The only daughter of Days of our Lives supercouple Kimberly Brady and Shane Donovan, Jeannie Theresa Donovan was born in 1990. The character resurfaced as an adult in 2013 in actress Jen Lilley’s capable hands. Originally, a nasty troublemaker who wreaked havoc, Theresa matured into a kinder, gentler young woman, after giving birth to her son, Tate.
Theresa Donovan: A Recap
Want to know more about Theresa? Here’s a refresher course on the character.
Here Comes Trouble
Upon arriving in Salem, Theresa quickly bonded with troubled teen JJ Deveraux (Casey Moss). She bought marijuana from him, and the pair partied together. Theresa immediately became enemies with JJ’s concerned mother, Jennifer Deveraux (Melissa Reeves), who was coaxed into hiring her to work at the hospital as a favor to Kayla (Mary Beth Evans). She began flirting with Daniel Jonas (Shawn Christian), before moving on to ex-con, Vargas, and dabbling with cocaine.
Drug Overdose
Hope (Kristian Alfonso) confronted Theresa about her cocaine use and arrest record in California. When Jennifer discovered that Theresa embezzled money from the hospital’s PR discretionary fund to cover her drug habit, she fired her. Theresa retaliated by going after Jennifer’s ex, Daniel, and spreading rumors that she was sleeping with him. When Daniel rejected her, she turned to JJ. One night the pair were drinking and smoking pot, when Theresa took ecstasy and passed out. JJ summoned Daniel, who saved Theresa’s life. Theresa pretended to have no memory of the night she OD-ed and promised that she’d changed and was done with drugs.
Wedding in Vegas
Theresa began attending NA meetings and met Brady Black (Eric Martsolf). The pair quickly became drinking buddies. Theresa was drawn to Brady and his lifestyle. The duo flew to Vegas, where Brady got drunk and married Theresa. Once they returned to Salem, John (Drake Hogestyn) told Theresa his son would get their marriage annulled once he sobered up. Theresa offered to walk away from Brady for $1 million. Upon realizing John recorded their conversation, Theresa hit him over the head with a fire poker. Panicked, she dragged an unconscious John next to Brady’s passed-out body and put the poker in Brady’s hand, setting things up so he believed he’d attacked his father. A guilt-ridden Brady quickly got sober and told Theresa they needed to file an annulment.
Twisted Triangle
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Kristen returned to town and produced a doctor, who could save John. Desperate to forget about Kristen, Brady turned back to Theresa, who feared John would regain consciousness and expose what she’d done. When John woke up and learned Kristen was back, he kept mum, not wanting her to have a clear path to Brady. John put Theresa on notice, warning that if she hurt Brady, he’d tell him she was the one who attacked him. Soon Kristen found out the truth and exposed Theresa to Brady, who was furious and shunned her.
Pregnancy Surprises
Theresa, who was pregnant with Brady’s child, shared the news with her friend, Anne. Kristen overheard their conversation and came up with a twisted plan. She knocked out and kidnapped Theresa, then hired a doctor to transfer the embryo Theresa was carrying into her womb. Afterward, Kristen left town pregnant with Brady’s baby. Months later, Melanie (Molly Burnett) figured out what Kristen had done. Following a melodramatic fracas in Italy in which Theresa, Brady, Melanie, and Marlena were all taken hostage by Kristen – who required harvested bone marrow to treat an ailing Tate – the parents were reunited with their son. Desperate to reconcile with Brady and jealous of his new relationship with Melanie, Theresa blackmailed her into leaving town by swearing that she’d take Tate and move to California.
Happy Together
Just as Theresa and Brady were living happily together with Tate, Shane warned his daughter that her old boyfriend, a drug lord named Mateo, had tracked her down. Shane (Charles Shaughnessy) suggested Theresa leave Salem, so she tried to push Brady away for his own protection. Theresa ultimately decided to work with law enforcement to bait a trap and take down Mateo. After saying a cold goodbye to Brady, Theresa left him and Tate behind in 2016.
Theresa’s Last Stand
Two years later, Chloe (Nadia Bjorlin) was kidnapped and taken to Mexico where she ran into Theresa. The pair were both being held by Mateo. With Xander’s (Paul Telfer) help, Theresa was freed and returned to Salem, where she hoped to put her life with Brady and Tate back together. Instead, she found Brady involved with her sister, Eve Donovan (Kassie DePaiva), and had to fight for custody of their son. Theresa was granted full custody of Tate and made amends with Brady before heading back to California to help tend to her mother, Kimberly (Patsy Pease), who was battling leukemia.
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