E.J. DiMera

Character Name: E.J. DiMera
Actor: James Scott
Occupation: Lawyer
Spouse: Samantha Brady
Former Spouse: Nicole Walker
Children: Johnny DiMera and Sydney DiMera

E.J. had quite a memorable beginning in Salem, having been born to the wacky Susan Banks, who was convinced the late Elvis Presley was his father. Susan swore Elvis had came back to life and impregnated her one mysterious night. She later learned she had been drugged, brought to a fertility clinic, and was artificially inseminated with the sperm of Stefano DiMera, who was dressed as Elvis during the procedure. For the first few months of Little Elvis’ life, he was passed off as the son of John Black and Kristen DiMera. Susan eventually got her son back and they left town.

Years later, Little Elvis moved back to Salem as big E.J., a neighbor of Samantha Brady. He was immediately smitten with Sami, who was leery of him. After a one-night stand that Sami was reluctant to, E.J. left town. When he returned, he learned that Sami was pregnant and a paternity test revealed he was indeed Johnny’s father.

Proud of producing a son, E.J. was sure his father, Stefano, would finally be proud of him and convinced Stefano to halt his long-standing vendetta against the Brady family. Stefano only agreed to this is Sami would marry E.J. and she agreed. The pair married in 2007, but life was never easy. When Sami’s ex, Lucas, was released from prison, he walked in on Sami and E.J. in bed and Sami was torn between the two men who had fathered both her sons.

E.J. and Sami remained off and on friends and lovers for years, with E.J. becoming a successful Salem attorney. He eventually turned his back on his evil father and all his machinations, but couldn’t turn his back on a conniving lifestyle, no matter how hard he tried. He also had a brief marriage to Nicole Walker, who miscarried two of their children.

Through it all, he could never stay away from Sami, who also eventually gave birth to his daughter, Sydney. When Sydney was a baby, he kidnapped her and when Sami learned what happened to her daughter, she left E.J., ostensibly for good.  In 2014 after an affair with Abigail Deveraux, Sami and E.J. reunited and remarried, but the road remained rocky for them.