heart goes out to his family and the DAYS cast. 

 

 

[titan1978]

For me, this is almost as hard as Jackie Zeman. I grew up watching these people, and in my mind they are vibrant and compelling. He may have been 70, which is still too young, and yet he is still John Black. The hero with a deep love of his family. Clearly what Drake brought to the table.

It didn’t matter what the show asked him to do. Have no past, be Roman, not be Roman, suddenly a priest…it didn’t matter. He understood the assignment from supercouple machine to Reilly outrageousness to becoming the older character who advises the younger ones on all their adventures. Make it work. Make it entertaining. And make them want to keep watching.

I will never forget him seeing Marlena on the pier. Or talking with little Carrie about loss. Or trying so hard to reconnect with Sami and showing that slight nod of pain that he wasn’t considered her father anymore. Or just being an absolute stud, and holding his own against some of the strongest women in the genre- Deidre, Genie, Eileen. 

Him wet and shirtless during Maison Blanche is one of the formative images of my gay youth.

Edited September 29, 2024 by titan1978

[Taoboi]

Him and Buck from Loving. I totally understand.

And now you have me misty-eyed from Jackie. They hit differently, but they definitely hit. 

[Wendy]

Mary Beth Evans via Instagram. Again, I have no idea how to embed there. So sorry!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAg7P-3xgfT/?igsh=YjNsdHJiZzhuNHZ3