Exactly four decades ago today, Deidre Hall made her debut as Salem’s resident psychiatrist. At first, she was only Mickey Horton’s shrink while he spent time in an institution. Today, she’s still treating hospitalized Hortons in the form of poor institutionalized Abby.
According to the Jason47 DAYS website, Hall has appeared in 4,375 episodes to date. If you want to see a script of her first episode, click here.
Through the years, Marlena has had three main men who have helped her gain supercouple status before “supercouple” was even a word. Marlena first fell for attorney Don Craig (Jed Allen), and their marriage resulted in a son, D.J. When D.J. died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the marriage died with him.
A few years later, Marlena found happiness with Roman Brady (then-Wayne Northrop), but Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo) seemed to always get in their way. Roman was later presumed dead, but when John Black turned up in town, Marlena presumed he was Roman.
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In the late 1980s, Hall chose to pursue a career outside daytime and left DAYS to star in the primetime series “Our House.” However, Salem came calling once again and Hall made her way back to DAYS. Marlena then discovered Roman was alive as Roman, and the other Roman was a man without a name who would call himself John Black (Drake Hogestyn) for decades to come. By then, John and Marlena became a supercouple mainstay and never looked back.
Perhaps Hall’s most memorable storyline came in 1994 when the devil possessed Marlena as Stefano entered her bedroom through an armoire. Odd, you say? Why, certainly, but the story pulled in quite an audience and Hall had the time of her life playing it.
Just last month, Hall received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a milestone moment indeed for a soap queen whose survived four decades in one of the most grueling–yet rewarding–entertainment genres around.
Congratulations on 40 years, Deidre, and thanks for all the fun!
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